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Kizhakku Vasal - Tamil movie review

Another movie with an innocent village singer as the hero, in this case Karthik.  Manorama is his widowed mother and Chinni Jayanth, an orphan but adopted by Manorama as her first son. 

The village head's daughter Khushboo takes Karthik for many a ride but he does not mind any of it - except for one particular jovial word from her, that she wishes to marry him.  Believing it to be real he sends his mother to formally ask for her hand in marriage which is a fatal mistake for Manorama and alters the course of the story. 

Meanwhile new entrant in the village Revathi with her escort Janakaraj intrigues all.  She is the special guest of the village head and everyone keeps their distance from her, except for Karthik who moves with her quite casually and she too takes to his child like ways.

Things move fast after Khushboo's wedding is arranged with someone else and Karthik is invited to sing for the wedding ceremony.  He has forgiven her but her conscience troubles her.  Meanwhile the village head's (Vijayakumar's) pressure on Revathy to be submissive mounts and unexpectedly Karthik rescues her by placing the kumkum in her forehead symbolizing their union.   So in the end there is poetic justice.

The music is great; makes you hum the tunes.  Overall nice entertainer.  I am sure this movie has been an important landmark in all the main actors careers.  Chinni Jayanth's innocence is very endearing.  One particular dialogue of Karthik's that I like is when he says his hut has all the facilities for the new bride (Khushboo).  They say contentment is the biggest wealth and in that sense Karthik is the richest guy even though he may live in a hut, taking alms from the villagers for his survival.

 

Chinna thambi - movie review

         Prabhu as Chinna Thambi and Khushboo are the heroes in this village based theme.  The scenery is lovely and the music is very good too.  A nice entertainer if you can tolerate the extreme thali sentiment.  I say entertainer because for the three hours of watching this movie you have to be prepared to buy into the unrealistic bringing up of the heroine which has propelled her to marry the first guy, who is not her brother, that she has access to.  The hero of course is the epitome of innocence since he does not even know what a marriage means but otherwise he is the perfect hero - he can sing well, he can fight well, has his heart in the right place etc.

 

         The villains in this movie are Khushboo's over protective brothers who obviously cannot tolerate this bumpkin to be her suitor.  So they wreak vengeance in a very unique way - by pouring colored water, then applying kumkum then adorning flowers on the long widowed mother of Chinna Thambi, Manorama.  He is about to tie the thali (again thali sentiment) when Chinna Thambi promptly rescues her from that predicament.  As Radharavi, the villain hovers with the thali, my mind works fast, is this movie going to end like Apurva Ragangal movie?  So if Radharavi, Khushboo's brother marries Prabhu's mom and becomes his father is he rendering the possibility of marriage impossible?  And what would happen to his wife Sulakshana?  Thankfully putting an end to all my surmises Prabhu jumps in and saves his mother from further insults! 

 

     And all ends well when the villains repent for their deeds and decide to get their sister (re)married with her lover.  (She had already married him in secrecy - in fact Prabhu himself did not know that he was making her his wife by tying the thali around her neck!!!)

 

 

 

Kizhakku cheemaiyile - Tamil movie review

A movie brimming with sentimentality - the usual sister brother affection accentuated by her getting married to the wrong person (Napolean) who respects neither her nor her brother.  It pains the brother Vijayakumar even more so because this groom was his choice for his dear sister Radhika.  Things between the two men were not always like this - a fight when Napolean is inebriated causes irreparable damage - one his eloped sister commits suicide and two, he blames Vijayakumar in some indirect way.  But Radhika's mother in law is consistently nasty towards her right from the beginning - more so after she bears a girl child.

Things go downhill from there and people surrounding Napolean are no help either.  He then demands Radhika's share of property and refuses to invite him for his daughter's ear-piercing ceremony.  The brother and sister are totally shattered; the former always lets go because his sister's honor is at stake and the latter understands fully well her husband's unreasonable actions but stays docile because a wife has to be subservient to her husband at all times.  Time passes on like this and the next generation has grown up.  But what I find unable to comprehend is how Radhika, who was ready to cut her hand (literally cut her hand)  just because her brother dared her to in their childhood, now with each atrocity of her husband, begs her brother very ardently to forgive him to safeguard her honor as a wife.  Could'nt she just walk out from a place where she is not happy?   Maybe not after the first fight but eventually seeing that she could never be openly cordial with her brother and his son, with whom she entertains thoughts of marrying off her daughter?

Well, after three hours of watching the drama unfold, it has to end and things take a drastic turn when she takes the decision-making into her own hands.

Rahman's music could be more apt.  The use of some western instruments in a village backdrop seemed irrelevant to me.  Maybe at that time (1993?)  the songs may have been a superhit.

 

Thillu Mullu (new movie) review

This movie is hilarious!!  Even though I had my doubts about waching a remake it was not my choice to watch this - it was playing on TV and I eventually stared watching it, laughing with it and eventually liking it.  Let me confess that I am not a great fan of remakes or remixes - only an original can intrigue me - or so I thought until I watched this.  The whole team - Shiva, Kovai Sarala, Prakashraj, and even those who play minor roles have turned this into a first class entertainer.

Firstly the story line is so well adapted to modern times - like taking a cell phone video, using contact lenses etc etc- which makes it so well- believable.

Secondly the story line seems original - the old and the new have blended so well that the outcome is a super entertainer.

And then there is that independent spy who spies with such class and evokes laughter by his silliness!

If you crave some laughter you should watch this!

Chefpro Roti-maker review

Awesome gadget!  

We were looking for a reliable roti maker and initially I was oscillating between a manual one and electric version - because left to me I would like to keep things simple, and moreover did not want to shell out nearly 40 bucks for a gadget.  Came across quite a few cast iron and cast aluminum tortilla presses online but the reviews were very confusing - some said it broke after a few uses; some said it was not suitable to make Indian breads like chapati or puri.  Moreover it was all online - I would prefer to get to feel the gadget before purchasing.  Looked for it in speciality kitchen ware stores but no luck.  

Anywise, asked around in my friends circle and combed the internet for some hints but again got such mixed opinions.  Then finally we decided to take the plunge (I dont take credit for this) and got one at the local store.  It was the Chef pro brand and there are two sizes - 8" and 10".  In my opinion 8" is sufficient for household use.

I cannot say that I started making perfect rotis from day one; in fact I wondered if I had made a mistake of getting it.  The instructions which came along with the gadget were a little vague  and the few demo reviews on the net were not very helpful too.   To me it seemed like a camera trick that their rotis came out so perfectly.  But hey! perseverance does pay! 

Now I have evolved a way of getting near perfect rotis - 

1. make the dough a trifle watery than what you would for hand-making it. 

2. Use a little more oil than you would while mixing the dough - cooking oil is better than olive oil; but you can probably use an equal ratio of both.

3.  Smear a little oil (instead of atta powder) while pressing.

4.  Switch on the roti maker, adjust the heat settings between medium and maximum.

5.  Take a small amount of dough, flatten a little, smear a little oil on both sides, place it off center near the hinge and press through.

6.  Flip the roti and place it in the centre and press again, most of the way. (pressing it all the way could make the edges unnecessarily thin)

7.  Have a heated tawa ready and cook roties the usual way, except it starts fluffing right after dropping on the tawa because the heat in the roti maker has already started cooking it.

A great addition to my kitchen appliances!! Thoroughly enjoying the ease of making rotis now!! Its so much more convenient and quicker!  FYI I was very comfortable hand-rolling rotis as well.  But another stark difference in using the roti maker is the less use of counter space which is always in great demand!

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