Overview
School Master is a 1958 Indian Kannada-language film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Panthulu himself in the lead role along with Dikki Madhava Rao, M. V. Rajamma, Udaykumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi in important roles. This was the first Kannada film to complete a silver jubilee. The film had its children's dance drama in Gevacolor, taken by cinematographer W. R. Subba Rao. It was later remade in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi in spite of it being dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as Engal Kudumbam Perisu and Badi Pantulu respectively.
In 1959, ALS Productions remade it in Hindi as School Master which was also directed by Panthulu. The film was remade in Malayalam in 1964 as School Master by Puttanna Kanagal, in Telugu in 1972 as Badi Panthulu and in Tamil in 1973 as School Master. and in Odia with same name (1985)
School Master was the first Kannada film to be remade in five languages and also the first Kannada film to be remade in three other South Indian languages. The movie is based on 1937 English movie Make Way for Tomorrow which has been adapted multiple times including in Japanese as Tokyo Story (1953), in Marathi as Oon Paus (1954), in Tamil as Varavu Nalla Uravu (1990), in Pakistani as Samaj (1972) and twice in Hindi as Zindagi (1976) and Baghban (2003).
Plot
Ranganna is a newly appointed headmaster in a government-run village primary school, where he admits his children. Gundappa is a peon in the school. A disciplinarian, Ranganna lives with his three children and wife Seetha. His elder son Gopi gets into fight with a ruffian student, Vasu. Vasu is punished, but his innate goodness wins over his teacher. He is given special care, to become a good student.
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