intha iravu (Puthiya Sahaptham)
Pick #642
Song: intha iravu
Film: Puthiya Sahaptham
Music: Gangai Amaran
Singers: S.Janaki, S.P.Balasubramanyam
Lyrics: One of (Pulamaipithan, Na.Kamarasan, Gangai Amaran, Idhayachandran)
Year: 1985
Today's pick is nice duet that did not become popular. Puthiya Sahaptham directed by Visu starred Vijaikant, Ambika, Visu, Karthik and others. The film has very heavy thaali sentiment and the story is very long. V.e.r.y long!
Ambika is a poor young woman living with three siblings all younger than her. Vijaikant is a college student and the president of the student council. Ambika approaches him for recommendation and manages to get a job as the librarian at the college library. Few days later Visu comes to work at the same college as a professor. He goes to see Ambika at the library and she is shocked to see him. Visu drops a thaali on her desk and swears that he is going to accomplish what he came there for. Vijaikant, as the president of the student council, organizes blood donation camps and eye donation drives at the college. Visu is impressed by him.
There is a blackboard at the front entrance of the college building where they write announcements for students. Visu writes a message on the blackboard that Ambika just got married. Vijaikant gathers the students and they throw a surprise party for Ambika. She is really embarrassed by it but does not say anything. During the celebration Visu dangles a thaali in front of her. Ambika realizes that the party was Visu's idea and reports to the college principal. When the principal summons Visu and Vijaikant for an inquiry Vijaikant finds out that Ambika is not really married and apologizes to her. One day when Ambika goes home late at night she is followed by some street thugs. When they give her trouble Vijaikant magically appears there, fights them off and saves Ambika. Another day when her two siblings do not return from school till late at night she seeks help from Vijaikant and they both go around looking for the kids. (Thus the director establishes that Vijaikant is a nice, helpful and protective guy and that Ambika is a woman who needs a man in her life.)
Few days later, Visu writes a gossip on the blackboard that Ambika and Vijaikant are a couple. The principal suspends Vijaikant. The students go on a strike. Visu pretends like he is helping Vijaikant, but inserts a picture of Ambika in one of Vijaikant's books and tricks him into opening the book in front of the principal. The principal sees the picture and asks Vijaikant to leave the campus. Vijaikant swears that he will only return to college after marrying Ambika because her reputation has already been spoiled by the events. He buys flowers and goes to Ambika's house and proposes marriage. Ambika points him to a picture. It is the wedding picture of Ambika and Karthik. Vijaikant is shocked and figures that Visu has been playing him. He goes to Visu's house and demands him tell the truth for his actions.
Visu tells Vijaikant that Ambika is none other than his daughter-in-law. Now we go to flashback... Visu is a very rich man from Coimbatore. His son Karthik wants to marry Ambika, a poor girl whose mother dies when she was a child. Her father remarries and has three children with his second wife. Ambika's stepmother treats her badly. But the father is too afraid to stand up to his wife. The stepmother arranges a forced marriage for Ambika with an old man. Ambika refuses to go the wedding hall. Ambika's father finally loses it and attacks his wife with a lamp (kuththu viLakku) and the stepmother dies. The father then asks Ambika to take care of her three siblings and kills himself. Karthik reads this story in the newspaper, feels sorry for Ambika and wants to marry her. Visu happily arranges the marriage. But few days before the wedding Karthik has a mild heart attack. Visu is concerned and wants to stop the wedding. But the doctor tells him that there is no major threat to Karthik's life, that he can get married and live a long life. Ambika is not told about this. Karthik himself does not know the diagnosis of his chest pain. The two are married.
It is the wedding night. Ambika walks into the bedroom with a glass of milk. She looks at Karthik sitting by the bed and dreams of today's pick... intha iravu inba iravu... laala laala laa... :musicsmile: :swinghead: When the song is over she walks up to Karthik and hands him the milk. When he does not respond, she shakes his shoulder and Karthik slumps to the floor. He is dead. The doctor comes to see Visu, apologizes for his incorrect prognosis of Karthik's heart condition, blames destiny and God, and leaves. Ambika finds out that she has been cheated. After the funeral she and her siblings leave the house. Visu stops her at the front door and asks her to stay but she tells him that he is a cheat who hid the truth and had her marry a dying man. Visu says he believed what the doctor said and is devastated himself from the loss of his son and what he has done to Ambika. He begs he will leave all his property for her and go somewhere out of her life. But Ambika says that no amount of wealth can buy her fifty paise worth flowers to wear. And she leaves. Visu swears that he will not rest until Ambika is able to buy and wear those flowers and that he will follow her wherever she goes. Flashback ends! Visu tells Vijaikant that he chose him as the future husband of Ambika because of his good qualities, apologizes from playing tricks on him, and asks him if he will be openminded enough to marry a widow. Vijaikant agrees.
