Bharathi Kannamma (2019 TV Series)

''Bharathi Kannamma'' is a 2019 Indian Tamil language television series aired on Star Vijay and streams on Disney+ Hotstar. It premiered on 25 February 2019 and directed by Praveen Bennett. It stars Roshini Haripriyan as Kannamma (who was replaced by Vinusha Devi in 2022) along with Arun Prasad, Farina Azad and Roopa Sree in the principal roles. The series is a remake of the Malayalam series '' Karuthamuthu''.
The story follows Dr.Bharathi (Arun) loves and marries a dark skinned intelligent girl Kannamma (Roshni). But his obsessive one side lover, Dr.Venba (Farina) vows to destroy Bharathi and Kannamma's relationship and marry Bharathi. Will Kannamma save Bharathi and her family from Venba???

Plot

Kannamma is a pure-hearted girl who is looked down upon by her beautiful stepsister, Anjali, and step-mother, Bhagyalakshmi, due to her dark-complexion. Her father however supports and praises her due to her kind nature. Soundharya is a business tycoon who is obsessed with beauty (Eurocentric standards) and when Anjali wins the Miss Chennai, she arranges a marriage with her and her younger son, Akhilan. Akhilan takes an instant liking to Anjali, but Anjali likes his brother, Bharathi. During this love triangle, Bharathi and Kannamma frequently cross paths, and Bharathi ends up falling for her due to her kind character. Anjali attempts to blackmail Bharathi into marrying her by threatening suicide, but Bharathi approaches her father to ask his permission to marry Kannamma, and reveals that he is infertile. He then asks him to break the news to Kannamma, and on the condition that she is okay with that, he will marry her, but Kannamma's father does not tell Kannamma about his infertility, and consents to the marriage. Kannamma is ecstatic that she will be marrying a good-hearted man. On the day of Anjali's birthday, Bharathi marries Kannamma, and both his mother, and Anjali are angry at this. Akhil, and Bharathi's father, Venu are happy.  Soundharaya allows Kannamma into the house, after insulting her. Anjali gets married to Akhil and schemes to get rid of Kannamma so that she can divorce Akhil and marry Bharathi but is thwarted by Soundharya, and later starts to fall in love with Akhil.

Dr. Venba, a coworker madly in love with Bharathi schemes to break up Bharathi and Kannamma as she wants Bharathi for herself. Kannamma consults with Venba as she is having trouble conceiving, but Venba uses this in her scheme, convincing Bharathi to make it look like she is the reason why they cannot conceive and not due to Bharathi. During a reunion, Varun, a friend of Kannamma attends, and Venba plants the idea that Kannamma is having an affair with Varun in Bharathi's head. Having learned that Kannamma is allegedly infertile, Soundharya calls on Bharathi to remarry again, with Venba being happy that she can be the second wife, but Soundharya wants him to marry someone else. Soon after, Kannamma starts showing symptoms of pregnancy, and later shows a positive pregnancy test to Soundharya, so as to stop her from trying to find Bharathi a new wife.  Venba hires a killer, Durga, to kill Kannamma, but he later realizes that Kannamma is a good person and he sticks around to stop Venba from trying to kill her, and meddle in her life. It is then revealed that Venba killed Bharathi's ex, Hema, and Durga comes clean to Kannamma about his original intentions, but says that Bharathi is the one who wanted her dead and not Venba, as he is in love with Venba. Kannamma attempts to leave the house and reveals to Soundharya that her son is trying to kill her and her baby. The family confronts Bharathi, who says he is not trying to kill her but reveals that he cannot be the father. She goes to her parents house and yells at her father for not telling her the truth about his alleged infertility and she leaves. The family tries to get Bharathi to do another fertility test but is stopped by Venba. Kannamma gives birth to twins (Hema and Lakshmi), but Soundharya takes the darker-skinned of the twins unbeknownst to Kannamma, as she wanted to help Kannamma. Soundharya takes the baby home, and saves Bharathi's life by crying which got him to tend to her, right when a chandelier falls. He then takes an interest in the baby and names her Hema, after his ex. Kannamma stays with the nurse, Thulasi. Venba tries to marry Bharathi and almost succeeds but is thwarted by Soundarya.

