Coincidentally, this week happened to be the weekend of films which are crafted on the nature of mammals that live in jungle to portray the human trait. The other release of the week Mafia was based on the concept of the battle between a lion and a fox, might vs. cunningness, and God Father is based on an interesting core theme of a lion and a deer, strongest vs. the weak. Even its characters are named with the lion and deer (Singam and Maan) in the suffix. The entertainer depicts how far would the weak go to fend for itself. In Tamil cinema, not often we get a film that is built with an intensely poignant emotional touch, which successfully get the audience to pin for the characters that are in the flick. God father attempts to be one of that rarely made films. But has it succeeded in its ambitious attempt? Let us get in to the review to know that.
God Father establishes its theme right away in the beginning with an animation sequence of a lion ruthlessly attempting to hunt a deer. Adhiyamaan (Natarajan Subramanian) is a married middle class working man whose world revolves entirely around his wife Mithra (Ananya) and his son Arjun (Ashwanth Ashok Kumar). He lives with them in a multi storey apartment. He is a happy family man who leads a peaceful life even with his monotonous office going lifestyle. Life moves smoothly for the family without any nuisance until fate decides to have its own play. Meanwhile, we have Marudhu Singam (Lal), a dreadful and menacing gangster whose son is affected by a lethal heart disease. Doctors prescribe the only way to save the child is to immediately find a heart donor of the same age and blood group.
Now, we know what happens, there is a search party of sort held by henchmen for a kid of the same age and blood group. Here is where the fate comes in to play and puts Arjun in the devious trap of Marudhu Singam’s men. The henchmen find out that Arjun’s age and blood group fit in as a perfect match for a donor and informs Marudhu who orders them to take the boy under custody with a plan to kill him to harvest his heart. Following his orders they get to the apartment where Adhiyamaan’s family lives, and start to enquire about Arjun. Adhiyamaan senses something wrong but realizes that he is helpless when he finds that they have taken them as hostages and have blocked the entry and exit of individuals to the apartment. How far would helpless Adhiyamaan go in order to save his son, and how ruthless will Marudhu Singam get to save his son, is what makes the rest of the flick.
Director Jegan Rajshekar has neatly penned the survival drama that takes place within an apartment. His intend to play the emotional game between two fathers with completely different nature fighting to save their kids has worked well to an extent. The story teller’s attempt to explore the life in apartments, growing lack of human empathy, and how difficult it becomes for humans to coexist without it, on the run has added strength to the film.
Story teller Jegan Rajshekar stays true to the theme (Strong vs. weak) on which he intended to build his flick. Usually, film makers are prone to develop their vulnerable hero in to a man of bravery who goes on a killing crusade half way through the drama. But Jegan Rajshekar refrains from doing it and allows his lead character to travel as a normal human being who gets humiliated and beaten up but does not leave his resilient. It is this factor that makes the audience to pin for the characters in the flick. But making the entertainer navigate around within an apartment gets tedious after a point despite its fine share of the edge of the seat moments. Also, the loopholes in the plot and unnecessary scenes like pointless murders to frame Marudhu in to the ruthless character and trusted family song dilute the intensity that the entertainer had created.
Actor Natarajan Subramanian who has been busy with his cinematography work is back as lead hero after his action crime thriller Bongu with a character that he has not attempted before. He sells the character of a helpless doting father quite well with ease. Actress Ananya delivers what was asked of her in a perimeter set role. Child artist Ashwanth Ashok Kumar is the show stealer with his performance in a demanding role for his age. Actor Lal looks ominous and looming with his performance as well as his get up. The rest of the cast has delivered a decent performance.
On the technical front, musician Navin Ravindran’s background score helps in creating the intense mood during the tense portions. Cinematographer Shanmuga Sundaram has done his best to capture the flick which is predominately set inside an apartment. Hard work of Shanmuga Sundaram has been letdown by editor Bhuvan Srinivasan and the constant fade to black pattern does not help either.
On the whole, interesting premise and top notch performances makes God Father a watchable entertainer despite its share of flaws.