Ambika leaves her librarian job and takes a typist job in a company owned by Sivachandran. Vijaikant drops out from college and moves into an apartment across from Ambika's apartment. Ambika makes all efforts to avoid him. She takes cold showers in the middle of the night. Vijaikant goes to work as a peon at the same company where Ambika works. Ambika tells him to not waste his life over her. But Vijaikant says he will follow her until she changes her mind.
Ambika finds out that her sister is in love with a guy(let us call him Raghu) who is also a student at the college she used to work. Ambika decides to go see Raghu and talk about having the two married. She asks an older man at work to accompany her because she is a widow and does not want to discuss wedding plans. But the man refuses saying that if her bad luck affects her sister's marriage then he will be labelled as a person of bad luck too for being a part of the wedding plans. Then she asks her coworker Kishmu to accompany her. Kishmu agrees. They go to see Raghu. Vijaikant is also there representing the groom's side. Raghu says he will marry the girl only if Ambika gets married first and will be in a position to offer her blessings as a married woman. Ambika walks out of his house. As she leaves Raghu drops a bombshell. He says that Ambika's sister is pregnant and should have an abortion if their marriage is not going to happen. Ambika is devastated. Kishmu takes Ambika to his house, introduces his wife to her and tells her that he is the second husband of his wife whose first husband died leaving her with a child to raise. He says Ambika should change her mind about remarriage. Ambika leaves without answering him. Vijaikant secretly follows Ambika.
Feeling helpless Ambika goes to see Sivachandran, the owner of the company. She tells him her story. He says he is a widower too and can sympathize with her. He takes her home to chat. But there he attempts to violate her. Vijaikant who follows Ambika like shadow comes to her rescue. He beats up Sivachandran and saves Ambika. Ambika leaves without even expressing her gratitude. As she walks down the street, preoccupied, she carelessly crosses the road and gets hit by a van. Vijaikant takes her to the emergency room. She needs blood and he donates blood for her. When Ambika regains consciousness and finds out she received blood from Vijaikant she yells that she would have never accepted it had she been conscious. Vijaikant feels insulted but still he does not give up trying to change her mind. Ambika is discharged from the hospital and goes home.
While recovering from her injuries Raghu comes to her house, marries his sister in front of her, apologizes for lying that she was pregnant and takes his new wife with him. Now that her sister is gone the bedridden Ambika is left with two little siblings and no one to take care of her or the household. Vijaikant offers to help but she refuses. Vijaikant and Visu stay in the front room while Ambika's ten year old little sister does the cooking, cleaning, changing, physical therapy, etc. Fianlly Ambika gets better and goes to work. Vijaikant and Visu are still living in the front room. Visu stops Ambika and angrily shouts that she is stubborn beyond reform and probably never meant to have a married life anyway. Then Visu and Vijaikant leave her house. Her little brother leaves with Visu also.
SPOILER ALERT! Skip the next paragraph if you do not want to know how the film ends.
Ambika applies for and gets a teaching job at another town. She secretly packs up and leaves for that new town with her little sister. But, when she arrives in the new town Vijaikant, Visu, her sister, little brother and Raghu are already there. Ambika asks Vijaikant to meet her near the lake at the end of the town. They go on a boat ride. Ambika says that she has no intention of marrying Vijaikant eventhough she likes him. She asks him to promise to not touch her ever. He promises. She says that she has decided to kill herself and is going to jump in the lake, and Vijaikant should not try to save her because he promised not to touch her. Vijaikant says if she jumps in the lake, he will jump and kill himself too. He deos not attempt to stop her from jumping into the lake. Finally, Ambika is moved. She does not jump in the lake. She agrees to marry Vijaikant. The two are ready to get married at the temple. But Visu leaves town, leaves behind a letter for Ambika wishing her good luck and saying that he is leaving town and removing himself from her new life in order not be a reminder of her sad past. Ambika marries Vijaikant. And at last the viewers are relieved from the tight hold of Ambika's stubbornness and from Visu's thaali sentiment that sits so heavily on their shoulders.
SPOILER ENDS!
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