8 years later

Lakshmi (Soundharyalakshmi) and Hema are now eight years old and live in a village, where Kannamma runs a tailoring shop. Bharathi and his family arrive at the village to set up a free medical camp, where he ends up meeting Lakshmi, unaware that he is her father. Durga has become a doctor and he poaches both Venba's staff and patients, which angers her. Lakshmi and Hema both attend the same school and become close friends. Bharathi grows fond of Lakshmi, unaware that he is her father, and that she is Kannamma's daughter. Bharathi decides to marry Venba in spite of his family's disapproval, but she treats Hema poorly which makes him give second thought. Kannamma starts a business with Thulasi and Sumathi (her land lord). The twins both unaware that they are twins, are surprised that they share the same birthday and decide to have the birthday at Hema's house, where Bharathi discovers that Kannamma is the mother of Lakshmi. Bharathi decides to go abroad with Hema as he does not like the fact that she has become close with Kannamma. Venba kidnaps Hema in an attempt to stop Bharathi from leaving. Bharathi has Kannamma arrested as he suspects her to be the culprit but later realizes that she was not the culprit. He later manages to convince Hema to go to the US and visits Kannamma's house so that she can say her goodbye, and apologize for having her arrested. Hema learns that her mother's name is Kannamma from the passport forms, and confronts her grandmother. Bharathi tells Hema that her mother is dead to the shock of the rest of the family. Venba kidnaps Durga in order to scare him away.

Anjali is diagnosed with a heart ailment while she's pregnant, and is told to think about abortion but she refuses and hides this issue from the family. Bharathi makes up his mind to leave, but Hema has convulsions while they are leaving, and when Kannamma visits her, her condition improves and the doctors tells him that in order for Hema to do well, she should stay with Kannamma for a short while. Bharathi ends up staying there due to a COVID containment zone for a day.

Later, Bharathi finds out that Lakshmi is Kannamma's daughter when he takes her to the hospital due to a stomach ache. He confronts his family and Kannamma about this. Kannamma discovers that she did give birth to twins and goes on a quest to find the other child. Soundharya does her best to cover up the truth, employing Thulasi in her lies. A baby shower is thrown for Anjali, and Venba and Kannamma are both invited, and Venba tries to make it seem like she is married to Bharati but Anjali tells Kannamma that they are not married. Later on, Venba discovers the twin situation and threatens Kannamma, and Soundharya overhears this and comes clean. Kannamma takes Hema and Lakshmi to the temple and asks Hema about her mother, when Hema replies that her mother had died when she was born. When Kannamma coming to say that she is her real mother, Soundarya Devi comes and stops her. Anjali also discovers that Hema is Kannamma's daughter, and wants to reunite her with her mother. While visiting Kannamma, Anjali discovers that the medication she was prescribed by Bharati was not actually done by him but was forged. She connects the dots and realizes that this was the doing of Venba. Bharati starts to feel paranoid that the family is trying to separate him from Hema, and is trying to push him back to Kannamma, so he plans to divorce her. Kannamma sets up Venba by hiring two women to ask her for an illegal abortion which was filmed and she goes to jail. Venba tells Bharathi that she was framed, and Bharathi files for divorce. During the divorce trial, the judge finds their situation peculiar as they were living apart for eight years but lived life like normal and are co-parenting, so she orders them to live together under one roof for six months. Bharathi stays at Kannamma's house, while the kids are shuttered back to Soundarya's house under the guise that Bharati is on a business trip.  While living with her, he realizes her daily struggles and empathizes with her but he is conflicted as he believes that she did cheat on him. Meanwhile, Soundarya hires an attorney named Vadivu to live underneath Kannammas's house with the task of creating situations which cause the couple to be close to one another. Kannamma opens up to Vadivu about not being ready to be with Bharathi even if the lie has been cleared up as she expects him to apologize to her beforehand. At Hema's home, Lakshmi battles with not knowing who her family is and constantly worries about Kannamma.

