| Karunamayudu | |
| Director: | A. Bhimsingh Fr. Christopher Coelho OFM |
| Producer: | Vijayachander and Rev. Louis F. Knoll, STBC |
| Starring: | Vijayachander Sreedhar Surapaneni |
| Music: | Joseph Fernandez B. Gopalam |
| Cinematography: | K. S. Prasad |
| Editing: | Paul Doraisingh |
| Distributor: | Radha Chitra |
| Runtime: | 160 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Telugu |
Karunamayudu (; also commonly known as Ocean of Mercy from its titles in other languages) is a 1978 Indian Telugu-language biographical film written and directed by A. Bhimsingh. It stars Vijayachander as Jesus of Nazareth.[1] The film won two Nandi Awards, was notable for two song sequences narrating the Birth of Jesus and Entry into Jerusalem, the film was screened at the International Film Festival of India.[2]
It was followed by Dayamayudu (1987), starring Vijayachander as Saint Paul, which can considered as a sequel to Karunamayudu.[3] A Hindi television series titled Dayasagar aired on DD National, the national public broadcaster, in the 1990s with Vijayachander reprising the role of Jesus Christ.[4]
The film was originally set to be called Raraju Kristu (Christ the King, possibly inspired by Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings) and gained some funding from the Roman Catholic Church in South India.
The film reportedly performed well at the box office in its initial run.
Directed and produced in India, with all-Indian actors, Karunamayudu was seen by many missionaries as one of the most culturally relevant tools for Christian evangelism in India. In India, many of the villagers encounter a story that they are unfamiliar with: the Life of Christ. The gospel is rendered in their cultural context when the film is shown. The film was not considered evangelical upon release, but American evangelicals later promoted the film in India as an evangelical tool. According to Dayspring International, a ministry founded to propagate the film, Karunamayudu was dubbed into 14 Indian languages by 2012.
Playback Singers: S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jayaram, V. Ramakrishna