Top 15 Plot Twists in Tamil Cinema

I love getting tricked by a movie's ending, or as film buffs call it - getting Shyamalaned. However, this is very rare in Tamil cinema, although there are few movies that have attempted and executed them very well. So, here is my list of Top 15 Best Plot Twists in Tamil Cinema in no particular order. In case it is not yet obvious enough, there are  major spoilers ahead. You have been warned =).

15) Aaranya Kaandam (2011)

Singaperumal is the don of Chennai's underworld. His loyal henchman Pasupathi, bullied servant Sappai and abused mistress Subbhu all live in fear of him. Subbhu and Sappai become lovers while planning to run away with Singaperumal's money while a Pasupathi is being hunted down by both his own friends and rival gangs. In the end, Sappai gets hold of the money from the drug smuggling and shoots down Singaperumal in a fit of anger, making it easy to elope with Subbhu.

The twist: In the end, Subbhu shoots down Sappai and plays victim in front of Pasupathi, who lets her leave with her bag which unknown to him contains all the drug money. In her monologue, it is revealed that she had successfully manipulated all the men around, by first sending Sappai with the money bag to provoke Singaperumal to kill him.


14) Enakkul Oruvan (2015)

The only reason this movie is not higher up in this list is because it is a remake of the 2013 Kannada sleeper hit, Lucia. In the movie, we have Vicky, a lowly cinema worker who is given an illegal drug to help him overcome his insomnia. However, the drug gives him lucid dreams where he is Vignesh, the country's biggest movie star. The movie is then shown in alternating perspectives between Vicky and Vignesh until the borders separating reality and dreams is blurred.

The twist: It is Vicky who is the dream while Vignish is the real person, who dissatisfied with life, depends on the lucid dreams to live a happier, make-believe life.

13) Papanasam (2015)

Suyambulingam (Kamal Hassan) is a simple middle-class villager who goes through great lengths to protect his family from the law after his wife and elder daughter accidentally killed a boy who tried to blackmail them with an explicit video. The family then bury the body in their own backyard. At around the same time, a new police station is being built in the village. Things between the family and the police get more personal when the dead boy's mother, renowned Inspector General of Police Geetha (Asha Sarath) comes to the village to investigate her son's disappearance. Initially, Geetha underestimates Suyambulingam for being uneducated but quickly realizes he is always a few steps ahead of her. In desperation, the law-abiding Geetha has her men beat up Suyambulingam and his family in order to get a confession. Finally, his younger daughter exposes where the body is buried and the forensics rush off to uncover it. 

The twist: Without his family's knowledge, Suyambulingam had moved the body and buried it in the foundation of the new police station in order to avoid anyone from revealing the truth under pressure. In its place, he had placed the carcass of a calf. Seeing this, the media immediately exposes the police's inadequacy and brutal treatment of Suyambulingam's family. The case is then closed and the family is freed from all charges.  

12) Ninaithale Inikkum (2009)

Shiva (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is attending his college reunion, where he reminisces of his rivalry with the arrogant Vasu (Karthik Kumar), his love for his fellow electoral candidate Meera (Priyamani), and his friendship with the good-natured Shakthi (Shakthi Vasudevan). The reunion is also a memorial for Shakthi who died due to an asthma attack during his college days. In flashbacks, we see how Shiva breaking into college one night to retrieve a photo of him and Meera in a compromising situation which was planted by Vasu to bring down Shiva's reputation. While hiding in the generator room, there is a sudden power cut and Shiva sees a college worker in the room trying to turn the generator on. Afraid that he might get caught for trespassing, Shiva subdues the worker with chloroform until he passes out before making a run for it.

The twist: The supposed worker that Shiva tried to subdue is actually the asthmatic Shakthi, who then dies out of suffocation.

11) King (2002)

Raja (Vikram) and Shanmugam (Nasser) are more than just father and son; they are best friends. When Raja learns that his father is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he decides to make the old man's last few months the best in his life. They return to their hometown, where Raja discovers his father is not in good terms with their relatives. He works to restore everything as it was once before so that his father can go in peace. However, he soon realizes that he too might be suffering from health problems.

The twist: Raja learns that it is not Shanmugam who is terminally ill, but he himself. His father had his doctor tamper with their medical reports to avoid his son from heartbreak.

10) Parthen Rasithen (2000)

Shankar (Prashanth) is a fresh graduate looking for a job. He soon falls in love for the beautiful Sarika (Laila). However, his strict father from the village are fixing an arranged marriage for him. Following the advice of his best friend Bhanu (Simran), he does not return home for the proposal ceremony, leading to a big misunderstanding between Chidhambaram and the supposed bride's family. Back home, Shankar comes to realize that the girl whose hand in marriage his parents were seeking was in fact Sarika.

The twist: Unknown to Shankar, Bhanu has been obsessed with him all along and has been sabotaging his and Sarika's relationship from the start so she can be with him instead.

9) Alli Arjuna (2002)

Arivazhagan (Manoj Bharathiraja) is a spoiled brat who spends all his time teasing girls and hanging out with his friends. One day, he ends up having to protect Savitri (Richa Pallod), a girl who is on the run from Kishore (Karan), a mysterious man from her past. She herself is still getting the death of her best friend, Nisha (Preetha) who took her own life after being sexually assaulted. Arivazhagan soon learns that Kishore is in fact Nisha's elder brother, who is now an alcoholic obsessed in finding those responsible for his sister's suicide.

