Raghuram (Prakash Raj) and his wife Anu (Aishwarya) seem to lead a perfect life. They love each other dearly. They are financially comfortable, owners of a tea plantation near Coimbatore. They enjoy a lovely home in a garden-like community with good neighbours. They have no health or other major problems. Best of all, they have been blessed with a wonderful child, a daughter named Abhi (played by 3 different actresses at different ages).
But trouble looms in paradise ... .
Raghuram loves his little daughter so much that he becomes obsessed with trying to guide, or control, her every step. Thus as Abhi grows, the real challenge for both daughter and mother is helping the father learn -- with charmingly comic results -- how to trust his daughter to live her own life. By the time Abhi (now played by Trisha Krishnan) reaches adulthood, Raghuram finally realises he has had to 'grow up' even more than she has.
I found this 2009 Telugu film "Aakasamantha" (DVD English alternate title "I Love My Daughter") enormously refreshing.
Although perfectly suitable for all audiences, "Aakasamantha" never condescends to any. Children will understand and enjoy this story at the same time their adults appreciate whole other layers of meaning from Raghuram's experience.
Thankfully!, this film avoids completely the nauseating sappiness or oversentimentality, predictable melodrama, that plague most so-called family films, East or West. Just as "Aakasamantha" never condescends to its audience, neither does it condescend toward its story or characters.
Frequently laugh-out-loud funny -- "Aakasamantha" enjoys a particularly well-written script, presented by a skilled cast -- the humour is fresh, complex, and completely character-driven.
I particularly love how 'real' these characters felt to me. Despite being a fictional story in another language from the opposite point on the globe from my own, each character felt like someone I already know and could recognise from my own life, my own neighbourhood.
A charming and original film. Highly recommended.
