April Okati Vidudala (1991)

Cult classic for a reason. There is never a dull moment, thanks to Vamsy's brilliant ensemble characterisations, and the comic timing of all actors. The emotional scenes hit as hard as the comedy, and by the end, you're feeling swept up by a wave of such wholesomeness that you wish this movie was a TV series instead, so you could explore the lives of these characters in even greater detail. Be that as it may, it works perfectly as a film, one that can be revisited countless times without boredom- just the fact that it has stayed fresh even after 30 years is testament to that fact.

One of the biggest reasons it works even today, unlike other 90s comedies which have similar plotlines, is because it never resorts to cheap misogyny or the tiring trope of "teaching the bossy woman a lesson". Rajendra Prasad's Diwakaram is a simp for Shobana's Bhuvaneshwari (big, bigger and biggest mood), and that is that- there is no bigger moral science lesson associated with it. The film lets Bhuvaneshwari be a chaotic queen in all her glory, and it is so delightful to watch. Even though Shobana doesn't get as much screen time as I expected, the way her character is handled, and the way she exudes badassery more than makes up for it. Ilaiyaraaja's music is fantastic as well, and fills your brain up in the most wonderful way possible. Rajendra Prasad as Diwakaram is a total mood, even apart from the Shobana simping- he is not so much a changed man as a man who suddenly had to face all the consequences of all his actions at the same time, and it might not seem like a big difference, but once you see him in the final scene where he talks about how much Dr. Krupamani means to him, you understand and accept him even more than you did earlier. Especially if you remember how even in the beginning of his month of honesty, it was Dr. Krupamani's humiliation that first gave him an inkling of how things were about to go terribly wrong not just for him, but for everyone around him. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it, I don't know. 

Speaking of the ending though, the final scene where Shobana hands him the flower- most poetic of all poetic cinema ever. 

Finally, I have only one thing to say in the end- waited so long to watch this, but totally worth the wait because now I have no thoughts, just April Okati Vidudala living rent-free in my head, and if that isn't the best birthday gift ever, I don't know what is.