Chigurida Kanasu is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language film directed by T. S. Nagabharana and starring Shiva Rajkumar, Anant Nag, Vidhya Venkatesh, Rekha Unnikrishnan and Avinash. It is based on the 1951 novel of the same name by legendary Kannada litterateur and Jnanpith Award winner K. Shivaram Karanth. The movie was considered one of finest movies in the history of Kannada cinema. It is a milestone movie in the career of Shiva Rajkumar. Jayant Kaikini debuted as a lyricist, with his first song Bandhuve sung by the legendary Dr. Rajkumar. Kaikini would go on to become a very successful and popular lyricist in the Kannada film industry. The story and characterisation of the lead role - a urban youth in search of his roots giving up his city life and deciding to stay back in a remote village and setting up a micro hydroelectric project to generate electricity for the benefit of the villagers - went on to be used in the 2004 Hindi movie Swades.

Plot

B. Shankar (Shivarajkumar) is born and raised in Delhi. He will be studying engineering at the Banaras Hindu University. He has a doting father B. Sundara Rao (Anant Nag) and a loud, annoying and a threatening mother. Shankar has a younger brother, a pilot. Shankar is content with his life, but something in his heart tells him this is not where he belongs. Shankar's girlfriend (who lives in Delhi) Varalakshmi (Vidhya Venkatesh) is a Kannadati. His college friend Seetharam (Raju Ananthaswamy) from Karnataka, teaches him Kannada to talk with Varalakshmi. When Shankar returns to Delhi, his mother plans to marry him off and he reluctantly agrees to meet his bride-to-be. In the party, During the conversation he realizes the letter "B" in his name is for "Bangaadi". But he doesn't know whether Bangaadi is a person or a town, and is curious about its significance. When Shankar is speaking in Kannada with his brother over the phone for fun, his father hears it. And his father says, "Speak in Kannada, my son. It has been so long since I have heard that language". Then, Shankar discovers he is a Kannadiga and is happy that he's at least found his Origin. His father confesses that his father (Shankar's Grandfather) abandoned his native but he didn't try to go back even once. Shankar wants to discover his native.