The twist: Savitri learns that Arivazhagan was the one who publicly harassed Nisha, driving her to commit suicide, although he never intended for it to end that way.

8) Modhi Vilayadu (2009)

Uday (Vinay Rai) is the hedonistic son of wealthy businessman Rajan Vasudev (Kalabhavan Mani). He does not attend college or does anything for a living, but instead lives on his father's wealth. He spends all his time with his orphaned best friend since childhood, Madan (Yuva) and their gang. One day, a paid assassin, hired by Rajan's rivals, comes after Uday but kills Madan by accident.

The twist: Madan was Rajan's actual son all along, and Uday was the real orphan who he adopted to act as bait to avoid any harm from befalling his only heir. With his real son dead, Rajan has no use of Uday and dismisses him. The rest of the story is about how Uday tries to live by himself and make a living.

7) Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007)

Venkatesh (Sarath Kumar) starts having an affair with Geetha (Jyothika), a beautiful stranger he meets on the train to work when his wife, Kalyani (Andrea Jeremiah) starts ignoring him. One day, while the two are planning a rendezvous at a resort, they are attacked by a criminal, Lawrence (Milind Soman) who easily finds out they are two married people having an affair. He ties Venkatesh up, rapes Geetha and leaves with all their money. Later, they are also blackmailed by Lawrence for money. Halfway through the movie, Venkatesh finds out Geetha is actually a con artist who works with Lawrence to cheat innocent married men like himself. In an effort to get his money back, he busts one of Geetha and Lawrence's cons. Thinking he has killed them, he leaves the city with his family and retrieved money. However, Lawrence survives and abducts Kalyani and her son to blackmail Venkatesh for the money.

The twist: Towards the end, we learn that it is Geetha who survived the attack and not Lawrence, and Venkatesh has to face her and her band of ruthless thugs to save his family.

6) Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010)

By reading the synopsis of this movie, you might assume it is a stereotypical Tamil love story. It has all the usual elements in it - lovers from different backgrounds, romantic numbers, exotic settings, a possessive elder brother, a dotting best friend; you get the picture. However, by actually watching this movie right to the end, you will see that VTV is Gautham Menon's love letter to Tamil cinema. This is evident in the climax where Karthik (Simbu) proposes to Jessie (Trisha) and they get married. At first, we are led into thinking this is a happy ending.

The twist: The happy ending is actually nothing more than the final scene in the movie directed by Karthik – which Karthik and Jessie are watching together in the cinema in real life. Jessie is actually married to someone else and advises Karthik to move on. She leaves after saying this; "Not everything in movies can happen in real life..."

5) Amarkalam (1999)

A former gangster, Tulasi Das (Raghuvaran) is released from jail after many years and he tries to seek revenge from Birla Bose (Nassar), the police officer who put him behind bars and separated him from his wife and unborn child. Das hires Vasu (Ajit Kumar), a street smart youngster with a troubled childhood to kidnap Mohana (Shalini), Bose's adoptive daughter. Mohana soon starts getting Stockholm Syndrome when she listens to Vasu's life story and sympathizes with him. When Das finds out Mohana loves Vasu, he instructs Vasu to pretend to love her too and then break her heart. However, Vasu and Mohana soon genuinely fall in love for each other. With his mission completed, Das visits Bose to let him know he is behind Mohana wanting to marry a lowly rowdy.

The twist: During their meeting, Bose surprises Das by revealing that Mohana is actually Das' biological daughter who he and his wife adopted after Das went to jail.

4) 7/G Rainbow Colony (2004)

The movie starts with Kadhir, a young man going to work but not being able to concentrate on his duties at the office as he cannot wait to meet his girlfriend, Anita later in the evening. As he awaits her at the beach, Kadhir's back story is shown in flashbacks. He used to be a good for nothing youth who always gave his parents problems. This changed when Anita moved into their neighbourhood and befriended him. She manages to convince him to turn over a new leaf, so much so that his father becomes proud of him. However, things get complicated when they fall in love, although Anita is engaged to the son of a wealthy family friend who can save her family from debt. Kadhir and Anita have a big fight and he ends up chasing her away. While leaving in a frenzy, she is hit by an oncoming truck and dies.

The twist: At present day, Kadhir is revealed to be mentally unhealthy as he still thinks Anita is alive. He starts talking to her when she comes, although the audience can see this is merely a fragment of his sick mind.

3) Pizza (2012)

Michael is a simple pizza delivery boy who is in dire need of more money as his wife is pregnant. One night, while delivering pizza, he gets trapped in a mysterious bungalow where all kinds of strange things start happening. He only manages to escape when two police officers arrive. When Michael returns to the pizza cafe he works at, his boss is distraught to find out that Michael left his delivery bag in the haunted bungalow as it actually contained diamonds he was hiding away from the tax department. The boss, being a superstitious man, would rather lose the diamonds then risk entering the haunted bungalow to retrieve the bag.

The twist: In the end, we learn that Michael knew about the diamonds in the delivery bag all along and had planned to steal them. He makes up a story in which he left the bag at the bungalow which his boss would never go into. At the same time, Michael's wife has moved abroad with the diamonds as she awaits her husband to join her. 

2) Snegithiye (2000)

Best friends Vani (Jyothika) and Radhika (Sharbani Mukherjee) are on the run from Gayathri (Tabu), a dedicated police officer after they are convicted of murdering Ramesh, a man they had initially only made up but turned out to be real. They suspect Geetha (Ishita Arun), the most popular girl on campus is behind the murder as she mysteriously disappeared on the night of the murder. Vani and Radhika find themselves running from the law in an effort to prove their innocence and clear their names. Meanwhile, Geetha constantly interrogates Malathi (Lakshmi), Radhika's wealthy aunt and Vani's mother (Manorama) on their girls' whereabouts. 