Bharathi learns the truth

Bharathi finally takes the DNA test and received the result from the chief doctor in Delhi. Finally finds out that Hema and Lakshmi are his daughters. Bharathi finds the true colours of Venba by the help of a returning Durga witnessing Venba's evil act towards Kannamma and the kids in order to get closer to Bharathi. Bharathi finally apologizes to Kannamma for years of misunderstandings and embarrassments to which Kannamma does not accept. She tells him that he should learn to trust others instead of needing a paper to know the truth about her. Kannamma, at the wishes of Hema and Lakshmi, decide to move to Shenmugam's hometown of Mudhevi to start a new life. Bharathi, with the help of his mother-in-law's brother, successfully track them down and open up a hospital as an excuse to be near Kannamma.Kannamma proceeds with her divorce petition and both of them get mutually divorced. How Bharathi convinces Kannamma to take him back forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Main

* Roshini Haripriyan / Vinusha Devi as Kannamma – A tailor, food supplier and admin officer at Vikram's hosptial; Shanmugam and Shenbagam's daughter; Baakiyalakshmi's step-daughter; Anjali's half-sister; Bharathi's ex-wife; Lakshmi and Jr. Hema's mother. Venba's arch-rival. She is dark-skinned, illiterate but bold, courageous, talented, intelligent, and zealous. (2019–2021) / (2022–present)

* Arun Prasad as Dr. Bharathi – Soundarya Devi and Venu's elder son; Shruti and Akhilan's brother; Arivumani's cousin; Hema's ex-boyfriend; Anjali's ex-love interest; Kannamaa's ex-husband; Venba's love interest; Lakshmi and Jr. Hema's father. He married Kannamma, but later distances himself from her due to a misunderstanding that she had an affair with her friend Varun. (2019–present)
* Farina Azad as Dr. Venba – A gynecologist; Sharmila's daughter; Bharathi's childhood friend and obsessive lover; Rohit's wife; Hema's mudrerer. She is a fair-skinned girl, also a drug addict and insane woman. She wants to marry Bharathi and tries to separate Bharathi and Kannamma. She hates Kannamma. She killed Bharathi's first lover Hema and repeatedly tried to kill Kannamma. (2019–present)
* Raksha Shyam as Lakshmi – Bharathi and Kannamma's elder daughter; Hema's twin sister. (2020–present)
* Lisha Rajkumar as Hema – Bharathi and Kannamma's younger daughter; Lakshmi's twin sister. She is dark-skinned, calm and is named after Dr. Hima. Bharathi adopted her thinking she's an orphan. Later, Kannamma and Bharathi find out that Hema is their own daughter. (2020–present)

Recurring

* Roopa Sree as Soundarya– Venu's wife; Shruti, Bharathi and Akhilan's mother; Yazhini, Lakshmi, Hema and Aadhavan's grandmother (2019–present)
*Rishikeshav as Venu Gopalakrishnan – Gayatri's brother; Soundarya's husband; Shruti, Bharathi and Akhilan's father; Yazhini, Lakshmi, Hema and Aadhavan's grandfather (2019–present)
* Kanmani Manoharan / Aruljothi Arockiaraj as Anjali – Shanmugam and Baakiyalakshmi's daughter; Kannamma's half-sister; Akhilan's wife; Aadhavan's mother. She is a fair-skinned girl. She loved Bharathi, but married Akhilan. (2019–2022) / (2022–present)

