We are introduced to Sanjay Vishwanath, an Olympic shooting medal winner and learn he is also very rich. But his mother Nirmila wants him to get married and start a family. He is already nearly 40. We learn later why he doesn't want to marry and also that he doesn't live as a celibate. He loves his mother, but what to do?
His solution is to use a surrogate. He relies on some sort of agency to find someone willing and money is no problem. A young baby, named Abhay is produced some months later, making him and his mother happy. But it soon turns out that a bone marrow match is required and they have to contact the mother. that Sanjay was deliberately ignorant abouft. Maddy is 20 years old and had calculated how much money she needed to complete medical school. She agrees to providing aa bone marrow match after some comical discussions that shed a little light on motivations.
He really is a nice guy and she falls for him declaring she wants to be with him. He is not budging and has gotten used to his freedom and is horrified at marriage, especially to someone 20 years younger. He does say he now feels responsible for her and is willing to support her in different ways. She has charmed his mother. After awhile she feels she should sue him for neglectful child rearing as an excuse to have more contact. In effect his mother happily takes care of Abhay with the aid of lots of servants, but Sanjay has been neglectful, never changing diapers for example.
Somewhere we learn why he doesn't want to marry and it is that his father lhad eft his mother. Skipping ahead (a necessary spoiler) we learn his father had married again and had a daughter. Nirmila had a peculiar relationship with her ex and his new bride. The father had been allowed to visit his son and taught Sanjay how to shoot good enough to compete at high levels. The new bride very occasionally visited and her daughter was about to get married. Maddy got involved encouraging the marriage to go ahead and patch up family quarrels.
There is still lots of effort on Maddy who is helping Nirmala raise Abhay who knows who is his mother. Sanjay is very fixed on not getting married, especially to someone as young as Maddy. Neither Maddy or Nirmala are concerned about the age gap. Abhay loves both his parents and grandmother. While this is going on, Maddy finishes medical school financed by Sanjay.
This was a very engaging film owing to the cast and crew. The two leading roles were very well done.
Venky Atluri was the director and writer. He has 9 writing credits, 6 for directing and 1 for acting including "Vaath" (2023) and "Lucky Baskhar" (2024).
G.V. Prakash Kumur was the composer. He has 126 composing credits, 63 for the music department and 37 for acting including "Aadukalam" (2011), "Gangs of Wasseypur" (2012), "Soorari Pottru" (2020), "Vaath" (2023), "Lucky Baskhar" (2024), "Amaran" (2024), "Idly Kadai" (2025) and "Kara" (2026). See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/12/amaran.html
Nimish Ravi was the cinematographer. He has 21 cinematography credits and 1 for the camera & electrical department" including "Kurup" (2021) and "Lucky Baskhar" (2024).
Navin Nooli was the editor. Navin has 77 editor credits, 3 for additional crew and 2 for the editorial department including "Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo" (2020), "Shyam Singha Roy" (2021), "Jersey" (2022), "18 Pages"{ (2023), "Butta Booma" (2023), "Vaath" (2023) and "Lucky Baskhar" (2024).
Suriya played Sanjay Vishwanath. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He rejected his first film offer as he did not want to be an actor. He had 7 unsuccessful roles before winning an award that turned his career around. He picked up a charity established by his father and supported children who had dropped out of school and directed them to training schools or other education. He also set up a charity for Tamils in Sri Lanka. He has 60 acting credits, 21 as producer and 4 for the music department including "24" (2016) "The Ghazi Attack" (2017), "Soorari Pottru" (2020) and one of my very favorite films "Jai Bhim" (2021). plus "Meiyazhagen" (2024). See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/11/jai-bhim.html His wife Joythika has been prominent in films.
Mamitha Baiju played Maddy, the surrogate. She started with modeling and then into the Malayalam film industry before expanding to Tamil films. She has 29 acting credits including "Kara" (2026).
Radhika Sarathkumar played Sanjay's mother Nirmila Devi. She has 246 acting credits, 24 for producing and 2 for additional crew including "Jeans" (1998) and "Pyaar Prem Kalanam" (2026).
Ravenna Tandon played Anjala Devi. She has 103 acting credits and 5 for producing.
Rajiv Menen played Vijay Vishwanath, Sanjay's father. He studied cinematography in the United States under Garrett Brown, the inventor of the steadicam. From there he became a cinematographer and directed tv. commercials including at least one with music by A.R. Rahman. He has 9 acting credits, 9 cinematography credits and 7 for directing including "Bombay" (1995) and "Guru" (2007).
"Vishwanath and Sons" is available subtitled on Netflix. Lots of laughs with some romance, action and music.
As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen. They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally these are among my favourites. If you follow the links you should be better able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.
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