The twist: Vani and Radhika finally find Geetha hiding outside the city. She tells them on the night of the murder, she saw Gayathri, the dedicated police officer admired by women all over the city, gunning down Ramesh. Geetha fled their college that night out of fear that Gayathri might kill her too.

1) The Villa (2013)

Jebin is an aspiring writer who is broke. After his estranged father dies, he inherits the man's old villa. At the villa, Jebin discovers a hidden chamber full of his father's paintings that seem to predict the future, including one that seems to portray Jebin killing his girlfriend, Aarthi. In an attempt to prevent the painting's depiction from becoming real, Jebin seeks the help of a professor specializing in the supernatural. The professor concludes that due to all the negative energy trapped in the villa, anyone owning it will possess the power to predict the future. After much difficulty, Jebin fails to neutralize the villa's negative energy and decides to take his own life before he takes Aarthi's. It is then revealed that Aarthi is actually a gold digger, planning to marry Jebin for the money he would gain from selling the villa. She then goes on to marry a wealthy movie director.

The twist: For her wedding, Aarthi receives Jebin's posthumously published novel as a gift. From the cover, it is clear to the audience that Jebin too had the power to see the future, as the man in it resembles Aarthi's new husband. Also, the murder painting was not a depiction of Jebin, but the director Aarthi married, meaning she will die in his hands one day.

Nostalgia Attack: Fantaghiro

Yes.. I remember watching this miniseries on TV2 years ago when I was in primary school. It was aired every Sunday night, and my parents would yell at me to go to bed early since I have school the next day, but I never listened. The story lines were always so interesting; set in medieval times with beautiful characters going on grand adventures and engaging in battles of epic proportions - the perfect ingredients for a fantasy story. 

Thank the good soul, whomever you may be, for downloading the series from TV9's website after it was aired and putting it up on YouTube. Now, everyone can watch it, and it is especially convenient for Malaysians as the subtitles are in Malay! I would have loved to watch it again on TV with my siblings who have never heard of this series before. Sadly, it was aired back in 2011 when I was still away at university.

Watching the series now after so many years, it is like watching the first season of Power Rangers all over again. The subplots are sometimes cheesy, dialogues are mostly over-the-top melodramatic, and don't even get me started on the primeval visual effects. However, the acting, costumes, main story line and above all, the background score, are simply amazing. 

Only now did I find out that the series is actually made in Italy. However, I can never figure out what language it was made in. Wikipedia states it was made in Italian but dubbed into various languages, including English. But then, the actors lip sync mostly match the audio, but sometimes they don't. A netizen speculated that it could be an Italian-made English-language series dubbed into Italian, and then dubbed again into English. That could be a possibility.  

Now that I'm watching the series as an adult, I can see the values behind the story. Princess Fantaghiro is not a conventional princess in the old school Disney kind of way. She is rebellious, but for a good course. Her two elder sisters are praised by their father, the King, for openly declaring their lowly status when compared to men. Fantaghiro refuses to be subjected to such mindset, and even goes as far as to pretend to be a boy in order to prevent a war between a her kingdom and a neighbouring one. This can really inspire female fans who can relate to the story. 

Time for a big budget Hollywood reboot. 

Malaysia's Dawn Raid On London

On the 7th of September 1981, the London stock exchange was taken by surprise when hugely successful British-owned Guthrie plantation company was taken over by the Malaysian government. What came as a bolt from the blue was the fact that the company fell into the hands of the Malaysian government just within four hours under the leadership of then Prime Minister Dr . Mahathir Muhammad who had only assumed the post for a couple of months.

The issue of Guthrie being British-owned even after independence stemmed following the company's continuous rejections of the Malaysian government's efforts in replanting rubber trees to help small time Malay farmers and cooperating with workers unions that the British considered troublesome.  British companies in general kept delaying meeting with the Malaysian government representatives in their effort to work together to find a resolution for this matter. 

However, following the pressure imposed on them by the Central Bank of Malaysia, the people at Guthrie finally set up Guthrie-Ropel,  a subsidiary of Guthrie which owned about 17% of the total land area in Malaysia that was owned by Guthrie. This allowed locals to acquire a small piece of land owned by Guthrie through the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. However, it was later discovered that most of the land that belonged to Guthrie - Ropel was unsuitable for agriculture and they were mostly located on the hills of Malaysia.

When Mahathir came into office in 1981, he was seen as being rather different from his three predecessors. For starters, he does not smoke, nor does he enjoy playing golf, a sport considered posh by most Malaysians. He is also not of blue blood, nor did he attend a British university. Apart from that, he does not have many British friends, and based on the articles he wrote in the papers, is not really pro-British. This would later prove to be true to a certain extent with his Buy British Last and Look East policies. He was also temporarily banned from his party following alleged seditious remarks on the May 13th Tragedy, but was readmitted three years later. 

Before the famous, or infamous depending on how you see it, Dawn Raid on London, the British government not only stopped subsidizing the education of Malaysian students in the United Kingdom, they also increased the tuition fees for foreign students. This new ruling was only limited to students from certain countries like Malaysia, while foreign students from other European countries were not effected.

