Every now and then, life tends to seek out methods to interrupt these large partitions you construct round your coronary heart, the psychological enclosures trauma places you in, and the partitions you construct round your beliefs. In Venky Atluri’s charming household entertainer, Vishwanath & Sons (VAS), Suriya performs a middle-aged man who lives inside a self-built cocoon, even when every little thing round him is as lavish and grand as in a materialistic man’s moist dream. Among the many issues Sanjay Vishwanath (Suriya), a enterprise tycoon and an Olympic-medallist shooter, inherits from his father, Vijay Vishwanath (Rajiv Menon), are a enterprise empire, a mantra to struggle until the top, and deep insecurity about marital relationships. With this sophisticated father-son relationship at its core, director Venky Atluri’s household drama finally ends up as a well-written, larger-than-life entertainer that not solely feels healthful, but additionally bats for the correct progressive registers.
The way in which the rousing introduction of Suriya’s Sanjay is written tells you this isn’t going to be your routine hero car. About to compete within the finals of the Paris Olympics 2024, Sanjay’s locker is vandalised by unknown males; his pistol is shattered, and his jersey is torn. Sanjay remembers what his late father taught him — when one thing will get damaged, attempt your finest to repair it, and go for a brand new one provided that repairing isn’t attainable. Sanjay fixes his pistol and, utilizing the exact same spray can used to vandalise his locker, he writes ‘India’ on his jersey and steps out for the sport. On the floor, it is a ‘mass’ second for a star’s entry, however on a deeper degree, this tells you who Sanjay is, how a lot his father meant to him, and due to this fact, why he has change into who he’s after what occurred together with his father.
Vishwanath and Sons (Tamil)
Director: Venky Atluri
Forged: Suriya, Mamitha Baiju, Radhika Sarathkumar, Raveena Tandon
Runtime: 161 minutes
Storyline: A rich, emotionally guarded Olympic shooter who has sworn off marriage finds his rigorously ordered life upended when the surrogate mom of his ailing son enters his household and falls in love with him
All through the subsequent 161 minutes, we see Sanjay do exactly what his father taught him to — he places his coronary heart into discovering options to each challenge that arises. Very hooked up to his mom, Nirmala Devi (a incredible Radhika Sarathkumar), Sanjay, a bachelor in his forties, lastly listens to her plea for an inheritor to the household: he fathers a toddler by surrogacy. When the kid, named Abhay, results in a hospital with a bone marrow dysfunction, he tracks down the surrogate mom, Maddy (Mamitha Baiju), and brings her residence since her bone marrow might help remedy the kid. Now, what if Maddy, after spending many months with Sanjay and his household, falls in love with him? In spite of everything, this instantly collides together with his long-standing resolve to not get married. Will he confront his deep insecurities? Even when that’s attainable, will he conform to marry somebody who’s 20 years youthful than him? This kinds the remainder of the story of VAS.
Sanjay will get to do all of the above and extra as a result of…nicely, he can. Wealth is Sanjay’s superpower, and you start to surprise if he would possibly find yourself shopping for the entire metropolis to swimsuit his wants. And the movie too doesn’t disguise it; each pixel screams cash, and each shot revels in lavishness. The storytelling, due to this fact, feels too handy at occasions. However Venky hardly makes an attempt to cover this. VAS is basically a Bruce Wayne story; in actual fact, I couldn’t cease chuckling when Sanjay nearly buys a resort to show the resort proprietor’s wealthy brat son a lesson. But, regardless of this comfort, the story of Vishwanath & Sons is so grounded in real feelings that you just willingly reside this dreamlike life — and gladly, all this opulence ensures most different real-world issues don’t impede Venky’s narrative targets.
A nonetheless from ‘Vishwanath and Sons’.
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This additionally means Sanjay inadvertently spoils Maddy together with his cash. She calls him ‘Santa Claus’, making it extra handy for Maddy to see him as a possible associate. Don’t get me mistaken; I don’t imply to say that materialistic wealth is all Maddy needs, however the textual content doesn’t disguise that she is conscious of how simply she would attain most of her life’s targets with Sanjay by her facet. In an earlier scene, she spells out her targets for each decade of her life to somebody who may realise all of them in a second. However that isn’t why Maddy loves Sanjay, and that’s the place VAS comes into its personal.
Emotional beats accrue which means seamlessly. Abhay and Nirmala (who Maddy calls Mrs Nirmala) change into the household Maddy has been looking for her entire life, and Mamitha Baiju provides a lot life to her character by her very good efficiency. Her very splashing entrance provides the movie an instantaneous enhance of vitality, and he or she simply charms her method into our hearts. After all, some generic concepts — like when Sanjay turns into a saviour to Maddy’s damsel in misery or a random authorized battle that goes nowhere — may have been averted in a movie that largely manages to package deal the proper of economic components.
Vishwanath & Sons has a few of the most progressive concepts {that a} large star car may accommodate. Suriya deserves big credit score for constantly being this green-flag star, paving a progressive path for the next-generation heroes. Those that have seen his Etharkkum Thunindhavan would keep in mind that stunning twist within the second half by which the lead couple’s dignity is threatened; it’s an concept solely a hero safe in his masculinity would have accepted. In VAS, which clearly bats for the liberty to decide on surrogacy, Sanjay travels to totally different international locations on a selected date every month to fulfill his carnal needs with strangers he meets on relationship apps. What’s extra baffling is how casually this entire concept is handled; it even turns into a operating gag involving his mom! Speak about a daring filmmaker and a safe star.
Venky manages to direct Suriya’s simple allure and charismatic presence into one thing aspirational. At each main juncture within the story, Suriya is convincing as an affectionate man, however with an invisible protect round him. Watch him within the many conversations he has with Maddy in his automotive. Or when his sense of safety breaks in a scene on his mom’s mattress within the second half. Additionally discover what GV Prakash Kumar’s music does to the scene. Prakash’s music breathes recent life into VAS, and the movie’s dance choreography additionally catches your eye. In the meantime, Radhika Sarathkumar reminds us who the veteran of the solid is; in a single shot the place Maddy reveals her emotions for Sanjay, Radhika expresses so many various feelings in such a brief span.
All that mentioned, it is a Venky Atluri movie on the finish of the day, and the director shows great narrative management. The convenience with which each and every scene flows into the subsequent feels so satisfying. As a author, Venky exhibits plenty of maturity, particularly in how he ends the movie. On the floor, it would really feel like a cop-out, however having clearly witnessed the place Sanjay and Maddy stand, every other ending might need felt contrived. It additionally satisfyingly exhibits what a wholesome relationship that respects boundaries would really feel like. And such considerate writing in a mainstream hero car could be uncommon. That is good pure-genre masala cinema.
Vishwanath and Sons is at the moment operating in theatres
Revealed – August 14, 2026 04:20 pm IST
