The 1971 Kannada film Kasturi Nivasa, headlined by Dr Rajkumar, attained a landmark milestone in the film industry. Directed by ace director-duo B Dorai Raj and SK Bhagavan, the movie initially couldn’t pull off a desirable business upon its release. Its fortunes, however, changed following the publishing of a good review by one of the film critics. Kasturi Nivasa’s memorable legacy continued in 2014 as well when it was remastered and released as a coloured version at the Bhoomika Theatre, Bengaluru. As per the reports, there was a traffic jam at Kempegowda Road, where Bhoomika Theatre is situated. The audience was jubilant at the prospect of watching their favourite star’s film, eight years after his death due to a heart attack. Many of the fans had even brought white pigeons to express their tribute to him because the late actor had posed for a photograph with a white pigeon in the film Kasturi Nivasa. From the Kasturi Nivasa’s cast and crew, the actress Jayanthi and the filmmaker SK Bhagavan were present at the screening. SK Bhagavan was proud of the fact that his film has been remastered and rereleased at the cinema halls.
There is, however, one lesser-known anecdote to the film that many might be oblivious to. Tamil writer G Balasubramaniam has penned the script of this film. The director duo B Dorai Raj and SK Bhagavan, as well as the film’s producer Noori, lauded the concept. The makers wanted to cast the late Tamil actor Shivaji Ganesan as the lead. In dire hope to rope in Sivaji, Noori even acquired the rights to the film for an amount of Rs 25,000. Things, however, didn’t go as planned as Shivaji Ganesan declined to be a part of Kasturi Nivasa upon hearing the script. According to him, his primary concern was that the film did not have a happy ending. That’s when dialogue writer Chi Udayashankar, accompanied by B Dorai Raj’s brother showed their inclination in adapting the film into Kannada. This time late Kannada actor Dr Rajkumar was cast as the lead.
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