My Year of Prakash Raj

Some people spend a year
cooking Julia Child's recipes, or following all of the rules in the Bible, or reading books by people who spent a year doing something. My quest is to watch the 200-some films of South Indian character-actor-extraordinaire, Prakash Raj. (It'll probably take more than a year... and I'll post about some Prakash-less films here as well.)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Round-up for May 2012

Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (May, 2012): 8
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of May 31, 2012): 191


Vathiyar, Aadum Koothu, Idhaya Thirudan, Chamundi, Seenu Vasanti Lakshmi, Avide Shyamala, Perarasu, Mathiya Chennai


This month featured a whole spectrum of corrupt characters (cops, politicians, gangsters, philanthropists, and husbands.) Plus three films where Prakash Raj was in front of or behind the camera.
shp 2012-05-11 19.55
Aadum Koothu
vlcsnap-2012-06-15-17h18m48s68
Mathiya Chennai
shp 2012-05-19 10.46
Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi
  








Saturday, June 2, 2012

Help me find these movies!

I have nearly reached the 200-film mark in the quest to watch all of Prakash Raj’s films, which means the end is in sight!There are 73 films left to watch (not-including new films and future films), of which I have confirmed  access to, or have possession of 47. That leaves 24 films in which Prakash Raj appears, that I cannot seem to find. I have scoured dvd sellers in the US and India, youtube, torrent sites, and more, all to no avail.
(Prakash Raj wanted a large chart,but we settled for an Excel spreadsheet)
I’m posting this in the hope that more eyes looking for these films will yield results.  I’ll update and post this list from time to time, in the hope that these movies might show up:
  • in the bargain bin at a local dvd shop
  • on television, in the middle of the night
  • in a mysterious corner of the internet (youtube, dailymotion, etc), discovered by someone with superior google-skills
  • available in the usual places, but in a different language version (Hindi dub of Telugu, Telugu dub of Kannada, etc.)
  • the illegal trade in Soundarya-Jagapati Babu films of the early 2000's

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Round-up for April 2012

 Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (April, 2012): 9
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of April 30, 2012): 183


Veedu Samanyudu Khadu, Anjanayelu, I Love You Da, Album, Thank You Subbarao, Lakshmi Narasimha, Naanu Naanu Kanusu, Lockup Death, Ali Baba


April showers (baths) bring May Prakash Raj movies.
vlcsnap-2012-04-15-21h47m41s248 shp 2012-04-11 21.26

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Round-up for March 2012

Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (March, 2012): 14
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of March 31, 2012): 174

Dosth, Vaanchinathan, Manoharam, Seethanam, Ammai Kosam, Bachi, Solo, Ramachari, Bhalevedivi Basu, Preesthod Thappa, Veerabhadra, Simchalam, Panchamirtham, Thalainagaram
This may have been a record month in number of films watched (and only three  had subtitles.) Which is probably why it’s taken me nearly 2 months to write all of these up. Lots of cops (corrupt and noble), evil-doers, and doting fathers.
shp 2012-03-10 16.18
My head hurts from writing this all up!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Round-up for February 2012

Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (February, 2012): 5
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of February 29, 2019): 160
Chiru Navutho, Vanavil, Political Rowdy, Appu, Samudram
Another month of films with no subtitles. The high point was clearly Appu, in which Prakash Raj played a murderous eunuch brothel-runner. (If there's a specific word in Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, or something for this particular person/profession, I'd love to know it.)

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Round-up for January 2012

Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (January, 2012): 10
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of January 31, 2012): 155
Villu, Yaare Neenu Cheluve, Business Man, Magizchi, Engeyum Kadhal, Solla Solla Innikum, Sollamale, Senthooram, Mambattiyan, Guruparvai
My head hurts from all the movies without subtitles.
I made it through a few more of the older Tamil and Telugu films that were up on the streaming sites before they were shut down in late January. I'm bummed out by this development, since there are a lot of movies that were posted to Megavideo and Videobb that I really can't find for sale in the US. On the other hand, I do get that those sites made most of their money from people uploading films and music that are widely available for sale. Ah well, it was good while it lasted, and perhaps at some point I'll have access to a legal copy of the 1995 Telugu movie Gunshot, starring Ali. (I really, really hope so!)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Round-up for December 2011

Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (December, 2011): 12
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of December 31, 2011): 145
Suswagatham, Konchem Touchlo Vunte Cheputanu, Rajasthan, Sandhippoma, Poomani, Vinodam, M. Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi, Dongala Mutha, Aravindhan, Oru Yatramozhi, Raasi, Vidukathai
I decided to try and knock out some of the 1990's movies that are out in internet-land, so December had lots of subtitle-free films. I was struck, particularly with the Telugu film, with the range of types of stories and characters vs. the current films. I watched films in which the hero didn't end up with the heroine, and movies that were a straight comedies. It could be that there are more types of Telugu films being made, but I'm just catching the big, tent-pole, hero movies where problems are solved with fists, not pratfalls, and the hero ends up with the heroine, if not two.