Gejje Pooje is a 1969 Indian Kannada language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal and produced by Rashi Brothers. The film stars Kalpana, Gangadhar and Leelavathi in the lead roles. Gejje means anklet and pooje means worship, but in the context of this film, it means a mock marriage. The film is based on the novel Gejje Pooje, by M. K. Indira. The film was remade in Tamil as Thaaliya Salangaiya, in Telugu as Kalyana Mandapam and in Hindi as Ahista Ahista. Plot This socially relevant film explores the problem of prostitutes. It was based on the novel written by M. K. Indira. The heroine Chandramukhi (played by Kalpana) is the daughter of a devadasi who falls in love with a young man who is her neighbour, as they grew up together. The young girl understands the value of education and with the support of her mother intends to reject the life of prostitution. Circumstances and the young man's suspicion makes him abandon the heroine. The girl he then goes on to marry is actually her half-sister, the daughter of the heroine's father from his marriage with another woman. He had abandoned both Chandra and her mother. Chandra agrees to perform 'gejje pooje' (literally getting married to ankle bracelets) as part of initiation into a life of prostitution, but in the end, she commits suicide by crushing & swallowing the diamond (from the ring that was gifted to her by her biological father in his memory). Cast Kalpana as Chandramukhi Gangadhar as Somu Leelavathi as Aparna, Chandramukhi's mother Aarathi as Lalita Lokanath as Puttanna Shettru Pandari Bai as Tangamma, Somu's mother K. S. Ashwath as Somu's father Annapoornamma as Chandra's grandmother Swarnamma M. N. Lakshmi Devi as Savitri Balakrishna as Savitri's husband B. V. Radha Vajramuni Awards 17th National Film Awards Best Kannada Film Best Screenplay — Puttanna Kanagal 1969–70 Karnataka State Film Awards First Best Film Best Supporting Actress – Leelavathi Best Screenplay — Puttanna Kanagal Best Dialogue — Navarathna Ram Rao Best Cinematographer — S. V. Srikanth Soundtrack The music was composed by Vijayabaskhar. References External links 1969 films 1960s Kannada-language films Films based on Indian novels Films directed by Puttanna Kanagal Kannada films remade in other languages Films scored by Vijaya Bhaskar Kannada literature Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay National Film Award Best Kannada Feature Film National Film Award winners