Kizhakku Vaasal is a 1990 Tamil-languageromance 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. The film was remade in Hindi as Mere Sajana Saath Nibhana, in Kannada as Sindhoora Thilaka and in Telugu as Chilakapachcha Kaapuram.
Plot
The film takes place in a village after which the movie is titled. Thaayamma leads a cloistered life and does not visit anyone. She is worshipped as a holy lad upon whom the god 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, 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, the village hero, is a folk singer who performs with his mini troop in nearby village occasionally for festivals. He works as a part-time labour work for Vijayakumar. He has a strong crush for Selvi, daughter of Valliyuran, rich head of neighbouring village and brother-in-law of Vijayakumar. Selvi pranks Ponnurangam by asking his mother to meet her father with the wedding proposal. But Ponnurangam's mother is beaten by Valliyuran's men while she visits his house with the marriage proposal and Manorama dies in her sleep due to shame. Now Selvi falls in love with Ponnurangam, but he is so dejected with life. Meanwhile, Vijayakumar arranges marriage of his spoilt son with Selvi to end their feud of 20 years and to incorporate all of their properties under his son. Ponnurangam is asked to perform at Valliyuran's house the night before marriage. During the end of the song, Selvi apologises to Ponnurangam for his mother's death and gives him money which he coldly rejects. Thiyagu sees the sequence and there is a fight between the families and marriage is stopped. Next day, Thiyagu and his men fight with 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 and raping Thaayamma. He kills Ponnurangam's friend Maakan, but he is mobbed by the villagers and is beaten up. The last scene shows Ponnurangam and Thaayamma walking away from the camera on a road, together.
The shooting of this film was plagued with various problems. The set which was built for the film was burnt, MS Madhu, storywriter of this film suffered from fits after witnessing the fire. Actress Sulakshana was admitted to hospital due to nose bleeding. RV Udayakumar was hospitalised due to car accident and he went into coma for one month. After recovery, Udayakumar completed the climax of the film.
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.
