The story is based on the Sthala Purana of Gokarna Kshetram in Karnataka
Acting
N.T. Rama Rao's ten-headed ego trip
Production
Gokarna recreated in glorious studio excess
Costume
Ravana's armor: interior design as character
Director
K. Shankar
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
N.T. Rama Rao later became Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, making this perhaps the most successful political audition in cinema history.
The film cemented the visual iconography of Ravana as tragic anti-hero rather than simple villain—a reinterpretation that shaped South Indian popular theology for decades.
IN