This move was a big blow to the nearly 17,000 Malaysian students studying in the UK who were now burdened with the increased tuition fees which in some cases were threefold the original price. Many Malaysians, maybe Dr. Mahathir included, saw this as being unfair since Malaysia had one of the largest number of foreign students studying in the UK at that time. Malaysia also could not afford to educate these students at the time since there were only two universities operating in the country back then. Dr. Mahathir, who was then the Minister of Commerce during this change warned that increasing the fees for Malaysian students would harm Britain in the long run . However, his warning went unheard.

Soon, things got from bad to worse when the UK refused Malaysia's proposal for additional landing rights for the national carrier, Malaysia Airlines at Heathrow. However, at around the same time, a British supersonic Concorde aircraft invaded Malaysia's international airspace in Subang on its way to Singapore.

Dr. Mahathir was not the only Malaysian public figure who was deeply offended by the British's recent actions. His brother-in-law and governor of the Central Bank at the time, Datuk Ismail Ali also shared his views. He was behind the pressuring of Guthrie to set up Guthrie-Ropel. Upon assuming the position of governor of the Central Bank, Datuk Ismail displayed an unfriendly attitude towards the British. Mark Gent, the chairman of Guthrie back then said he and the director of Guthrie, Eric Griffith- Jones were made to wait outside his office for nearly half an hour before every meeting they had.

When Datuk Ismail became the governor, the nation's money which was deposited in British banks such as HSBC and Chartered were transferred to local banks. Foreign banks, in particular British banks, were also no longer given the opportunity to open up branches in Malaysia. Most of Guthrie's assests where sold to MPH, a company co-owned by wealthy Chinese tycoons in Malaysia in 1981. This decision, similar to most made by Guthrie, was not done by consulting the Malaysian government while in fact, PNB, a government agency owned 25 % of Guthrie's shares. The majority poor Malays had no chance for equal opportunity in this area.

For these reasons, Dr. Mahathir and Ismail decided that Guthrie must be taken over as soon as possible .

A year before becoming Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who were Minister of Trade  and the Finance Minister respectively were informed by Datuk Ismail Ali that he planed to take the British by surprise with the acquisition of one of their largest companies.

Four months before the Dawn Raid, the Malaysian government agency led by an investment manager named Khalid Ibrahim was given the special task to examine and develop strategies to ensure everything ran smoothly during the Raid.

Khalid, who had worked at Barings London, the firm which was one of a Guthrie's financial advisers, along with Malaysian investment experts and advisers from the merchant bank NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd. were asked to study whether Guthrie can be acquired. If it was possible, they were directed to formulate detailed strategies on how it could be done .

From their intensive study, the team discovered a flaw in the London Stock Exchange Act that can be exploited. With this vulnerability, an ambush to acquire Guthrie could be carried out. The condition was it had to be carried out as quickly and as covertly as possible, so much so that the British cannot detect it and stop it.

With Dr. Mahatir's consent, a capital acquisition worth 282 million pounds was taken from threedifferent sources - Petronas, Pernas and a new trust scheme offered to the Malaysian natives four months before the attack - the Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN ). To ensure that the British would not realize that the government of another country was behind this acquisition, Khalid was advised by Rothschilds to open a bank account in Switzerland for the payment of the shares.

Of all the British-owned companies owning large properties in Malaysia, Guthrie was targeted because other non-British investors owned shares in Guthrie; investors who were friendly with the folks at the government agency in charge of the Raid. Among the companies were Genting, Bank Simpanan Nasional , the Kuwait Investment Office and OCBC.

With the existing holdings amounting to 25 %, the government agency only needed to acquire another 15 % more for a total stake of 40 % of shares , making it a major shareholder of Guthrie.

For this, Rothschild was appointed to buy shares in Guthrie from large investors on behalf of the government agency, while Rowe & Pittman was appointed as the broker to buy shares in Guthrie from small investors .

The idea here is that most of the shares in Guthrie in Malaysia and London would be purchased simultaneously before the Stock Exchange was even opened, and it must be taken without being noticed by the management of Guthrie themselves.

To ensure the success of this covert raid, only a small group of planners who participated directly in the 'attack' was briefed on its details. It was later revealed that even Mohammad Desa Pachi, the chief executive of the government agency responsible for the Dawn Raid back then was not informed in detail on how the operation would be executed .

The day of the Raid - September 7, 9am London time (4 pm Malaysian time) .

According to the plan, all involved will get the approval of sellers before the the Stock Exchange opens . When it opens, the government agency will announce this groundbreaking news to the world and manage documentation only - as a surprise to Guthrie and other shareholders .

The complication lies in ensuring that the purchase is done covertly. This is because if the Raid is exposed too early, the stock price will soar and Guthrie's  management will respond to derail this ambush.

In Malaysia, Khalid who was given the task of managing purchases locally was optimistic that the Bank Simpanan Nasional, Genting and Kuwait Investment Group will accept the government agency's offer because all three were considered "friendly" to the Malaysian government.

Meanwhile that afternoon, Ismail rushed to Singapore on that day to meet the chairman of OCBC. His plan was to convince OCBC to accept the offer to buy shares in Guthrie owned by the bank at 3:30 pm, and then send a notice of receipt at 3:45 pm.

In London, it is still morning. Rowe & Pittman and Rothschilds were awaiting the green light from Malaysia to buy the shares from investors of Guthrie in the UK.

While in Singapore, Ismail and OCBC chairman Tan Chin Tuan discuss the purchase of shares in Guthrie over lunch. The discussion took a long time and ended with devastating news -  OCBC rejected the Malaysian's offer.

