The Tamil play Kannamma is a haunting tale of grief and retribution

Ajay Entertainers’ Kannamma (produced by M. Jansirani; story, dialogue, and direction by D. Mallikraj) opens with a chilling scene: the murder of a woman; and her 10-year-old daughter, Kannamma, who kills the murderer. She is sent to a reformatory school, where she spends her childhood. As a teenager, Kannamma is released, having used her time in the juvenile prison to improve her Tamil and poetry writing. Despite her achievements, avenging her mother’s death remains her consuming obsession.

Eventually, Kannamma tracks down the man behind the murder and kills him. The sombre production portrayed a child’s innocence crushed by an adult motive for revenge. The play unfolded as a haunting tapestry of grief and fury, showing how trauma can shatter the fragile psyche of a child. As the story progresses, we realise that the greatest crime was not just the murder but also the psychological warping of the child. LED sets, designed by P. Lakshmi Narayanan, were a visual treat — the hilly beauty of Shimla with rich interiors of the houses, and the dank, forbidding corridors of the reformatory institution. But, there was one slip — there were coconut trees in Shimla! There were some missing threads, because of which continuity was lost. How did Lily (Barathi) zero in on a lawyer, who later turns out to be connected to the family? The motive for Lily’s murder was not explained.

Saismruthi’s portrayal of the school girl, Kannamma, was realistic and the cold fury in her eyes was unsettling. Priya Kannamma, as the teenage-Kannamma also performed well. Fortunately, there was no heavy-handed moralising at the end of the play. The playwright showed the audience what grief does to a child who does not know how to process loss, and this had a lingering effect on the viewers.