Kannathal
| Kannathaal | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bharathi Kannan |
| Written by | Bharathi Kannan E. Ramdoss (dialogues) |
| Produced by | R. B. Choudary |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Vijay |
| Edited by | V. Jaishankar |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Kannathal is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language devotional film directed by Bharathi Kannan. The film stars Karan, Neena and Indhu, with Manivannan, Vadivelu, Vadivukkarasi, Fathima Babu, and Delhi Ganesh playing supporting roles. It was released on 2 December 1998.[1]
Plot[edit]
Kannatha (Neena) is a goddess believer and is treated as a goddess by the villagers. She lives with her father Shanmugam Pillai (Delhi Ganesh), who is a nadaswaram player and an ardent believer of a goddess, her mother (Fathima Babu), and her four little sisters.
Chinna Durai (Karan) is the son of the rich Zamindar Mohana Sundaram (Manivannan) and Ranganayaki (Vadivukkarasi). He is a womaniser and has a lot of bad habits. One day, Chinna Durai witnesses Kannatha in a Hindu festival and wants to have sex with her, so he decides to marry her. Shanmugam, who is in deep debt, accepts for the marriage. Chinna Durai and Kannatha finally marry.
After the marriage, Chinna Durai rapes Kannatha and begins to mistreat the innocent girl. When Shanmugam comes to see Kannatha, Chinna Durai ridicules him. Feeling guilty to have destroyed his daughter's life, Shanmugam dies from a heart attack. Kannatha then decides to accommodate her mother and sisters in their big house. Mohana Sundaram and Ranganayaki humiliate them as much as possible to expel them from their house; in addition to this, Chinna Durai sexually harasses Kannatha's mother. They cannot bear the mental torture, so Kannatha's mother and the four girls commit suicide by eating poisoned food.
Kannatha doesn't know the news of her family's death. Meanwhile, Kannatha becomes pregnant. In eager to spoil another woman's life they accuse that Kannatha's baby is someone else's baby, The village president (in order of chonnadurai) demands Kannatha should perform a ritual on front of Chintala karai Vekkali amman statue if she does the ritual without aborting the baby, she is a good woman. Kannatha performs the ritual successfully.One night, Chinna Durai, Mohana Sundaram, and Ranganayaki beat the crap out of the innocent girl to death and incinerate her. They claim that this was an accident to the police. Later, Chinna Durai marries his relative Seetha Lakshmi (Indhu), a talkative and naive village girl. Later, Kannatha becomes a goddess and takes revenge on the culprits. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.
Cast[edit]
- Karan as Chinna Durai
- Neena as Kannatha
- Indhu as Seetha Lakshmi
- Manivannan as Mohana Sundaram
- Vadivukkarasi as Ranganayaki
- Vadivelu as Soona Paana (Subbaiya Pandiyan)
- Fathima Babu as Kannatha's mother
- Delhi Ganesh as Shanmugam, Kannatha's father
- Halwa Vasu as Vasu
- Thideer Kannaiah as Gopal
- Bharathi Kannan as Babu
- Meesai Murugesan
- Kullamani
- Raj Chander as Babu
- Nellai Siva
- Kovai Senthil
- Chitra Guptan
- Vellai Subbaiah
- Achan
- Vinu Chakravarthy in a guest appearance as Karuppu Sami
- Khushbu in a guest appearance as villupattukari
Soundtrack[edit]
The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[2][3] He reportedly composed all the songs in a single day.[4]
| Song | Singer(s) | Lyrics | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Amman Pukazhai Paada" (male) | Ilaiyaraaja | Ilaiyaraaja | 4:53 |
| "Amman Pukazhai Paada" (female) | Bhavatharini | 4:53 | |
| "Kamatchi Ammanukku" | Sujatha | Ponnadiyan | 5:17 |
| "Maalaiveiyazhaki" | Ilaiyaraaja, Chorus | Kamakodiyan | 2:42 |
| "Munthi Munthi Vinayagare" | K. S. Chithra | Bharathi Kannan | 6:20 |
| "Pathilenkay Solvai" | Sujatha | Arivumathi | 4:09 |
| "Unnai Nambum" | Devie Neithiyar, Chorus | Kamakodiyan | 2:38 |
Reception[edit]
D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu opined that "The old fashioned approach of director S. Bharathikannan, based on his story and screenplay, may go well with rural audience, particularly womenfolk".[5]
References[edit]
- ^ "Kannathaal / கண்ணாத்தாள்". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ "Kannathal (2004) [sic]". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ "Kannathal / Guru Parvai". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ Waheed, Sajahan (22 June 1998). "'Kannathal' inspires Illayaraja folk tunes". New Straits Times. Retrieved 9 March 2024 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ Ramanujam, D. S. (4 December 1998). "Film Reviews: Velli Nilavae / Kannaathaal". The Hindu. p. 27. Archived from the original on 7 April 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
