Kizhakku Vaasal

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,(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, 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 (Shanmuga Sundaram), rich head of neighboring 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 (Manorama) 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 (Thiyagu) 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 (Chinni Jayanth), 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.

• Karthik as Ponnurangam
• Revathy as Thaayamma
• Kushboo as Selvi
• Chinni Jayanth as Maakaan
• Manorama
• Vijayakumar
• Janagaraj
• Shanmugasundaram
• Thyagu
• Sulakshana
• S. N. Parvathy
• Kallapetti Singaram

The film marked the second collaboration between RV Udayakumar and Karthik after Urimai Geetham, duo went on to collaborate again with two films; Ponnumani (1993) and Nandhavana Theru (1995). Dharani (director of Dhill, Dhool and Ghilli) was one of the assistant directors in this film.

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.[2]

Ilaiyaraaja composed the soundtrack, and many of the songs are based on Carnatic ragas. "Vanthathe Oh Kungumam" is set in Mohanam,[3] and "Pachamala Poovu" is set in Dheerashankarabharanam.[4][5] "Ada Veettukku" was inspired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 25th symphony, 1st movement.[6]

The soundtrack comprises the following songs:

Kizhakku Vaasal was released on 12 July 1990.[7] 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".[8]

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• Best Film – G.Thyagarajan, R.V.Udayakumar(Director)
• Best Actor – Karthik
• Best Actress – Revathi
• Best Script – RV Udhayakumar
• Best Cinematographer – Abdul Rahman

• Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Chennai: Pichhamal Chintamani. OCLC 295034757.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Kizhakku Vaasal on IMDb