Abhiyum Naanum

It looks like Dad's finally getting his due in Tamil cinema. After years of being forced to watch from the sidelines as Mom was placed on a pedestal, he's finally showing up in movies where he plays a pivotal role. This year we've alreadyhad Santosh Subramaniyam and Vaaranam Aayiram that revolved around dads and their relationships with their offspring and Abhiyum Naanum joins the list. A movie about a father-daughter relationship told from the father's point of view, it is low-key and down-to-earth but its lack of depth is a problem considering the emotional subject.

Talking to a dad Sudhakar(Prithviraj) who has brought his daughter to the park makes Raghuraman(Prakashraj), an estate owner, reminisce about his own relationship with his daughter Abhi(Trisha). Abhi was the apple of his eye and so every small indication that she was growing up came as a rude shock to Raghu. The biggest shock happened when he met Jogi(Ganesh Venkatraman), his prospective son-in-law.

When it comes to the relationship between parents and their offspring, the biggest difference between raising a son and a daughter probably happens at the time of marriage. After raising their daughter with love and affection, the parents are suddenly faced with the prospect of seeing her leave and spending the rest of their lives without her. That's a difficult time and its understandable that Abhiyum Naanum puts most of its focus on that time. It is after Trisha brings Ganesh home that Prakashraj understands that she's no longer daddy's li'l girl and his difficulty at coming to terms with that is captured well. As he turns silent or snaps at Ganesh unnecessarily, we understand exactly what he is going through and his behavior conveys the conflicting emotions he is feeling.

But this focus on one particular part of the relationship seems to be at the expense of the rest of it. The few scenes that showcase Prakashraj's attachment to his daughter when she is really young are nice and cute. But as she grows older, we see very little of the bond that exists between them. With the necessity of compressing a number of years into a couple of hours, the film fast-forwards through many important phases of the father-daughter relationship and as a result, we never see it really blossom.

Its clear that Radhamohan intended Abhiyum Naanum to be a light-hearted, feel-good film but that has translated into a film that has absolutely no dramatic tension or suspense. The few issues that are shown before Trisha's marriage is brought up are minor and resolved quickly. Trisha is quite the model daughter, sailing through school and college with absolutely no conflicts with her parents. And when she falls in love, it is with the perfect man(as the movie proceeds he becomes more perfect than we could've even imagined!). There are no issues or conflicts that reveal more about the characters, forcing us to take sides and become more involved in the film.

Prakashraj's character is well-developed and we get to see all sides of his personality when it comes to his daughter - his love for her, his anxiety about her well-being, his uneasiness at her growing up so fast, etc. But the same cannot be said of Trisha's character. We learn very little about her as a person. Barring one scene where she talks to Prakashraj about his dissatisfaction with Ganesh, we never see her interact with her dad or reciprocate her love for him. The relationship seems rather one-sided and with one half of the core relationship being so poorly developed, the film isn't as emotional as the subject matter deserves.

Like he did in Mozhi and Azhagiye Theeye, Radhamohan infuses the film with a lot of gentle, subtle humor. Almost all of Ishwarya's comebacks to Prakashraj work and Kumaravel has several funny one-liners. But the more obvious attempts, like the whole parent interview segment, dont work quite as well.

Prakashraj looks like he is hamming it up a little bit initially but he is good playing the insecure dad awaiting his daughter's marriage. He conveys a lot of emotions with his expressions and body language during the quiet moments. Considering the subject of the film, it is surprising that Trisha makes even less of an impression than she does in all those hero-centric films. Ishwarya is pitch-perfect as the more level-headed of the two parents and her gravely voice makes her sarcastic comments work very well. Kumaravel brings the right mix of sincerity and humor to his role and makes all his lines, whether they are sentimental or funny, work. Its difficult to see how Ganesh really looks but he fits the role and is quite natural. Considering Vidyasagar's work for Mozhi, his soundtrack here is a disappointment. Vaa Vaa En Devadhaiye... is a nice number and picturized nicely as it tracks a child's growing up but none of the other songs stay in mind.