Khalid Ismail phoned in to inform everyone of the bad news. However, since Khalid was already able to buy shares from Kuwait, Bank Simpanan Nasional and Genting , they have no other way but to go on the offensive .

In London, the moment they received the green light, the two firms hired by the Malaysians started the purchasing process as quickly as possible. Rothschild managed to persuade M & G Investment Trust, a British trust company which owned 17 % of Guthrie, to sell 11 % of its shares in Guthrie to the Malaysians.

The brokers at Rowe & Pittman were assigned to buy shares from British small investors bought 5% of shares once owned by the British people.

Even without OCBC, in four hours time, the Malaysian government agency managed to acquire 8 million shares, or 50.41 % of the company without the knowledge or consent of the management of Guthrie .

By late afternoon London time , Guthrie had fallen into the hands of Malaysia .

Guthrie chairman,  Mark Gent only realized that that company was now owned by Malaysia after hearing about it on the news on the radio.

The sudden acquisition of a British-owned company through exploitation of the London Stock Exchange's system by one of their own former colonies was said to have caused great embarrassment to the British government. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher only found out about this a few days later. It was only natural that the Thatcher government responded immediately by tightening the rules at the exchange to prevent a recurrence of similar takeover by a foreign power of other major British-owned companies such as Dunlop.

While some brokers in London praised the transaction and even described it as being"cunning ", the British media mostly slammed the attack by calling it a " backdoor nationalization ".

Only a month later, Dr. Mahathir announced the boycott on British goods and services through the 'Buy British Last' campaign. This was Dr. Mahathir's response to the tin corner scandal of which the United Kingdom played a major role in. This scandal caused Malaysia's major export at that time to fall sharply in the world market. As a result, Dr. Mahathir ensured that all government contracts with the British to be frozen.

Dr. Mahathir's actions had a big impact on the British's businesses in Malaysia at the time and in the future. A Dunlop contract which was to supply tires to the government since 1963 was instead given to an American company, causing Dunlop to sell its assets to the Chinese Malaysian company, MPH .

Within three months, all the shares of Guthrie were slowly sold to the Malaysian government agency. At the end of 1981, 100% of Guthrie was fully owned by locals.

Ismail eventually took over the management of Guthrie and transfered its operational headquarters from London to Kuala Lumpur to mark the end of British control over the company. Shortly after the Dawn Raid, Mahathir boycotted the Conference of Commonwealth of Nations led by Britain. According to him , the meeting was another one to meet the white man's interests and not those of his former colonies. 

Dawn Raid had a large impact on many levels in the long run. For one, British firms in Malaysia which were previously said to have paid little attention to what the Malaysian government had to say started to become more open to negotiating new terms. 

Also, not long after the Malaysian takeover of Guthrie, the other three great British plantation companies operating in Malaysia - Highlands & Lowlands,  Barlows and Harrisons & Crosfield (H&C) finally sold their interests in Malaysia to the government agency. As a result, the land owned by Guthrie other former British-owned companies in Malaysia were taken over by Malaysians.

Since companies like H&C had rubber estates, palm oil plantations and other assets not only in Malaysia but in other countries such as India, New Zealand and China, the Malaysian government agency also become the new landlord to former British-owned assets around the world .Khalid would later on say that the profits gained from all these new assets exceed the cost used to finance Dawn Raid. He was quoted as mentioning something like "... we actually got Guthrie for free."

On February of 1982, After five months following the implementation of the 'Buy British Last' campaign, the United Kingdom sent its Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington along with its Defense Minister, John Notts to Kuala Lumpur to negotiate but it was not fruitful. This forced the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher herself to meet Dr. Mahathir to end the 'Buy British Last' campaign and solve the CHOGM issue. 

Following a meeting that was held in London in 1983 by Mrs. Thatcher, a few resolutions were made. One of it was that the British government would offer several financial aids amounting to 160 million pounds to subsidize Malaysian students furthering their studies in the UK. Also, Malaysia Airlines would be given added landing rights in Heathrow. 

Convent Schools in Malaysia

The history of government aided Convent Schools in Malaysia began in the middle of the nineteenth century. The arrival of the Infant Jesus Sisters and Canossian Sisters to our shores marked the beginning of these Convent Schools that will go on the produce a legacy of great women who have contributed much to our nation. By the beginning of the last century, almost every major town in the country had at least one Convent School, and these all-girls schools rapidly became an integral part of out nation's education system and culture, excelling in many areas particularly English Language-based ones. However, the number of Convent schools in a region depended on the level of influence the British colonial masters had there, which is why some states like Penang and Perak have many Convent Schools, while others like Kelantan and Terengganu don't have any. There are about 30 secondary Convent schools and 40 primary ones in Malaysia. 

