10 MALAYALAM MOVIES WITH COMPLEX FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIPS

 

                                                                             film Kireedam

There is no dearth of Malayalam movies dealing with the warmth and compassion in relationships between fathers and sons. Deshadanam, Thanmatra, Pappayude Swantham Appoos and Piravi among others, portray the said bond that could be variously classified as loving, friendly, protective, understanding and so on. But these relationships with the given variables of society, circumstances, and one’s inherent nature, more often than not, complicate matters resulting in slightly different outcomes, and these too are portrayed brilliantly in Malayalam movies. Following is a list of such particularly complex father-son relationships that deviate from those conventional ones built on love and respect alone, that you might want to reflect upon. That six out of the ten in the list feature one of the stalwarts of Malayalam cinema, Thilakan, says quite something about this late veteran actor and eternal father we will all love and admire forever in all his diverse avatars.

10. KANNEZHUTHI POTTUM THOTTU 1999

father: Nateshan Muthalali (Thilakan)

son: Uthaman (Biju Menon)

As the man once said, ‘like father, like son’, it couldn’t get worse than this! Debauched Uthaman is no different in his temperament and life style than his depraved father Nateshan Muthalai’s younger self, and the feelings for one another here is merely of hatred and repulsion, with each of them willing to run for the knife to finish off the other if the need be.

9. VEENDUM CHILA VEETTUKARYANGAL 1999
father: Kochuthoma (Thilakan)

son: Roy Thomas (Jayaram)

The warm and friendly bond between theatre enthusiast Kochuthoma and his irresponsible and nonchalant son Roy Thomas goes south with the entry of a girl in the family. Although the exploration of the tiff between the two extends beyond the archetypical dispute, the film beautifully brings in a new dimension to the relationship even daring to tread a slightly unrealistic angle.

8. UDAYON 2005

father: Shooranad Pappoyi (Mohanlal)

son: Shooranad Kunju (Mohanlal)

Not necessarily a favorite of the Malayali audience, the cacophonous Udayon, among many other things also deals with the implicit connection between a willfully rebellious patriarchal farmer called Shooranad Pappoyi with his manic obsession for the resourcefulness of soil and his son Shooranad Kunju who refuses to buy that idea in whole along with his equally apathetic siblings.

7. KUDUMBAPURANAM 1988
father: Shankaran Nair (Thilakan)

son: Krishnanunni (Balachandra Menon)

The film revolves around the predictable but bumpy circumstances a joint family goes through after the father Shankaran Nair evicts his willfully arrogant and selfish elder son Krishnanunnu, when the latter blatantly raises questions about the division of family expenditure after becoming an earning member disregarding the hardship his parents went through to raise the family before him.

6. SAMANTHARANGAL 1998

father: Ismail (Balachandra Menon)

son: Najeeb (Rajesh Rajan)

The ethics of honest and principled Ismail is questioned by the corruption of his ambitious eldest son Najeeb who not only discredits his father’s aspirations for him, but also goes on a total tailspin to clash with it resulting in tragic consequences. The love between the two may not have died out completely, but the strictly opposing nature of their methods comes in its way.

5. KARUNYAM 1997

father: Gopi (Murali)

son: Satheeshan (Jayaram)

Karunyam explores an extremely dark area in the dynamics of a deeply affectionate father-son duo. The stressful situations arising in the family from the hopelessness of the unemployed son and his sheer prospect of attaining his father’s job only at the event of an untimely death brings to play various unpleasant reflections of the dark side of human depravity.

4. KIREEDAM 1989
father: Achuthan Nair (Thilakan)

son: Sethumadhavan (Mohanlal)

One of the most heart-rending father-son relationships the Malayali audience wept for, Kireedam tells the sad story of Sethumadhavan whose fate furiously slips off his grip at the same time as straining the relationship with his doting father, police constable Achuthan Nair, whom he adores, and who see his own dreams crushed under the foot of the same unkind fate.

3. PAITHRUKAM 1993

father: Devadathan Chemmathiripad (Narendra Prasad)

son: Somadathan Chemmathiripad (Suresh Gopi)

The sheer beauty of the discord between the traditional father, who is a priest and a Vedic scholar, and his radical journalist son lies in the ‘live and let live’ attitude of the former that skims over the obtrusive nature of the latter’s intolerant reactions to it. Here it is the ideologies that clash, and the resulting sparks claim a lot of happiness on its way out.

2. PERUMTHACHAN 1991

father: Perumthachan (Thilakan)

son: Kannan (Prasanth)

Ego and jealousy takes a front seat in this complex tug of mentorship and fatherhood, when the love of renowned master carpenter Perumthachan for his son Kannan is clouded by his reservations against the young boy’s new outlooks and fresh methods of problem solving. And as is to be seen, not all dry leaves make way for the fresh ones without putting up a fight.

1. SPADIKAM 1995

father: Chacko Mash (Thilakan)

son: Aadu Thoma (Mohanlal)

The quintessential father-son conflict between the adamant Chacko Mash and his rebellious son Aadu Thoma is identified all across the Malayali world as both unforgettable and iconic for the intriguing rejection the latter develops from the harsh ways of the former’s strict and uncompromising upbringing. But even in the middle of all the skirmish, there is a faint whiff of affection in the air you’d get if you try a little hard.