* Akilan S. Pushparaj / Sugesh Rajendran as Akhilan – Soundarya and Venu's younger son; Shruti and Bharathi's brother; Arivumani's cousin; Anjali's husband; Aadhavan's father. (2019–2021) / (2021–present)
* Shruthi Shanmugapriya as Shruthi – Soundarya and Venu's daughter; Bharathi and Akhilan's sister; Yazhini's mother. (2019–2020)
* Akshaya Dinesh as Yazhini – Shruthi's daughter
* Sabari as Rohit – Venba's husband. (2022–present)
* Kaavya Arivumani as Arivumani – Soundarya's niece; Bharathi, Akhilan and Shruthi's cousin; Kannamma's best friend; Selva's love interest (2019–2021)
* Sherin Jaanu as Thulasi Sundar – Former nurse at Bharathi's hospital (2020–2022)
* Venkatesh / Muthu Kumara Swamy as Shanmugam – Shenbagam's widower; Baakiyalakshmi's husband; Kannamma and Anjali's father; Lakshmi, Jr. Hema and Aadhavan's grandfather. (2019–2021) / (2021–present)
* Senthi Kumari as Baakiyalakshmi "Baakya" Shanmugam – Anbukarasi's daughter; Selva's sister; Shanmugam's second wife; Anjali's mother; Kannamma's step-mother; Aadhavan's grandmother; Lakshmi and Jr. Hema's step-grandmother. (2019–present)
* Rajkumar Manoharan as Selva Ganapathy – Anbukarasi's son; Baakiyalakshmi's brother; Kannamma's helper; Arivumani's love interest. (2019–2020)
* Vijayalakshmi as Anbukarasi – Baagyalakshmi and Selva's mother; Anjali's grandmother. (2019–2020) (Dead)
* Rekha as Sharmila – Venba's mother (2019; 2022–present)
* Praveen Devasagayam as Dr. Durga – Venba's helper turned arch-rival. He is initially a rowdy and helped Venba, but realized his mistakes seeing Kannamma's innocence and vows to protect her. After 8 years, he imposed as a doctor to intimidate Venba. (2020–present)
* Neepa as Sumathi Sekar – Kannamaa's house owner and good friend; Sekar's wife; Manju's mother (2020–present)
* Mahesh Kumar as Sekar – Sumathi's husband; Manju's father (2020–present)
* Adhithiri Sree as Manju Sekar – Sumathi and Sekhar's daughter; Lakshmi's friend (2020–present)
* Revathee Shankar as Gayatri – Venu's sister (2019–2020)
* Pushpa Vetriselvan as Santhi – Venba's housekeeper (2020–present)
* Yogi as Maayandi – Kannamma's ex-fiancé; Anjali's helper; Nimmi's husband (2019–Present)
* Subageetha as Nirmala "Nimmi" Maayandi – Maayandi's wife; Anjali's caretaker. (2019–present)
* M. J. Shriram as Venba's uncle (2019–2021)
* Balaji as Babu – Venba's helper; Durga's enemy (2019–present)
* Manoj Kumar as Kumar – Kannamaa's helper; An auto-driver (2020–present)
* Lakshmi as Gomathi – Venba's helper at orphanage. (2020) (Dead)
* Arandhangi Nisha as Advocate Vadivukkarasi aka Vadivu – Kannamma's well wisher. (2021–present)
* Bharath Kalyan as Vikram – Owner of Vikram Babu Hospital; Soundarya and Venu's college close friend. (2022–present)