1) Secondary Schools

Kedah

• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Jalan Tanjung Bendahara, Alor Setar
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Father Barre, Sungai Petani
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St. Anne's Convent, Kulim

Pulau Pinang

• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent (M) Bukit Mertajam
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Butterworth
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Green Lane
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Lebuh Light
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Pulau Tikus
• Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Convent Datuk Keramat, Georgetown

Perak

• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St. Bernadette'S Convent, Batu Gajah
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent, Sitiawan
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tarcisian Convent, Ipoh
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent, Ipoh
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent, Teluk Intan
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent, Taiping

Selangor

• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Kajang
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Jalan Gereja
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent, Klang

Kuala Lumpur

• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Bukit Nanas (M)
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Sentul (M)
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Jalan Peel

Melaka

• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Canossa Convent
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Infant Jesus Convent
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Notre Dame Convent

Johor

• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Batu Pahat
• Sekolah Kebangsaan Canossian Convent, Kluang
• Sekolah Kebangsaan Canossian Convent, Segamat
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Infant Jesus Convent, Johor Bahru

Sabah

• Sekolah Menengah St. Francis Convent, Kota Kinabalu
• Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Konven St. Cecilia, Sandakan

2) Primary Schools

Kedah

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Kedah
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Father Barre

Pulau Pinang

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent 1, Butterworth
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Jalan Kulim
3. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Green Lane
4. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Lebuh Light
5. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Pulau Tikus
6. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Convent Datuk Keramat

Perak

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Sitiawan
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Ipoh
3. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Ave Maria Convent
4. Sekolah Kebangsaan Tarcisian Convent
5. Sekolah Kebangsaan Marian Convent
6. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (T) St. Philomena Convent
7. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Teluk Intan
8. Sekolah Kebangsaan St. Bernadette'S Convent
9. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Taiping
10. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Aulong, Taiping - Coeducation school 
11. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (T) St. Teresa Convent - Coeducation school 

Selangor

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Selangor
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent (1) (M)
3. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent (2) (M)
4. Sekolah Kebangsaan St Anne's Convent, Selangor

Kuala Lumpur

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent (1) Bukit Nanas (M)
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent (2) Bukit Nanas
3. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Sentul 1 (M)
4. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Sentul 2 (M)
5. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (T) St. Joseph's Convent

Negeri Sembilan

1. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (T) Convent Seremban - Coeducational school

Pahang

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Tanah Rata - Coeducation school 

Johor

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Batu Pahat
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, Muar
3. Sekolah Kebangsaan Infant Jesus Convent
4. Sekolah Kebangsaan Canossian Convent, Kluang
5. Sekolah Kebangsaan Canossian Convent, Segamat

Melaka

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Of The Infant Jesus (1)
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Of The Infant Jesus (2)
3. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Notre Dame Convent
4. Sekolah Kebangsaan Sacred Heart Convent

Sabah

1. Sekolah Kebangsaan St. Francis Convent
2. Sekolah Kebangsaan St. Mary Convent

Husband Material by Malachi Edwin Vethamani

Ravi Mama, my mother's youngest brother, seated across the table, looked intently at me. The last time I met him was four years ago. I have no lack of Mamas. My mother has six younger brothers but he was my special uncle. The last time I had met him was when he visited us to wish me luck as I was about to leave for my university studies in Kuala Lumpur.

My parents were ecstatic when I got a place at the university. So was I. I was finally leaving the close knit Indian community in Buntong. My mother decided to use Ravi Mama as a point of reference for university studies.

'Ravi, you were in UM. Please advice Shanti. She's still a child and doesn't know anything about studying in a university,' my mother intoned.

I was not embarrassed. I was still a child in their eyes. My uncle looked at me mischievously. Taking me by my hand, he said, 'Shanti, come let's go for a drive. I have to pick Uncle Anand up from his flat. We are off to Pulau Tioman for a holiday. We can talk while I drive.'

He had hardly driven five minutes when he stopped at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. We ordered a drink each. He looked at me and asked, 'So what do you want to know about varsity life?'

I looked at him blank faced. Sensing my discomfort, he started. 'It's a different kind of life, on campus. I really cannot prepare you for it.' I was relieved that there was not going to be a lecture. He could have done this at home, I thought. Then he started. And that was when I wished the earth would open and swallow me up.

'Shanti, like I said, it is a different world. Study hard but do have a good time. This is your only chance to be away from home. Remember, you're responsible for yourself and your studies,' he began.

'Your mother will be preparing for your wedding by the time you graduate. So if you're ever going to find a husband on your own, this is your opportunity,' he said and looked straight into my eyes. I thanked all the gods on our family altar for giving me a dark complexion. Here was my thirty one year old bachelor uncle giving me advice about marriage when he had chosen a single life. My face did not betray my thoughts.

'Do you know about contraception?' he inquired. I nodded. 'I'm not suggesting you have sex but if you decide to, then for your own sake take precautions. Remember, you're the one who gets pregnant, not the Krishna who was lovey dovey with you,' he continued. 'Don't forget you can catch VD or herpes, not forgetting AIDS.' I felt the whole restaurant could hear him.

I started fidgeting. He held my hands gently. 'Shanti, I don't want to embarrass you. You are a big girl. An attractive girl too. There'll be lots of men out there who would want to go out with you. Choose who you want. But remember, you come from Buntong. The Indian community does not take kindly to modern girls. Worse still it has no place for pregnant girls, even if they get an honours Economics degree.'

I thought he had finished but I was wrong. 'I have just a little more to say. Bear with me. You may even thank your Mama one day. If you don't eventually find yourself someone you want to marry while you're at the university, there is little chance you will once you start working. By then your mother will have contacted all the relatives and your photograph will have been placed in the marriage circuit. So try to find a good man, someone who meets your taste. It would be extremely helpful for your case if he's doing a professional degree and comes from the same background as us,' he finally concluded.

I stared at him, my mouth slightly open. He smiled and asked me if I had any questions. I shook my head and wondered what my mother would do if she knew what Ravi Mama had just said. He was honest. He had said everything as a matter of fact. I liked that. I don't think any of my other uncles could have said it quite the same way.

