'Vishwanath and Sons': A family entertainer that strikes a chord with emotional depth

Cast: Surya, Maima Baiju, Radhika Sivakumar, Raveena Tandon and George Maryan

Vishwanath and Sons, an all-out family entertainer, is Surya’s 46th movie to date.

It is helmed by Venky Atluri and stars Surya, evergreen Southern star Radhika Sivakumar, Malayalam star Mamitha Baiju, and yesteryear Bollywood heroine Raveena Tandon.

Surya’s character is Sanjay Vishwanath, a competitive shooter for the national Indian team. He is also a wealthy business magnate, living with his mum, Nirmala Devi, played by Sivakumar, in their palatial home.

Nirmal Devi’s fervent prayer is that Sanjay marries and blesses her with a grandchild. But he is not interested in marriage nor in being a father in his early forties.

Sanjay surprises his mum after a year when he returns home from San Francisco with a baby boy, minus the child's mother. He tells the media that he fathered the child through surrogacy.

Nirmala Devi is shattered by this revelation as she wanted Sanjay to have a baby through wedlock.

Sanjay names the baby Abhay and as the days pass, Nirmal Devi is drawn closer to her grandchild. But fate deals a heavy hand when little Abhay is diagnosed with a life-threatening disorder and the child needs a bone marrow transplant from one of the parents. But Sanjay’s bone marrow is not compatible and he is left with no choice but to find the anonymous surrogate mother to donate her bone marrow and save his son.

The movie is filled with suspense, light-hearted comedy and great music.

Sarathkumar, as the doting mother, plays her part so realistically that you would swear she was Surya's real-life mom, while Sivakumar steals the show with her acting prowess. Baiju handles her meaty role with gusto and is one of my favourite heroines in Kollywood.

Surya excels in the action scenes and we are forced to blink away tears in the emotional scenes. He has the uncanny knack of getting into the skin of any character he portrays, and has delivered one of his best roles yet as a hero.

It was good to see Bollywood actress and former heroine Raveena Tandon back in Kollywood after her debut in the Kollywood movie Saadhu , opposite action star Arjun in 1994. She still looks good at age 54. George Maryaan’s appearance is another plus factor.

GV Prakash has delivered yet another glorious soundtrack. The song Pattampoochi is my favourite. Nimish Ravi, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema wields the camera. His cinematography excellently captures the alluring scenes in Belarus and Ooty and the USA.

Director Atluri knows exactly how to deliver family-oriented movies and has not disappointed with Vishwanath and Sons . He made the movie's producers laugh all the way to the bank.