Bharathi Kannamma

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Bharathi Kannamma
Bharathi Kannamma.jpg
Directed byCheran
Written byCheran
Produced byHenry
StarringParthiban
Meena
CinematographyKichas
Edited byK. Thanikachalam
Music byDeva
Production
company
Release date
  • 15 January 1997 (1997-01-15)
Running time
168 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Bharathi Kannama is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Cheran, starring R. Parthiban and Meena.[1] The film marks Cheran's debut as a director and screenwriter. It was well-received upon its commercial release. Prabhu Solomon remade this film in Kannada as Usire (Kannada) (2001) with V. Ravichandran.

Plot[]

The protagonist is a landlord in Devar Palayam. In a community where wealthy landlords do not normally engage in unskilled labor, he carries out all his chores by himself to make a social statement that all castes are equal. He even continues to pay his employees who would otherwise engage in these chores usually assigned to the lower castes.

The film enters into a flashback; Bharathi (Parthiban) is a lower caste worker for a rich landlord, Vellaisamy Thevar (Vijayakumar). He saves Vellaisamy's daughter Kanamma (Meena) at a local fair, and she falls in love with him. Bharathi's sister, Pechi (Indhu), accompanies him to the fair and wants some anklets that Bharati cannot afford. However, when they return, and Pechi brings their dinner, Kanamma waits until everyone leaves and then gives Pechi some anklets. This is seen by Bharati, who is actually in love with her but doesn't reciprocate her feelings due to his loyalty towards Vellaisamy. Pechi eventually settles with a higher-caste landlord's son living in the next village, who has been in love with her for some time.

Vellaisamy thinks of getting his daughter married and finds a suitable candidate. On the day of the ponnu paarkura, a fire starts, causing the groom's family to view the alliance as unfavorable. Afterward, Kanamma is treated for her burns by Bharati. Kanamma writes a letter about her love for Bharati. This letter is found by her father, who, however, doesn't know who the letter is for. Although her tears blur Bharati's name, Vellaisamy beats up his daughter and tries to discover who she loves. Later, Bharati tells Kanamma that their relationship cannot work out due to caste differences. Afterward, Vellaisamy rushes to see his mother, who had a heart attack, and her last wish is to see Kanamma married. He consults astrologers who assure him of a match, while Kanamma remains depressed. When Bharathi is driving some of his master's goods through a forest, he is stopped by Maayan, who has heard of Kanamma's marriage and vows to stop it.

An unwilling Kanamma makes the goat sacrifice, and Bharati encourages her to accept her new husband, although he does so with great regret. During the sacrifice of the goat, Kanamma hallucinates that she led Bharati before her father and he killed him. Maayan, along with his gang, makes a plan to stop the wedding. Throughout the preparations for the wedding, Bharati doesn't speak to Kanamma; but the night before, Pechi delivers a coconut and herbs to Kanamma and consoles her.

Pechi goes back home and scolds Bharati for neglecting Kanamma. She tells Bharati to stop Kanamma from potentially killing herself, and he runs to her. Maayan and his gang come to the village and attack Bharati, but the gang is defeated. However, Bharati, delayed by fighting Maayan's gang, cannot stop Kanamma from committing suicide, and right after he finishes off Maayan a man runs in telling of the tragedy. The whole village is weeping, and Vellaisamy sobs before Bharati. Pechu is even more distraught when she realizes that Kanamma killed herself by ingesting the herbs she gave her. Bharati silently cries at his lover's feet. He beats the parai at her funeral, unable to speak. After Vellaisamy is guided to light the torch, and all go to bathe in the river, Bharati, reminiscing their love, yells "Kannamma" and throws himself on Kanamma's funeral pyre and burns with her. An anguished Vellaisamy and the other villagers grieve again for Bharati as Vellaisamy questions caste pride. He adopts Bharati's sister Pechi, marries her to her high-caste lover, and sends them to the city.

The film ends years later with an older and wiser Vellaisamy, joyfully greeting his adopted daughter Pechi, her husband, and their kids at the railway station.

Cast[]

Soundtrack[]

The music of the movie was composed by Deva.[2]

No. Song Singers Lyrics Length (m:ss)
1 "Chinna Chinna Kanamma" Febi Mani Vairamuthu 05:16
2 "Kottungada" Mano 04:44
3 "Mercy Mercy" Suresh Peters Vaali 04:33
4 "Naalu Ezhuthu Kathathille" Gangai Amaran Vairamuthu 01:00
5 "Naalu Ezhuthu Paduchavare" Swarnalatha 01:54
6 "Poonkatre Poonkatre" K. J. Yesudas Vaali 05:28
7 "Rayilu Rayilu" Vadivelu Vairamuthu 04:34
8 "Retakili Rekkai" Sushmitha, Mano Vaali 05:04
9 "Thendralukku Theriyuma" Arunmozhi, K. S. Chithra Vairamuthu 05:14
10 "Vaadipatti Melamada" Gangai Amaran 02:39

Controversy[]

Upon release, the film was almost banned due to its caste subversive content. As a result of this, some prints were released with scenes deleted, and in Rajapalayam the film was not immediately released.[3][4]

References[]

  1. ^ "Bharathi Kannamma". cinesouth. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Bharathi Kannamma Songs". raaga. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  3. ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (1998). "Mandal and movies". Sunday. pp. 55–57.
  4. ^ Nambath, Suresh (28 December 2003). "The politics of art". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2019.

External links[]

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