This blog has discussed the perfect father figures and formidable mothers of Tamil cinema.It has also thrown light on siblings and twins who occupied the centre stage on the Tamil big screen.The family cluster becomes incomplete without children who become the supreme stars in the cluster. Sons and daughters can be loving and lovable or aggressive and hateful.Destiny is such that noble parents at times get ignoble children and evil parents are blessed with endearing wards.In the midst of this family cluster,there are cases of inconsiderate and disciplinarian parents with their hidden love for their sons,who rightly understand their parents especially their fathers and show them utmost devotion and deep affection.This post deals with two such sons of Tamil cinema,who cannot deviate from the yardsticks of discipline framed by their paternal heads.
The other film portraying a devoted son was Mohan Raja's 'Santhosh Subramanyan' that hit the theatres in 2008. Mohan Raja cast his younger brother Jeyam Ravi{The prefix Mohan in Mohan Raja,belongs to the father of both the brothers and the prefix Jeyam represents the first film of Ravi}in the role of Santhosh.Unlike Em Magan,Santhosh Subramanyan was more a street romance culminating into a family fantasy.Here the father-son relationship was totally different.The father decided everything for his son without letting his son decide anything for himself.The problem got aggravated when the son himself chose his life partner.Unusually,as per his son's request,the father even allowed the girl of his son's choice,to stay in their house for a specific period,so that a final decision could be taken about the girl's suitability to their family values.
Now setting aside the all-inclusive factors of both'Em Magan'and'Santhosh Subramanyan',this article's scope is to assess the quality of devotion of the sons of these two films,to their respective fathers.Krishna of'Em Magan'gulped the enormous insults heaped on him by his father,who once gave his son a new shirt received as gift,letting him believe that his father was so kind and loving that he had bought a new shirt for him.But when he came to know that his father had simply passed on a shirt received as freebie,he would reach the extremes of depression and remove the shirt.His tough father would one time feed him with dishes that he did not like and next time,would beat him for something or other.
In between the on going unpleasant routine between the father and son,was the other side of romantic dreams of the son,about his childhood sweet heart,his maternal uncle's daughter.Things would go awry after the naturally vigorous funeral ceremonies of Krishna's maternal grand father, when he and his maternal uncle's daughter were spotted together,during a hide and seek game. There would be a spontaneous family scuffle,in the most conventional rural style and Krishna's father would angrily leave the village with his family on a hired car.Things would take a further delicate turn,when Krishna's sweet heart would come out of the car boot,on reaching his home.
On seeing this unpleasant development,the ruthless father would drive the son and the girl out of home.The further developments would throw light on Krishna and his uncle's daughter getting married with the help of his girlfriend's father,who was also his father's auditor. Thanks to the help of the auditor,Krishna would become the manager of a poultry farm and grow in his career,making considerable fortune.Krishna and his wife would be blessed with a kid and his status would grow further,to the extent of owning a house and car.
The final moments of this wonderful drama were almost an aesthetic treat with absolutely refining touches from the hands of Thirumurugan,with a brilliant display of role delivery by the classic actor Nasser and the most docile Bharat.That Bharat,as Krishna,would unquestioningly sign the retrieval document, concerning a landed property in his name brought by his father, showed his silent obeisance to whatever his father did.
However, just before the climax scene,Krishna,who had by then was blessed with a kid and had grown in status, would visit his father with a marriage proposal for his younger sister.When his father simply slighted his proposal,he would ask his father to spare just five minutes for him, by calling him Appa{Dad} and presenting him a brief gist of his love and admiration for his father who had been his exemplary role model,for achieving prosperity through a rigorous routine of unswerving labour.
Krishna would tell his father that but for his dad he would not have learnt the right way of living, by surmounting all ordeals.In his opinion,his father had lived every minute of his life for the sake of his family and in this process,his loving dad,had beautifully carved his son's character,through self discipline and commitment to ethics of labour and trade.On hearing these words,the outwardly stony father,would stand dumb founded,with his heart melting down for his son,who had adored him instead of hating him,for the harsher ways he had been handled by his father.
It was the most passionate moment in the film to watch Nasser emotionally breaking down to confess to his wife {Saranya}and his teasing brother in law{Vadivelu}how much he loved his son and how truly his son had understood him.He was in fact waiting for this day to fulfil a penance at the Murugan temple for getting back his son into his arms'fold.
Mohan Raja's projection of a devoted son in 'Santhosh Subramanyan' created a totally different experience. Prakash Raj as a rich and responsible father with a lot of concern for all his children, showed his paternal domination by deciding everything for his children with his well set priorities of taste and trends.So it would be quite natural on his part to think that he alone should fix the best girl for his youngest son Santhosh,as he had done for his other sons and daughters.
But Santhosh had a different frame of mind.He came upon a girl and had his instant flash of love.His close friends knew his love and the girl whom he loved was almost a free bird,with an immaculate sense of men and matters and an innate spirit of sportiness,coupled with innocence. She was a rich find for the hero and he valued her much more than all the riches that his father had amassed.While the hero's father had already fixed his marriage with the daughter of a wealthy man with the concurrence of the son,the latter's mind was inseparably bound to the girl of his own choice.
As the conflict of interests had to reach the climax with the father declaring that his son's choice was a misfit for the family{despite the fact that the girl had endeared herself to each and every other member of the family}and the son on the other hand affirming his love for the girl, Santhosh had to finally vindicate his stand with a vociferous outburst against his father.This emotional outburst was actually not against his father but an admission of the excessive interest of his father in the welfare of his children.While Santhosh was ready to adhere to the decision of his father,he would only tell him about what all he had lost in his life,by the decision taken by his father on his behalf,at every stage.
In this context,Santhosh would also say that even while playing Carom it was his father who would decide which coin his son should move to win the game.The excessive paternal focus of the father had actually deprived his children of their freedom and individuality.It was not just an emotional awakening but a logical and reasoning observation made by Santhosh that made his father realise his failure as a father,which he had so far been thinking as a successful pattern of parenting.
Both Krishna and Santhosh are the best son models on the Tamil big screen.Both the sons had the right sense of understanding,regarding the genuineness of their respective dads and accepted their unacceptable exterior projections,purely on account of their unfaltering faith in their fathers' fine, inner attributes,brimming with love,concern and commitment towards bringing up their sons,as prospective value additions not only to their families but also to society.In was in this respect both Krishna and Santhosh created a new image of devoted sons and in creating this new image,both Bharat and Jeyam Ravi as actors, dissolved into the character by each one's chosen track of performance.Both Krishna and Santosh will remain as the out standing role models for juvenile celebration of submission and good will,towards a flawless and felicitous family bonding.
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