Kizhakku Vaasal Explained

Kizhakku Vaasal
Director:R. V. Udayakumar
Producer:T. G. Thyagarajan
G. Saravanan
Screenplay:R. V. Udayakumar
Story:M. S. Madhu
Starring:Karthik
Revathi
Khushbu
Music:Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography:Abdul Rehman
Editing:Anil Malnad
Studio:Sathya Jyothi Films
Country:India
Language:Tamil

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 despite already being dubbed in Telugu as Thoorpu Sindhooram.

Plot

Ponnurangam is a folk singer who performs with his mini troop in villages occasionally for festivals. He works part-time as a labourer for Vijayakumar. He has a crush on Selvi, the daughter of Valliyuran, 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 is beaten by Valliyuran's men while she visits his house with the marriage proposal and she later dies in her sleep due to the trauma.

Thaayamma is a holy lady in the village and worshipped as a god that comes down to give them orders periodically. She leads a cloistered life and does not visit anyone. Ponnurangam befriends her and both spends more time together. Meanwhile Selvi repents her actions and falls for Ponnurangam, but he becomes dejected with life. At the time, 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 apologises 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 shares her story.

At past 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 puberty and some days later finds Sulakshana's estranged life. 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.

Now, Ponnurangam wants to marry Thaayamma, as love developed between the two. Knowing about the love, 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.

Production

Manobala was originally supposed to direct Kizhakku Vaasal; due to his commitments to Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai, he could not take up this film, and was replaced by R. V. Udayakumar.[1] [2] The production 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. 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.[3] [4]

Soundtrack

Ilaiyaraaja composed the soundtrack.[5] [6] All the songs are set in Carnatic ragas; "Ada Veettukku" and "Pachamala Poovu" are in Sankarabharanam,[7] "Paadi Parantha" and "Thalukki Thalukki" are in Keeravani, and "Vanthathe Oh Kungumam" is in Mohanam.[8] "Ada Veettukku" was inspired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 25th symphony, 1st movement.[9] [10] For the Telugu-dubbed version Thoorupu Sindhooram, all songs were written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry.[11]

Release and reception

Kizhakku Vaasal was released on 12 July 1990.[12] 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".[13] P. S. S. of Kalki praised the film, saying not only is there quality in Udayakumar's screenplay, dialogue and direction; acknowledging that we will see more surprises, we seem to be welcoming the younger generation.[14] Despite being released on the same day as Anjali, the film became a commercial success,[15] running for over 175 days in theatres.[16]

Accolades

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards[17]
Cinema Express Awards[18]

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.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: மனோபாலா . Manobala . 30 November 2015 . நான் உங்கள் ரசிகன் 10 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230221163544/http://kungumam.co.in/Articalinnerdetail.aspx?id=9671&id1=3&issue=20151130 . 21 February 2023 . 21 February 2023 . . Ta.
  2. Web site: மனோபாலா . Manobala . 7 December 2015 . கமல் தந்த சந்தோஷம்... ரஜினி தந்த அட்வைஸ்! . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230222063854/http://www.kungumam.co.in/Articalinnerdetail.aspx?id=9720&id1=3&issue=20151207 . 22 February 2023 . 22 February 2023 . . ta.
  3. News: 26 February 2014 . கிழக்கு வாசல் படப்பிடிப்பின்போது விபத்தில் சிக்கினார் உதயகுமார் . ta . Udayakumar was involved in an accident while filming Kizhakku Vaasal . . dead . 26 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140305185850/http://cinema.maalaimalar.com/2014/02/26221241/Uthayakumar-was-involved-in-te.html . 5 March 2014.
  4. Web site: மனோபாலா . Manobala . 14 December 2015 . நடிகைக்கு திடீர் கல்யாணம்....... பகீர் இயக்குனர்! . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230223062130/http://kungumam.co.in/Articalinnerdetail.aspx?id=9748&id1=3&issue=20151214 . 23 February 2023 . 23 February 2023 . . ta.
  5. Web site: 1 January 1990 . Kizhakku Vaasal (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Ilaiyaraaja . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230223061509/https://music.apple.com/tr/album/kizhakku-vaasal-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1605094099 . 23 February 2023 . 23 February 2023 . Apple Music.
  6. Web site: Kizhakku Vaasal . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211124062646/https://isaishop.com/item/kizhakku-vaasal . 24 November 2021 . 10 January 2021 . IsaiShop.
  7. News: Mani . Charulatha . Charulatha Mani . 22 November 2013 . Catchy and classical . . live . 8 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190325071327/https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/catchy-and-classical/article5379858.ece . 25 March 2019.
  8. News: Mani . Charulatha . Charulatha Mani . 16 September 2011 . A Raga's Journey — Magical Mohanam . . live . 13 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190823084232/https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/a-ragas-journey-magical-mohanam/article2459174.ece . 23 August 2019.
  9. News: Vivek . T. R. . 31 March 2018 . Why many Ilaiyaraaja songs sound as if they emerged from a jam session with Salil Chowdhury . . live . 8 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200919050422/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/why-many-ilaiyaraaja-songs-sound-as-if-they-emerged-from-a-jam-session-with-salil-chowdhury/article23384713.ece . 19 September 2020.
  10. Web site: Shekar . Anjana . 7 March 2021 . Tamil film music and plagiarism: What fans feel about recurring issue . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231003085037/https://www.thenewsminute.com/tamil-nadu/tamil-film-music-and-plagiarism-what-fans-feel-about-recurring-issue-144703 . 3 October 2023 . 3 October 2023 . The News Minute.
  11. Web site: January 1990 . Thoorupu Sindhuram . live . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20230223060250/https://open.spotify.com/album/5GPjNMMjO4O1FkHmSScnU0 . 23 February 2023 . 17 November 2020 . .
  12. News: 12 July 1990 . Kizhakku Vaasal . 8 July 2019 . . 5 . Google News Archive.
  13. News: Krishnaswamy . N. . 20 July 1990 . Kizhakku Vaasal . 27 February 2019 . . 7 . Google News Archive.
  14. பி.எஸ்.எஸ். . 12 August 1990 . கிழக்கு வாசல் . live . https://archive.today/20230222062532/https://archive.org/details/kalki1990-08-12/page/n29/mode/2up . 22 February 2023 . 1 January 2023 . . 28–29 . Ta . Internet Archive.
  15. Web site: 12 July 2020 . 'கிழக்கு வாசல்', 'அஞ்சலி' 30 ஆண்டுகள்: ஒரே நாளில் வெளியாகி வெளுத்து வாங்கிய படங்கள்! . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200713161122/https://www.hindutamil.in/news/cinema/tamil-cinema/564083-kizhaku-vasal-anjali-30-years-bleached-movies-released-in-one-day.html . 13 July 2020 . 13 July 2020 . . ta.
  16. News: Rajendran . Gopinath . 5 May 2018 . Where is today's great comedian? . . live . 8 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190708041602/http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2018/may/05/where-is-todays-great-comedian-1810268.html . 8 July 2019.
  17. News: 30 October 1992 . Chinnathambi bags six awards . 14 February 2021 . . 3 . Google News Archive.
  18. News: 5 May 1991 . Cinema Express Awards presented . 22 February 2021 . . 3 . Google News Archive.