It’s neither a family vocation nor a profession thrust on them due to parental pressure. They have opted for it, inspired by their childhood hero, who happens to be none other their father, who also doubles up as their role model.
While the personality of the father continues to play a dominant role in shaping up the wards, carrying the father’s legacy is not that easy though it appears to be a familiar territory. Yet, sons and daughters aspiring for name and fame are after the father as not every one is a Sylvia Plath. Despite getting tutored or patronised, they step in with great hope and as history shows, only the chosen few have succeeded.
This phenomenon is not new to Tamil society as it existed right from the Sangam period. In the present, the most famous father-daughter literary duo is DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and Kanimozhi, who head the party’s Literary Wing as well. On more than one occasion, she has admitted to her father’s influence though there is an apparent disconnect in her creative works both in content and literary outlook . Breaking the feudal mould, she comes out more outspoken and remains a voice of the modern Tamil woman. Only the Dravidian ideology remains the umbilical chord that binds the two.
While the father made his entry into the field of creative writing through his short stories, often dismissed as propaganda of Dravidian ideology, the daughter’s foray through poetry created ripples. The veteran politician’s initial short stories such as Kuppai Thotti, Nalaayini, Piretha Parisodhanai identified him as a writer in the Dravidian mould.
Karuvari Vasanai, the title of Kanimozhi’s first collection of poems grabbed the attention of many. In a refreshing break with tradition, it spoke about the woman’s body and the politics surrounding it with the use of terms such as maadhavilakku, yoni, etc., considered a taboo. Being a daughter of then Chief Minister, the poetry collection created a lot of discussions among litterateurs. Her book was roped into the list of Ecriture Feminine - Penn Ezhuthu in Tamil.
The other popular father son-duo rocking the creative writing scene includes popular lyricist Vairamuthu and his sons. While Vairamuthu continues to captivate the Tamil audience ever since his debut song Idhu Oru Ponmalai Pozhudhu in the film Nizhalgal, his son Madan Gorky garnered the attention with his first song Irumbiley Oru Irudhayam in the film Enthiran. These two songs clearly show the generational gap. While Vairamuthu is still rooted in the past, Gorky has moved on to the era of robots.
But even before Madan Gorky, it was Kabilan Vairamuthu, the second son of Vairamuthu, who stepped into literary field through his debut poetry collection Endraan Kavignan.
Another popular literary father-son duo in serious Tamil literature is Thi Ka Sivasankaran and Kalyanasundaram. They are popularly known as Thi Ka Si and Vannadhasan. The father was an accepted doyen of literary criticism during his lifetime, while the son shot into fame through his short stories and poems written under the nick name of Kalyaanji.
No one can forget the contribution of Purisai Duraisami Kannappa Thampiran in theatre arts. He had single-handedly helped the revival of therukoothu tradition in the State. Without his efforts, the ancient Tamil theatre form could have been buried under the onslaught of cinema. After his demise, Sambandha Thampiran, the illustrious son has shouldered the responsibility of carrying it forward fusing it with contemporary themes.
In painting, the arrival of artist Adimoolam has created a wave and brought in fresh breath into fine arts. Famed for line drawings and modern art, he shaped the Tamil publishing arena. It was after his paintings were used as wrappers for the books, the Tamil publishing world changed its cover designing form which traditionally used the human portraits with full of colours. After his demise, his son Aparajithan Adimoolam follows father’s path in modern painting.
In the domain of films, the father son or father daughter lineage is aplenty. The father-son partnership in Tamil cinema starts with thespian Sivaji Ganesan. His son, Prabhu, came into the field when the former was active and the two have acted together in few films like Saadhanai. Now, Prabhu’s son Vikram Prabhu shines in the tinsel town with his debut film Kumki.
There are some other pairs in the list. Selling heroes Suriya and Karthi are the wards of popular actor of yesteryears, Sivakumar.
Not to be left behind in Kollywood is the father son duo in music - Ilayaraja and Yuvan Shankar Raja, the pair making waves in the cine industry. While Ilayaraaja is still following the old sytle, Yuvan Shankar Raja uses technology to the hilt. Both have worked together in a few films.
With more and more heirs entering the arena, Kollywood appears to have become a family venture with little room for new comers!
