Appa

As the title indicates, Appa dwells on the role of fathers — how they bring up their kids becomes a deciding factor in their children's lives. Like some of his previous films, in this one, too, Samuthirakani touches upon a few socially relevant issues. To start with, there are three fathers — Dayalan (Samuthirakani), a humanitarian who has high hopes on society, Singaperumal (Thambi Ramaiah), a self-centered person who is concerned only about his ambitions, and Nadunilaiyan (Namo Narayana), a well-calculated man who always prefer to be on 'safe side' in life.

The story kicks off when each of them is blessed with a child, and they try to instil their philosophy of life into their respective kids. Dayalan's wife can't digest the fact that the former wants their son, too, to adopt his progressive ideologies. All hell breaks loose when she realises that her husband is planning to make their child Vettreeswaran (Vignesh) a 'good person' than a 'well-educated' man with a white-collar job. On the other hand, Singaperumal is keen on making his son Chakravarthy (Raghav) a doctor, despite a not-so-effective protest from his wife. His principles and insistence on an over-disciplined lifestyle become a nightmare for Chakravarthy. Nadunilaiyan, too, brings up his child Mayilvaganam (Nasath) in a way that he wants him to be — asking him to stay away from all sort of issues which would lead to an uneasy life. His wife, however, has little say at home. The story focusses more on the relationship between Dayalan and Vettreeswaran, and the father-son episodes are a delight to watch.

As all the children grow older and reach their mid-teens, each of them chooses a career — quite obviously, Vettreeswaran succeeds in pursuing what he likes, thanks to the guidance of his father. Chakravarthy struggles to meet his father's endless expectations. Interestingly, Mayilvaganam manages to put up an impressive show in his area of interest, despite a not-so-common physical problem and discou...