Mother's Day 2020 Special: Baahubali 2 to Kaaka Muttai; All the ‘Ammas’ from the new age Tamil cinema

Mother sentiment and Tamil cinema are two inseparable things. Starting from ‘Thai Illamal Naan Illai’ from MGR’s Adimai Penn to the very recent ‘Amma Amma Nee Enga Amma’ from Dhanush’s Velai Illa Pattathari, Tamil cinema has been a little too generous when it comes to adding the portions of mother sentiment in its movies. What could be the right day to celebrate the mothers in Tamil cinema then on the Mother’s Day? Here we present to you, 10 mothers from the new age Tamil cinema.

M Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi - 2004

Mahalakshmi (played by Nadiya) in M Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi, is the pioneer in breaking the stereotypes of mother sentiments in movies. She did not cry her heart out when she came to know about his son’s love, but in fact, gave him tips on how to propose to a girl. She set an example for single mothers, how to hold their heads high, and carry on with their lives no matter what people say. Directed by Mohan Raja, the film had Jayam Ravi and Asin as lead actors.

Vaaranam Aayiram - 2008

Malini (played by Simran) is a role model mother. She did not shy away and stop her husband whenever he hugged her in front of their kids, but wore it with pride and taught her kids that romance is not a wrong thing. When her husband gave her a foot massage in front of her kids, he did not shoo him away but sat comfortably and enjoyed it, while teaching her children that it is important to respect each other. When her son (played by Suriya) went into depression and became a drug addict, she stood by him and corrected his actions. Directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, the film also starrs Sameera Reddy, Divya Spandana among the others.

VIP – 2014

Senior actor Saranya played the role of Dhanush in VIP aka Velai Illa Pattadhaari. While this film had mother’s sentiment in a classic way, Saranya also stood up against her son when he did wronging. However, she stood by him and believed in him even when the whole world was against her son.

Madras – 2014

Rama in Madras film is every mother of 90s kids. Be it being choosy of who should marry her son, or happily accepting her son’s girlfriend, Rama perfectly portrayed how mothers in Tamil Nadu are treating their 90s kids these days. Directed by Pa Ranjith, the film has Karthi, Kalaiyarasan Harikrishnan, Catherine Tresa, Riythvika.

Kakka Muttai – 2015

Aishwarya Rajessh made her Kollywood debut with Kaaka Muttai. Her natural acting and beautiful portrayal of a young mother were the main reasons for the film’s success. The film truly shows the burdens that young mothers these days are balancing –juggling between a number of things like her hectic job, struggle to bring back her husband who is in prison, all the while being a mother of two eager kids. The film was directed by M Manikandan and it received National Award too.

Iraivi – 2016

All the mothers in Iraivi – Ponni (played by Anjali), Kazhini (played by Kamalini Mukherjee), Meenakshi (Vadivukkarasi) deserve a round of applause. The film is basically about how women are struggling and being crushed by the big fat egos of men. While Ponni struggles with her 3-year-old daughter as her irresponsible husband is in prison, Kamalini struggles with her school-going daughter with a drunk husband. Vadivukkarasi, on the other hand, struggles with her egoistic husband, all the while teaching her grown-up sons how not treat women. Directed by Karthik Subbaraj, the film also has Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha and SJ Suryah in lead roles.

Theri – 2016

Directed by Atlee, the film has Vijay and Samantha Akkineni as lead actors, while Radikaa Sarathkumar played as Vijay’s mother. She was a modest and decent woman, who knew what she was doing. She never stopped her son for anything with any sentiment and had her own life with her own financial independence.

Baahubali 2 – 2017

Who can ever forget Rajamatha Sivagami Devi while talking about mothers in new age cinema? She saw it all- love, betrayal, backstabbing and whatnot? She is a role model mother to all of us for how to behave and how not to blindly trust anyone even though it’s your own son. Directed by SS Rajamouli, this pan Indian film is a milestone for Indian cinema.

Kaatrin Mozhi – 2018

Vijayalakshmi (played by Jyothika), is an aspiring young mother, who has taken a break from her career after childbirth. How she manages to land in a job, and how her joining in a job gets blamed for everything that goes wrong, is a real struggle that women face. In the end, the film shows the importance of raising independent kids. Directed by Radha Mohan, the film is a must-watch.

Asuran – 2019

Pachaiammal (played by Manju Warrier) goes into depression, when her elder son gets murdered. Her struggle to move on, in order to pay attention to her other kids is beautifully played by Manju. Directed by Vetrimaaran, the critically acclaimed film has Dhanush as the lead actor.

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