Official Trailer:

Dada is a good example of how a regular family drama that has been told many times can be elevated by fresh writing. It breaks the conventional approach and takes a different route than what we expect. Dada works most of the time except for the portions in the IT office where the director seems to have taken the easy way out till it redeems itself with the climax. Climax isn’t surprise, we can guess how the movie is going to end, but the way it is written and staged fits with the character arcs of the protagonists.

Manikandan (Kavin) and Sindhu (Aparna Das), final year college students fall in love, one thing leads to another, and Sindhu gets pregnant. Sindhu leaves her house and moves-in with Manikandan. With no good job and rent & medical bills, life isn’t easy as they realize. While Manikandan is worried about the future, Sindhu’s approach is to live in the present and take life as it comes along. He starts drinking and cracks develop in their relationship. Again, one thing leads to another, Sindhu vanishes from his life and Manikandan is left with a newborn baby to take care of. Rest of the movie tracks how he gets back on his feet, his relationship with his son Adithya, and did they get back together.

Remember, I did mention it is a template family drama. Where the movie differs and engages us is with its screenplay, moments, and how it conveys the emotions with performances than dialogues. We see Sindhu and Manikandan in their intimate moment when the movie opens. Using the opening stretch director sets up the love between those two and does away with conventional college hallways, courting scenes and duets. As audience we fill in the gaps with that introductory scene. Opening stretch ends with Manikandan promising Sindhu he will never let her cry in future. Cut to the next scene, we see her crying, she is pregnant, he wants to abort, and she wants to keep the baby. With few scenes in the beginning director defines their character arc, she wants to live life as it comes along (we can plan small things like what to cook, not what life has in stock for us) and he is worried about future. Our traditional Tamil hero is an Alpha male who never falls. Even if he falls, the rise after the fall will be phenomenal and in stratosphere. In Dada, Kavin’s character is normalized to someone like our neighbour. We can easily connect. He makes mistakes, fails, falls multiple times, gets jobs through recommendation, lives in his friend’s house. When the baby is born, normal route will be to highlight the joy and hit the emotional highs. Not the case in Dada. There is only confusion, anger, and rejection. Even when the baby utters the first words Dada, the emotion is underplayed, the feeling is conveyed through nuanced expressions with minimal dialogues.

Echo scenes when used correctly is effective. We hear a couple bickering in the background in the opening stretch. We see Manikandan and Sindhu fighting (now in the foreground) later. Movie is bookended with similar intimacy scene with Manikandan in a peaceful sleep and Sindhu talking in both. Similarly with auto ride to the orphanage, scooter ride, Manikandan and his parents waiting outside the doorstep with their roles reversed. Adithya’s character is well etched and liked the way how a child understands the struggle his parent(s) go through is captured so well. Different shades of friendship dynamics are captured subtly too, Ungalala naanga nalla irukkanum, aana ungala vida nalla irundhura koodathu.

In second half, while VTV Ganesh and IT office scenes add to the humor, they are predictable and only delay the inevitable climax. The whole episode with Sindhu’s manager could have been removed or written differently – the way it is now comes across as lazy and cliched. But these are minor quibbles. As a whole, Dada is a well-made feel-good family drama. When we connect with the characters and tear up when they do on the screen then the director has succeeded in what he sets out to do.