'Thank you Ravi Mama,' I said. And before he could say anything else, I asked why he had not married.

He looked at me and a slight smile broke on his face, then it faded just as quickly. His eyes took on a sad hue and he said, 'I'll tell you if you ask me again, after you graduate. You're not ready for my story yet. Who knows, we could even compare notes.' He smiled again and the sadness disappeared.

We finished our drinks and left for Uncle Anand's flat. We arrived quickly and Ravi Mama ran up to his friend's flat. They returned in a short while, Ravi Mama carrying Uncle Anand's bag. I was promptly sent to the back seat. I did not know it then but that was the last time I was to see Ravi Mama throughout my varsity days.

'Ravi Mama, I'm not sure how much you approve of me. I did try to follow your advice. There was enough information on safe sex to scare me about being promiscuous. Anyway, I did not go to bed with the first available man. I imagined every Indian on campus was somehow related to us or would know some member of the family.

'First year was FUN. I met lots of guys but nothing really happened. It was great going to movies and parties, especially with no curfew hours. It was when I returned to campus after the long vac that I met Indran. We were in the same late evening tutorial group. I had seen him before but he kept very much to himself. It rained heavily one evening and he offered to share his umbrella. It was raining too heavily to walk to the bus stop so I accepted his invitation for teh tarik at the cafeteria.

'We talked about courses and living in PJ. He was from Kuantan and was sharing an apartment with three other guys. I was impressed. I was sharing a house with six girls. The rain eased and we did not have any reason to stay so we left.

'The next time he spoke to me was a fortnight later. We crossed paths almost daily and exchanged smiles. He invited me to a movie. I told him that I was waiting for a friend to confirm about her party. He gave me his telephone number and asked me to let him know. The party was on but I told Indran it wasn't. Now, I can't even remember what movie we saw. This was my first date with him! After the show, we stopped at some hawker stalls and ate Hokien mee and drank Chinese tea. He hailed a taxi and I was at the front door of my house by eleven thirty.

'Indran did not ask me out for a while. It did not bother me as I was busy with my friends. He popped into my life again with an invitation to a play which was being staged on campus by a foreign drama troupe. I accepted and even volunteered to pay for my ticket. He quickly declined my offer.

'We watched five actors playing the various characters in 'Midsummer's Night Dream'. It was very entertaining and we both had a good time. After the play, we walked around the lake on campus. As you know, it is not a big lake. He gently touched my hand and I moved my fingers into his. We strolled, hardly speaking. Lost very much in our own thoughts, about each other.

'We walked down the road and Indran stopped the first taxi that passed. Just before he dropped me off he asked if I would like to have lunch with him the next day. I agreed.

'Well, Ravimama, this was the beginning of the romance of my campus days. Your words remained in my thoughts. Indran was a gentleman and he obviously had money. He just fell short of one of your requirements. He was not doing a professional degree. The family will just have to cope with that.

'We began seeing each other daily and I thought myself forward thinking and went on the Pill. We spent more and more time in his apartment as he did not have a roommate. It was about three months later that we went to bed.

'We were lying on the bed and kissing. He gently broke from our embrace and asked, "Shanti, shall we make love?" It was all so romantic. There wasn't a tinge of illicitness in his request. I didn't want to say no. I didn't say yes too eagerly either.

'You don't look surprised, Ravi Mama. I'm glad. I thought I knew what I was doing. Yes, I was willing to lose my virginity for this man who I had grown to trust and love. I gathered that night that Indran was no virgin. He was gentle and loving. It was pleasurable and I knew I wanted more of this kind of loving.

'You know, Appa and Amma knew I was going out with a guy and Amma threw hints about not giving myself to any man. She even said something about people not buying the cow when they could get the milk free. I invited Indran to Buntong during the long vac but he declined. I did not push him.

'When we returned for the final term, Indran informed me that his parents had found a girl for him and he was to be engaged soon. An anger I never thought myself capable of rose from within me. I screamed, ranted and cried. He sat on his bed and just looked at me.

'I finally quietened down. He continued. "I have no say. My parents dropped two bombshells on me," he said very softly. "My father informed that my future in laws have been paying for all my studies and expenses for the last four years. Marriage to their daughter is the only repayment," he uttered.

'I stood there feeling sorry for myself. He moved towards me and held me close. His heartbeat was racing and I bit into his shoulders. We slumped onto the bed. I must have fallen asleep in his arms that evening. I woke up with a start. The room was dark and Indran was asleep next to me. Lying awake, I moved closer to him and inhaled his scent, wondering how much longer this would go on.

'Morning finally broke, and as I got out of bed, he too awoke. I told him I was going home. He called a taxi for me. I went to my room, packed a bag and returned to Buntong.

'Amma was surprised to see me back mid week. I told her I was free and wanted to spend some time at home. She looked worried but did not ask any questions. Appa knocked on my bedroom door just before dinner and came into the room.

'Shanti, is everything alright?' he asked, seating himself on the chair next to my bed. 'It's not like you to come home without even calling us.'

'I know, Appa, but I'm okay. Nothing to worry.'

'You don't look okay. You can talk to us.'

'There's nothing to say. I just wanted to rest.'

'He dropped the subject and asked me to come downstairs for dinner. Walking behind him into the dining room, I asked Appa where you were. It was only then I found out you were in Sabah. That you and Uncle Anand had set up some small business in Kota Kinabalu.

'Amma was still in the process of getting the food to the dining table. I scooped rice onto the plates and we sat down to eat. Amma and Appa talked about their day while I wondered what Indran was doing.

