Heroine :Bhama
Director :Samuthirakani
Music : Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography :Richard M Nathan
Appa is the tenth directorial venture for Samuthirakani who has also written the story, produced it under his Nadodigal Productions banner and has also done an important acting role in the film.
Samuthirakani, renowned for his take on subjects that address various social issues has told the story about three fathers who raise their children. How these children go on to achieve what they set out to do forms the core plot of Appa.
In Appa, Samuthirakani is a father who gives his son Vignesh complete freedom and teaches him that there's more to life than just books and studies and teaches him the walks of life, the good and the bad.
At the same time, Thambi Ramaiah raises his son Raghav and is a strict father who wants him to achieve what he couldn't accomplish for himself and makes him pay focus only to do his studies and nothing more.
On the other hand, Namo Narayanan raises his son Nasadh telling him to not pay any heed to anything that goes around and just keep moving forward in life. All three families live in the same locality.
How the children cope under such circumstances forms the rest of the story of Appa.
Samuthirakani shines in Appa as a dutiful father. His character as a father who not only attends to his son's needs, but also his son's friends leaves a positive impression on everyone's minds. The scene where he frantically searches for his lost child shows how much his acting skills have heightened.
Appa addresses several social issues such as children resorting to committing suicide as a result of failure in their examinations, parents raising their children telling them that studies is the only path to success in life, imposing their personal ambitions on their children and all these leading children getting affected by these pressures. Be it direction, production, acting or on the dialogues front, Samuthirakani has outdone himself in every department.
Thambi Ramaiah owns the role of a strict father. Despite evoking an anger within the minds of the audience for his sincere portrayal, we sympathize with his character at the end of the film and understand why he chooses to be so stern and uncompromising. His performance is beyond praiseworthy and will evoke an ovation from everyone.
Even though Namo Narayana's role in the film is not as extensive as Samuthirakani or Thambi Ramaiah's, he delivers a convincing performance.
Samuthirakani has elevated the acting talents in the child artistes Vignesh, Raghav, Yuvalakshmi, Gabriella, Nasadh in the film. All children have done justice to their roles; especially Nasadh who leaves a lasting impression on everyone's minds.
'Maestro' Ilaiyaraaja has done it again. Although the film features only one song, his music and background score are major strengths to the film. Richard M. Nathan's cinematography deserves laurels.
In short, Appa stands tall.
Appa (aka) Appa review. Appa (aka) Appa is a Tamil movie with production by Nadodigal Productions, direction by Samuthirakani, cinematography by Richard M Nathan, editing by AL Ramesh. The cast of Appa (aka) Appa includes Samuthirakani, Thambi Ramaiah , Vignesh J
