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Kizhakku Vaasal
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Wikipedia article
'Kizhakku Vaasal' is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed and co-written by R. V. Udayakumar. The film stars Karthik, Revathi and Khushbu. It was released on 12 July 1990 and ran for over 175 days in theatres. In 1992, the film was remade in Hindi as 'Mere Sajana Saath Nibhana' and in Kannada as 'Sindhoora Thilaka'. In 1995, it was remade in Telugu as 'Chilakapachcha Kaapuram'.
Plot
In the village named Kizhakku Vaasal, Thaayamma leads a cloistered life and does not visit anyone. She is worshipped as a holy lady upon whom the gods comes down to give them orders periodically. Thaayamma was an orphan and is found by Janagaraj, who is a street performer. They go from house to house begging for food. One day a lonely woman, Sulakshana, (a secret mistress of the village high man Vijayakumar) accepts Thaayamma as her own daughter and Janagaraj as her brother, and makes them stay in her own house. After 10 years, Thaayamma attains age and some days later finds Sulakshana's occupation. She and Janagaraj attempt to leave her house, but Sulakshana suddenly falls ill and this stops their exit . After Sulakshana's death, Vijaykakumar, the head of the village, tries to take advantage of Thaayamma. But Thaayamma keeps dodging him and keeps herself chaste.
Ponnurangam is a folk singer who performs with his mini troop in nearby village occasionally for festivals. He works part-time as a labourer for Vijayakumar. He has a crush on Selvi, the daughter of Valliyuran (Shanmuga Sundaram), the rich headman of a neighbouring village and the brother-in-law of Vijayakumar . Selvi looks down upon Ponnurangam and tries to pull a prank on him by asking his mother to meet her father with a wedding proposal. But Ponnurangam's mother (Manorama) is beaten by Valliyuran's men while she visits his house with the marriage proposal and Manorama later dies in her sleep due to the trauma. Selvi repents her actions and falls for Ponnurangam, but he becomes dejected with life. Meanwhile, Vijayakumar arranges his spoilt son's (Thiyagu) marriage with Selvi to end their feud of 20 years and also to grab all of their properties through his son. Ponnurangam is asked to perform at Valliyuran's house the night before the wedding. Selvi apologizes to Ponnurangam for his mother's death and gives him money which he coldly rejects. Thiyagu sees them together. There is a fight between the families and the wedding is called off. Next day, Thiyagu and his men attack Ponnurangam and stab him in the back with a poisoned knife. Thaayamma takes care of Ponnurangam and love blossoms between them. Ponnurangam plans to marry Thaayamma. Vijayakumar tries to thwart them by abducting Thaayamma. He kills Ponnurangam's friend Maakan (Chinni Jayanth), but he is then attacked by the angry villagers and beaten up. The last scene shows Ponnurangam and Thaayamma leaving the village and walking away together.
Cast
* Karthik as Ponnurangam
* Revathi as Thaayamma
* Khushbu as Selvi
* Chinni Jayanth as Maakaan
* Manorama as Ponnurangam's mother
* Vijayakumar
* Janagaraj as Thayamma's father
* Shanmugasundaram as Selvi's father "Valliooran"
* Thyagu
* Sulakshana
* S. N. Parvathy
* Kallapetti Singaram
* Bhavana as younger Thaayamma
Production
The production of 'Kizhakku Vaasal' was plagued with various problems. The set which was built for the film was burnt; storywriter M. S. Madhu suffered from fits after witnessing the fire. Actress Sulakshana was admitted to hospital due to nose bleeding. Director R. V. Udayakumar was hospitalised due to a car accident and he went into coma for one month. After recovery, he completed the climax of the film.
Soundtrack
Ilaiyaraaja composed the soundtrack. All the songs are set in Carnatic ragas; "Ada Veettukku" and "Pachamala Poovu" are in Sankarabharanam, "Paadi Parantha" and "Thalukki Thalukki" are in Keeravani, and "Vanthathe Oh Kungumam" is in Mohanam. "Ada Veettukku" was inspired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 25th symphony, 1st movement. For the Telugu-dubbed version 'Thoorupu Sindhooram', all songs were written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry.
Release and reception
'Kizhakku Vaasal' was released on 12 July 1990. N. Krishnaswamy of 'The Indian Express' wrote, "The film moves leisurely at a pastoral face but without boring you. Though not without a cinematic craft, it manages to retain a flavour of reality and of some human interest". Despite being released on the same day as 'Anjali', the film became a commercial success, running for over 175 days in theatres.
Awards
;Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
* Best Film G. Thyagarajan, R. V. Udayakumar (director)
* Best Actor Karthik
* Best Actress Revathi
* Best Cinematographer Abdul Rahman
;Cinema Express Awards
* Best Actor Karthik
Remakes
In 1992, 'Kizhakku Vaasal' was remade in Hindi as 'Mere Sajana Saath Nibhana' and Kannada as 'Sindhoora Thilaka'. In 1995, it was remade in Telugu as 'Chilakapachcha Kaapuram', despite already having been dubbed in the language as 'Thoorpa Sindhooram'.
References
Bibliography
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