'On the third day he called. I was glad to hear his voice.

'Hi, Shanti. Why did you run away?' he asked.

'I came home,' I replied.

There was silence for a while. He spoke again, "Please come back. I didn't want to do this to us."

'I wanted to feel sorry for him. But I was the one who was being dumped. I could not feel sorry for him.

"Not yet," I replied and put down the phone.

'Two days later I was back on campus. Indran found me in the cafeteria where we usually had our lunch. He held my hands and asked if I would like to go back to his apartment. I agreed. Once there, he held me in his arms. I did not tell him that I did not want to leave him. We made love and fell asleep. Awoke, made love and fell asleep again. I didn't want to lose him. It was me that he loved.

'Ravimama, I wish I could have left him then. But I couldn't. He told me that he was to be engaged to this girl at the end of the month but he wanted to be with me. I didn't think him selfish, as I wanted him too.

'After the engagement, my weekends were miserable. He was away in Kuantan with his family and fiancee. I returned to my books. I got my Second Class Upper but lost my lover. As term drew to a close, we grew more frenzied in our love. I did not go home. I continued to rent the room in PJ. Told Amma and Appa that I would be getting a job in KL. Indran too kept his room. He was also trying to get a job in KL.

'We were together as often as we could, remaining in KL, using job hunting as our excuse. Just before graduation, I got a job as a reporter for Malaysian Business. I still work there. Indran wasn't so lucky. No, actually, I wasn't so lucky. He didn't get any job offers. But his in laws wanted to have the wedding soon anyway.

'Well, Ravi Mama, I was on the way to becoming an adulteress. I didn't feel like one. I'm not sure how an adulteress feels. Guess, I didn't feel guilty. I assumed that we would continue seeing each other like before though I knew things would change.

'Amma and Appa complained that they hardly saw me, of course. But I used my work as excuse. They surprised me with a new car as my graduation present. It dug into their savings and I was grateful to them. They knew I was still going out with my varsity boy friend. Amma's hints that I should get married grew less and less subtle. One day she called and informed me that there had been a proposal for me.

"Shanti, Malar Aunty called. She said there's a lawyer working in KL who's interested in you." She paused waiting for me to react. When I didn't, she continued. "He's twenty six and a nice boy. He even owns a house."

'I told her I wasn't thinking of marrying. She reminded me that it wasn't going to get easier to find a good catch as I grew older. "There are many Indian girls who are graduates and unmarried," she reminded me. Then she added, "I'm not asking you to agree to marry him. Just agree to go out with him for dinner and see if you like him."

'I told Amma I'd call her if I decided to meet him. I didn't. A few days later, I received a letter from Appa asking me to think about my future and meet the man they thought was good husband material. Appa did ask if I was still going out with the boy I knew during my varsity days.

'Ravi Mama, the boy I knew during my varsity days was getting married and he still wanted me. I accepted the arrangement. A few days before the wedding, I discovered this too would have to be altered. Indran informed me that as he still hadn't found a job, his father in law had suggested that he do his MBA in America; his wife would go with him, of course.

'I didn't go to his wedding. We met in his PJ apartment when he returned from his honeymoon. Sorting out his belongings was his excuse. We had two days together. That was the last time I was to be with him, for now. He left for America six days ago. He called me on Thursday. God, I miss him.

'I rang home yesterday and Amma told me you were in KL. She said you and Uncle Anand were here for some business meeting. Amma said you'd be staying at Plaza Hotel. Thought I'd try my luck and call you. I really wanted to talk to you. Thanks for seeing me.'

Ravimama smiled and drank his beer. I was not sure what his thoughts were. He looked at me and held my hand. 'Mama, I have just gone on about myself. It's been your turn to listen. The last time we met I was the listener. I've not quite finished my story, Ravi Mama. But I want to know something first. You said you'd answer my question, why you didn't marry, after I graduated.'

He looked into my eyes and said, 'I did, in my own way.' Then I understood. I wouldn't have four years ago. He was right. I told him I was happy for him. At that moment, I wished Uncle Anand was there with us.

'You don't have to feel sad for me, Ravi Mama; of course, things are not alright, but when are they?' I tried to sound philosophical. I smiled at him and he returned a loving smile. 'Ravimama, I'm not ecstatic with the way things are. But I'm not going to allow Amma and Appa find me a nice boy. I don't know how things will go between Indran and me. I'm in no hurry to find out. For now, I've a career and I still love Indran. But I may even meet another man. I'll leave my options open,' I managed to say. I was beginning to feel slightly weary of myself.

'I'm suddenly feeling hungry. Let me take you and Uncle Anand for dinner,' I suggested.

'I'm afraid, it's going to be just you and me tonight. Uncle Anand is having dinner with his parents. His mother has found another nice Indian girl she wants to marry him off to,' Ravi Mama said quietly.

*'Husband Material' published in The Literary Page, The New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur. May, 1996.

Gautham Menon and Women in Sarees

Nobody loves a girl in a saree more than director Gautham Menon. He takes pleasure in portraying his leading ladies as beautifully as possible. The most common way he does this is by having them wear sarees, mostly during their introduction scene. And then, either the hero or the audience will immediately fall in love with them.

Jyothika in Kaaka Kaaka (2003)

Jyothika in Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007) 

Sameera Reddy in Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)

Trisha in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (2010) 

Samantha in Ye Maaya Chesave (2010) 

Samantha in Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012)