The right way of bringing up children, related to their school and home, forms the crux of Appa. And to go with the title, it’s about three fathers and their methods of handling their children’s lives. Written, directed and produced by Samuthirakani, the film, despite it’s good intention, seems more a hotchpotch of events and ideals put together in a haphazard fashion. Whether it is the characters, the situations they go through, or the ideas on the theme, both the scripting and narration are sans depth, with an element of superficiality almost throughout.
A contrast between three fathers, each with a son, is drawn in the early stages. The film takes a preachy tone from the beginning and almost never lets go. Daya (Samuthirakani) wants to bring up his son Vetri giving him all the freedom. ‘The world is a paradise, be nice to all — even those who try to harm you’ is what he advises his son. Decision on schooling for their progeny seems to be a male bastion here, for Daya is the sole decision maker, condescending towards his wife, ignoring her views on how their son should be educated. That is, until she takes a drastic step to make him more attentive to her.
He would rather berate the school authorities and change schools when his son fails in an assignment, than tick Vetri. And he solves the issue by shifting his son from a private school to a government one. His son doesn’t return from school one day, and the father cycles miles in search of him, instead of filing a police complaint. Its the character’s righteous attitude that irks one here. Samuthirakani, an instinctive actor otherwise, is surprisingly staid and stuffy and at times dramatic in his take on the character. Even going overboard, like in the scene where Vetri (Vignesh) doesn’t return home one day.
Perumal is a stereotype, a father constantly bullying his son (Raghav). ‘The world is no place for the naive and the innocent, so be wary of everyone’ is his advice. Despite this, Ramaiah, with his perfect timing livens up the scenes and provides some comic relief. The third father is Nadunilaiyan (Namo Narayanan). And as his name suggests, his take on life is ‘be good to the good and avoid the evil ones’. The most sensible of the lot, unfortunately it’s this character that is the weakest in its etching. Even the little infatuation with a girl he likes goes as per the advice of his father.
One wishes Daya trusted his son more and had given Vetri enough freedom and not controlled him at every point of his life in the name of ‘right guidance’! Vetri’s cheeky, disrespectful attitude towards his grandpa and his mother’s brothers looks out of sync for a guy who had seemingly been taught the right things by his father.
How Daya takes control of not just his son’s life and future, but those of his friends too, forms the rest of the story. The scenes leading to the finale seem contrived. Nasath as the midget Mayil is cheeky, cute and a bundle of talent. The child actors fit in suitably. The solution to the issues faced by children in their formative days is dealt with in a very simplistic manner. Like the mode Vetri’s and Mayil’s life takes.
The world in Appa seems largely a man’s world. The three children on whom the film focuses are males, the fathers decide, the women either totally ignored or irrelevant in the director’s plan of things. The film tries to touch on various issues, like private vs government schools, corporal punishment and so on. But nothing that leaves a deep impact.
Samuthirakani has directed better scripts — like Nadodigal (2009) and Nimirnthu Nil (2014). This seems to be his weakest script. Surely he could have scripted a better one. At 121 minutes of viewing time, the film is pretentious.