Kanneshwara Rama (Kannada: ಕನ್ನೇಶ್ವರ ರಾಮ; English: The Legendary Outlaw) is a 1977 Kannada-language political film directed by M. S. Sathyu.

The film features an ensemble cast including Anant Nag, Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, B. V. Karanth and Shimoga Venkatesh.

[4] The film was theatrically released on 30 March 1989 and was a critical and box office success, completing a 100-day run in theatres.

[3][1] Present day The film starts with Kanneshwara Rama, a long-sought-after fugitive who has been caught by the police.

On the way, Rama sees many people in the crowd who have figured in his life at one point or another and starts thinking about those events.

Flashback Back in his old days, Rama is a hot-headed peasant who fumes at the slightest attempt of intimidation.

Rama defied the village head, resulting in a midnight scuffle in which he ends up killing the person.

The leader of the group is Junja, who zealously guards his gang's hoard of gold, watched over by Malli, his mistress.

He helps the poor, providing a dowry for girls of marriageable age and breaking the hold of feudal landlords in the area.

He is both amused and impressed by Gandhi's policy of non-violence, but what catches his attention is their building of a cause and the symbolic flag, an idea that started to germinate in his mind.

He out-maneuvers them in their break-away attempt to rob an armed treasury and forgives the culprits, against Chennira's advice.

He frees a village under the bondage to a religious order, adopts it, and places his flag on an old fort that guards it.