Ennennum Kannettante

Plot

Ennennum Kannettante is a teenage love story. It tells of the incomplete love of 19-year-old Kannan (Sangeeth) and 16-year-old Radhika (Sonia).

Kannan comes from Trivandrum to his ValiyaKoikkal tharavdu (ancestral house) with his mother (Srividya) to spend vacation and to attend the festival in their family temple, the Pookkulangara Devi temple. There are his relatives like grandfather Parameswara Kuruppu (Thilakan), grandmother (Sukumari), head of the family (Nedumudi Venu) and his aunt Vijayalakshmi (Jalaja) and her children. Everybody likes Kannan very much, and he has a good time along with his friend Gopu (Appa Haja).

But with the arrival of his uncle's daughter (murappennu) Radhika (Sonia G Nair) from Bangalore after a gap of nine years to perform her dance debut (Arangettam) in the temple, everyone's attention turns to her. Kannan initially felt sad and angry but, once he sees Radhika, immediately falls in love with her. Kannan and Radhika were childhood friends and both have memories of their childhood. Radhika also likes Kannan but was afraid to reveal it to Kannan. To know whether Radhika loves him, Kannan plans to ask her secretly and hides himself in the bathroom. Radhika saw him, cries aloud. The whole family learns of the incident, and Kannan was blamed by all, including his mother. She sent message to Kannan's father to take him back to Trivandrum for his exams. Meanwhile, Radhika revealed to Kannan that she loves him as much as he loved her. Soon, Kannan's father took him back to the city.

After finishing the exams, Kannan rushed back to the village to meet Radhika, but she has already gone to the railway station to return to Bangalore and then to USA with her parents. Kannan rushed to the station. As he reached it, the train left and he couldn't meet Radhika one last time, even though he chased her train. Radhika left a souvenir for him in the platform, but the heartbroken Kannan didn't see it.

Reviews

Major part of what happens to Kannan and his love Radhika happen at Koyikkal Tharavad. It is from here where their love blossomed first time long before when they were little children. The re-union of the two at a later stage when they turn to their teen-ages is played in the background of this Tharavad with many nostalgic events. The embroidery work, garland, offerings and prayers of Radhika for Kannettan bring lovely romantic feelings in the minds of the viewers. The Koyikkal Tharavd stands for a typical Hindu tharavad or can be said was an attempt of the makers to portray the Tharavad as one. Though it is the romance that is given the most prominence in the movie, the rituals and lifestyle of the people of the place also get prominence. Some of The Hindu rituals are shown elaborately and simultaneously with the love of Kannan and Radhika. It is to be noted that love, a very common and pleasant human emotion is the source on which every superstition is tested. The Tharavad Karanavar played by Nedumudi Venu is very superstitious. He always try to make some weird connections in grand feelings like love (though unknowingly) and also in silly and simple things like the insufficient offerings of the Tharavad for the deities. Parameswara Kurup (played by Thilakan (grand father of Kannan)) is somewhat agnostic about many of the rituals but ultimately concedes to the ideas of Tharavad Karanavar. The sister of Parameswara Kurup is always very pessimistic and finds bad omens with almost anything. The film also opens a panoramic view of a Hindu family with values and interesting practices. Though an overt criticism of Hindu rituals as all belonging to superstitions cannot be accepted, it is to be acceded that some superstitious beliefs are prevalent in the community. Thus while also being a nice romantic film with nostalgic elements, it opens vistas of discussions for many other things like this. The music of the film deserves special mention. Most of the songs are well composed and well written. The BGM during the romantic scenes is mind-blowing.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features seven songs composed by Jerry Amaldev with lyrics penned by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri. It was the first work of noted poet Kaithapram as a lyricist. Kaithapram used to write poems in Mathrubhumi, and this brought him to the notice of playback singer K. J. Yesudas, who asked him to write lyrics for his Tarangini Cassettes. Fazil heard some of these, and asked Kaithapram to write the lyrics for the film.

1. "Bhaagavatham" — M. G. Radhakrishnan (Traditional lyrics by Ezhuthachan)
2. "Devadundhubhi" — K. J. Yesudas
3. "Devadundhubhi" — K. J. Yesudas, Satheesh Babu & Sunanda
4. "Kaakkem Keekkem" — Padma Subramaniam, Sunanda (Lyrics by Madhu Muttam)
5. "Nizhalaay Pozhiyum" — K. J. Yesudas
6. "Onnaanam Kulakkadavil" — Chorus
7. "Poovattaka Thattichinni" — K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chithra & Chorus
8. "Thankathala Thaalam" — K. J. Yesudas & Chorus