Special appearance

* Snehan as Himself (Episode 1) (2019)
* Deepa Shankar as Shenbagam Shanmugam – Shanmugam's first wife; Kannamma's mother; Lakshmi and Jr. Hema's grandmother (2019) (Dead)
* Preethi Sanjeev as Vadivambal – Kannamma's cousin (2019)
* Arunraja Kamaraj as Himself – Bharathi's friend (2019)
* Alya Manasa as Dr. Hema – A cardiologist; Bharathi's colleague and ex-lover. She is killed by Venba. (2019) (Dead)
* Uma Rani as Shenbagavalli – Manimegalai's mother (2019–2020)
* Manimegalai as Manimegalai – Shenbagavalli's daughter; Bharathi's proposed bride (2020)
* Kaaka Muttai Shanthi Mani as Paatti (Episode 3) (2019)
* Raju Jeyamohan as Varun Mohan – A poet; Kannamma's classmate and best friend. Though he treated Kannamma as a sister, Venba brainwashed Bharathi into believing that he had an affair with Kannamma, eventually creating a misunderstanding (2020)
* Madhumitha Illayaraja as Meenatchi "Meena" Sathasivam – Sathasivam's daughter; Akhilan's love interest (2020)
* Manoj Kumar as Sathasivam – Meena's father (2020)
* Madurai Mohan as Natraj – A hand carter; Petchiamma's husband. He helped Kannamma and took care of her. (2020)
* Chenniamma as Petchiamma – Natraj's wife (2020)
* Rohini as Veni – An owner in petrol bunk (2020)
* Jeya Lakshmi – An incharge in an orphanage (2020)
* Vasu Vikram as Mahalingam – Kannamma's MD in a tailoring departmental store (2020)
* Babitha as Maheshwari Mahalingam – Soundarya's friend; Mahalingam's wife; Prashad's mother (2020)
* Yuvan Pattison as Prashad Mahalingam – Bharathi's friend; Mahalingam and Maheshwari's son (2020)
* KPY Pazhani as Pazhani – Seetha's husband; Kannamma's neighbour (2020-2021)
* Nilani as Seetha Pazhani – Pazhani's wife; Kannamma's friend based in Thiruvallur (2020-2021)
* Jeyanthi as an IAS officer (2021)
* Aari Arujunan as Himself (2021)
* Sivaangi Krishnakumar as Herself (2021)
* Suresh Chakravarty as Himself (2021)
* Bj Bala as Himself (2021)
* Archana Chandhoke as Herself (2021)
* Salma Arun as Dr. Priya – Bharathi's friend (2021)
* Sona Nair as Judge of Court (2021)
* Nakshatra Nagesh as Saraswathi Thamizharasu (2022)
* Goudham S as Goudham (2022)
* Surjith Kumar as Surjith (2022)
* CN Anandan as Surjith's father (2022)
* Dhakshayini as Surjith's mother (2022)
* Ajay Ratnam as Police IG (during terrorists hijacks hospital) (2022)

Production

Soundtrack

;Soundtrack

Filming

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India, ''Bharathi Kannamma'', and all other Indian television series and films production were suspended from 19 March 2020. Three months later, shooting was permitted and the team commenced filming in July. The show commenced telecasting new episodes from 27 July 2020. With the increase in Covid cases in Tamil Nadu, the production was suspended for a few days in mid-May 2021.

Crossover episodes

In January 2020, Bharathi Kannamma had a crossover with ''Pandian Stores'' for a week. It also had a crossover with '' Raja Rani 2'' during March 2021 for three weeks and a day (Raja Rani S2 E-108 to E-126). With the sudden announcement of suspension of shoot in mid-May 2021 and with a few cast availability then for bank episodes shoot, once again the series was crossed over with ''Raja Rani 2''. Again on 2022, the series joined Mahasangamam with Raja Rani 2

Adaptations

Reception

Viewership and ratings

Beginning with an average viewership and trp of 5.53, after a year, In September 2020, the sequence of the series where lead Kannamma leaves the house, the series gained viewership and entering top five Tamil television programs. During which, in the week 37 of 2020, it became the third most watched Tamil soap for the first time garnering 8.254 million impressions and becoming the second Star Vijay program to enter the top five. However, in week 21 of 2021 when the rival channel Sun TV's top rated soap '' Roja'' was shifted to 9:00 pm (IST) against Bharathi Kannamma. During Week 32, Bharathi Kannamma defeated Roja by a margin of 2TVR across Urban and Urban+Rural markets, repeatedly leading in the 9PM slot.

References

External links

Official website
at Hotstar
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{{STAR Vijay TV shows

Star Vijay original programming
2010s Tamil-language television series
Tamil-language romance television series
2019 Tamil-language television series debuts
Tamil-language television shows