Habba (transl. Festival) is a 1999 Indian Kannada-language drama film written and directed by D. Rajendra Babu. The film has an ensemble cast including Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Devaraj, Jayapradha, Urvashi, Shashikumar, Ramkumar, Vijayalakshmi, Kasthuri and Charulatha.[1] The movie was produced by Bharathi Devi for Chinni Chitra productions. The movie became a blockbuster and ran for more than 25 weeks. The film was remade in Telugu in 2002 as Chandravamsam starring Krishna.[2] The movie was loosely based on the Pandavas‘s exile episode in the Virata Parva of Mahabharata.
Cast
- Vishnuvardhan as Vishnu
- Jayapradha as Laxmi
- Ambareesh as Ambi
- Urvashi as Mandodari
- Devaraj as Devu
- Kasthuri as Anu
- Shashikumar as Shashi
- Charulatha as Savitri
- Ramkumar as Ram
- Vijayalakshmi as Seetha
- Leelavathi as grandmother
- Pavithra Lokesh
- Padma Vasanthi
- Ashok Rao
- Ashalatha
- M. S. Umesh
- Bank Janardhan
- Negro Johnny
- Nagendra Babu
- Ravi Babu
- Kazan Khan
- M. S. Umesh
- A. V. Ravi (Jim)
- Manjunath Hegde
- Bank Suresh
- Govindu
- Sreeraksha Shivakumar
- Suneetha Shetty
- Bullet Nagaraj
Production
The film was launched on 5 January 1999 at Neeladri Amusement Park.[3] The film finished shooting as of March 1999.[4]
Soundtrack
The music of the film was composed and lyrics were written by Hamsalekha.[5] Popular playback singer Nanditha made her entry into film songs with this soundtrack.[6] The song “Habba Habba” is a slightly modified version of the song “Yele Hombisile” which Hamsalekha had composed for the film Halunda Thavaru. All the songs in the film become chartbusters.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Channappa Channegowda” | Hamsalekha | Rajesh Krishnan, K. S. Chithra, Ramesh Chandra, Vishnu | 05:32 |
| 2. | “Aarathi Yettire” | Hamsalekha | Nanditha | 03:00 |
| 3. | “Dheem Takita” | Hamsalekha | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 04:58 |
| 4. | “Habba Habba” | Hamsalekha | Rajesh Krishnan, Ramesh Chandra, Nanditha | 04:57 |
| 5. | “Jenina Goodu” | Hamsalekha | Rajesh Krishnan, K. S. Chithra | 05:25 |
| 6. | “Koti Koti Devaru” | Hamsalekha | Nanditha | 01:52 |
| 7. | “Mama Mama Masti” | Hamsalekha | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 05:04 |
| 8. | “Mai Tholiyo Shastra” | Hamsalekha | Nanditha | 01:26 |
| 9. | “Yaale Yaale” | Hamsalekha | Rajesh Krishnan, K. S. Chithra | 05:15 |
Reception
The New Indian Express called the film “a beautiful mansion without proper foundation”.[7] Deccan Herald wrote “this film stands out for its effort to infuse new life into the narration and proceedings.”[8]
Awards
- Karnataka State Film Awards 1999-00
References
- ^ “Habba cast”. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
- ^ “Telugu Cinema – Review – Chandravansam – Krishna, Suman, Naresh, Sivaji, Rohit, Roopa, Jaya Prada, Radhika Varma”.
- ^ “Habba – Multi-starrer rolls”. Screen India. Archived from the original on 22 January 2000. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
- ^ “Habba: Multi-starrer complete”. Screen. 12 March 1999. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ Habba Songs at Raaga
- ^ “Perfectionist”. Screen. 25 July 2003. Archived from the original on 11 August 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ “Film Review – the New Indian Express”. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020.
- ^ “Reviews – Deccan Herald”. www.cscsarchive.org:8081. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
