An accidental parenthood story lacking in depth

Dada

Tamil (Amazon Prime Video)

Director: Ganesh K Babu

Cast: Kavin, Aparna Das

Rating: 2.5/5

Ganesh K Babu’s directorial debut ‘Dada’ follows a young couple — Manikandan (Kavin) and Sindhu (Aparna Das) — who accidentally set to become parents. The story is about how their lives change with the pregnancy and childbirth. Unlike routine romantic comedies, Dada starts refreshingly with a less-is-more approach to romance aided by apt background score.

However, as it unfolds, the patriarchal undertones of its plot becomes difficult to be discreet, affecting its screenplay. Especially in the second half, with the story not progressing, the film becomes dull, betraying its earlier promise of not being the routine rom-com.

Though a soft yet deceptive manoeuvring to portray a ‘male victimhood’ is ubiquitous throughout the film, it gets brazen only after the unconvincing interval ‘twist’. Also, our hero’s coming-of-age happens less in the redemption of his momentous carelessness in supporting his pregnant partner, but more in his ‘suffering’ in bringing up his own child as a single parent. (By the way, how many cases do we come across where a mother ‘abandons’ her child with her partner?- So much for the film’s relevance).

The film does provide some answers to a few logical questions about its plot, but by then it becomes contrived enough to lose the viewer’s attention.

However, the issue persists in its exploration of dynamics of relationships. The championing of its ‘victim’ hero comes at the cost of implied antagonism of its female protagonist whose character neither has any agency, nor an independent ‘female’ voice (other than saying she won’t abort the child).

Transformative roles like Manikandan and Sindhu should offer more to actors to tap into their repertoire of emotions. Though Kavin and Aparna have tried best here, the flawed writing has not delved into their potential. Jen Martin’s background score elevates the film to a certain level, but does not stay right there, and also a dance number in between does no good.

All said and done, a question, however, gets further solidified in the mind after watching the film - Why male filmmakers, despite trying their best, quite often fail to come up with sensitive and realistic portrayals of human relationships unlike their female counterparts?