''Bharathi Kannama'' is a 1997 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Cheran, starring

R. Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...

and

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...

. The film marks Cheran's debut as a director and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. It was well-received upon its commercial release.

Prabhu Solomon Prabhu Solomon (born 7 May 1969) is an Indian film director who has primarily worked on Tamil films. After making his debut in 1999, he had a middling career before rising to prominence with the success of the romantic tragedy film ''Mynaa'' (2 ...

remade this film in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

as '' Usire'' (2001) with

Ravichandran Ravichandran is an Indian name. Notable people with the name include: * Ravichandran (Tamil actor) (1942–2011) * Ravichandran (Tamil film director) (born 1971) * N. Ravichandran (professor) (1955), professor at IIM Ahmedabad * N. Ravichandran, ...

Plot

The

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

is a landlord in Devar Palayam. In a community where wealthy landlords do not normally engage in unskilled labor, he does his own chores to make a social statement that all

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

s are equal. In a flashback; Bharathi (

Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...

) is a lower caste worker for a rich landlord, Vellaisamy Thevar ( Vijayakumar). He saves Vellaisamy's daughter Kanamma (

) 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. Kanamma waits until everyone leaves after dinner and then gives Pechi some anklets. This is seen by Bharati, who is actually in love with her but does not reciprocate her feelings due to his loyalty towards Vellaisamy. Pechi settles with a higher-caste landlord's son living in the next village. Vellaisamy thinks of getting his daughter married and finds a suitable candidate. On the day of the ''ponnu paarkura'', a fire starts, and the groom's family views the union to be unfavorable. Afterward, Kanamma's burns are treated by Bharati, and she writes a letter about her love for him, but his name is obscured by her tears. The letter is discovered by her father, who attacks his daughter and tries to discover who she loves. Bharati later tells Kanamma that their relationship cannot happen due to caste differences. Vellaisamy's mother has a heart attack, and her last wish is to see Kanamma married. He consults

astrologers Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

who assure him of a match, while Kanamma remains depressed. When Bharathi is escorting some of his master's goods through a forest, he is stopped by Maayan, who has heard of Kanamma's

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

and vows to stop it. Kanamma makes the goat sacrifice, and Bharati encourages her to accept her new husband, though he does so with great regret. During the sacrifice of the goat, Kanamma hallucinates that she led Bharati before her father and killed him. Throughout the preparations for the wedding, Bharati does not speak to Kanamma. Pechi returns 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, who defeats them. However, he cannot stop Kanamma from committing suicide. He beats the

parai The parai is a traditional Tamil frame drum about 35 centimeters in diameter, used in the parai attam dance. It consists of a shallow ring of wood, covered on one side with a stretched cow hide that is glued to the wooden frame. The preferred ...

at her funeral, unable to speak. After Vellaisamy is guided to light the torch, and all go to bathe in the river, Bharati throws himself on Kanamma's funeral pyre and burns with her. Vellaisamy realized that bharati was the person kannamma was in love with, but did not tell him due to caste problems. Vellaisamy tells to himself that bharati setting himself on pyre is symbolic representation of their love, and the other villagers grieve again for Bharati, and Vellaisamy adopts Pechi(bharati's sister), marries her to her high-caste lover, and sends them to the city. Years later, Vellaisamy greets Pechi, her husband, and their children at the railway station forgetting about caste and discrimination of villagers.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music of the movie was composed by

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

Controversy

Upon release, the film was almost banned due to its caste-subversive content. As a result, some releases had deleted scenes, and in Rajapalayam the film was not immediately released.

References

External links

Film review
{{FilmfareAwardBestTamilMovie ] 1997 films 1997 directorial debut films 1990s_[Tamil-language_films Discrimination_in_fiction.html" ;"title="amil-language_films.html" ;"title="1990s [Tamil-language films">1990s [Tamil-language films Discrimination in fiction">amil-language_films.html" ;"title="1990s [Tamil-language films">1990s [Tamil-language films Discrimination in fiction Films about the caste system in India Films about social class Films directed by Cheran Films scored by Deva (composer) Tamil films remade in other languages