Agni Sakshi is a Tamil movie released in 1982. The theme of the movie is the marriage between a dance/theatre director Aravindan, acted by Sivakumar, and his sensitive wife Kannamma, acted by Saritha.
Owing to terrible violence Kannamma has witnessed in her childhood, she reacts hysterically to any hint of violence against women, young or old, and to any form of violence against children. In addition, she is highly imaginative and gets affected and highly involved in stories, songs and poems. Aravind and she grow close to each other after Kannamma sees a modern interpretation of the story of “Kannagi” which he has directed, and they begin to write letters to each other. The exchange of letters begins on a literary level and goes on to become affectionate. They eventually fall in love with each other and they get married, and Kannamma’s parents, fearing that they might spoil her chances of getting married, hide the fact from Aravind that she is mentally ill.
Kannamma’s psychological trauma makes it impossible for her to coexist with the family of her spouse with whom she lives in the initial stage of the marriage. Aravind’s family try to initiate a divorce as they did not know before the wedding that Kannamma’s mental health was poor, but when Aravind hears that his wife is with child, he resolves not to leave her, and turns into a staunch and extremely kind husband. At the expense of close contact to either spouse’s family, Aravind decides to learn to love his wife. The bond between Kannamma and Aravind grows deep throughout the time of her pregnancy. The plot takes a few more turns which readers can view in the movie. The box office return was poor. However, Saritha won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.
Directed by K. Balachander
Produced by Rajam Balachander
Written by K. Balachander
Starring Sivakumar, Saritha
Music by M. S. Viswanathan
Cinematography B. S. Lokanath
Edited by N. R. Kittu
Distributed by Kavithalayaa Productions
Release date 14 November 1982
Country India
Language Tamil
