Geethanjali returns to theatres on 13 November: re-release trailer out for Nagarjuna and Mani Ratnam’s 1989 film

Geethanjali, the Telugu film Mani Ratnam directed with Nagarjuna and Girija Shettar in the lead roles, returns to the big screen. Aditya Music released a re-release trailer on Sunday, 8 November, and the film opens again in theatres worldwide on Friday, 13 November, 37 years after its first run.

The trailer, two minutes and six seconds long, went up on Aditya Music’s YouTube channel at about 4:48 pm IST. It had 194,731 views at 5:03 am IST on Monday, 9 November. The video description names C. Praveen Kumar Reddy, P R Prasad, C L Narasa Reddy and G. Venkateswaran as producers, with Ilaiyaraaja credited for the music.

Geethanjali first reached theatres in May 1989 under the Bhagyalakshmi Enterprises banner, with P. C. Sreeram as cinematographer. It was Mani Ratnam’s first film in Telugu. The director had earlier worked in Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil, with films such as Pallavi Anu Pallavi, Mouna Ragam and Nayakan.

A shared National Award, six Nandis

Geethanjali shared the 1989 National Film Award for the Best Film Providing Popular and Wholesome Entertainment with the Hindi film Chandni. The Directorate of Film Festivals catalogue for the 37th National Film Awards shows a Swarna Kamal and Rs 40,000 for Bhagyalakshmi Enterprises as producer, and a Swarna Kamal and Rs 20,000 for Mani Ratnam as director.

The Andhra Pradesh government’s Nandi Awards for 1989 gave the film six honours. Geethanjali won the gold Nandi for Best Feature Film, along with the awards for story (Mani Ratnam), cinematography (P. C. Sreeram), art direction (Thota Tharani), comedy (Suthi Velu) and choreography (Sundaram Master).

Ahead of King100

The re-release shares 13 November with Itllu Arjuna, a new love story that Nagarjuna presents. Forty-one days later, on Thursday, 24 December, his 100th film, King100, is due in theatres.