APPA – A LESSON FOR ALL YOUNG FAMILIES

ALL SOUTH AFRICANS OF WHATEVER RACE OR CULTURE MUST WATCH APPA BY SUBRY GOVENDER If young families with school-going children want to learn more about the needs of their children and why children should not be pushed to achieve the dreams of their parents, then South Africans must watch the newly-released Tamil drama movie, Appa. We watched the movie at the Sun Coast complex in Durban on Sunday, July 24, and came away with the deep feeling that the movie should be watched by all people – whatever their cultures or race. The movie, produced and directed by a not so well-known movie personality to South Africans, Samuthirakani, is about three fathers who have different views about the education of their children. Samuthirakani, who also plays the lead role, is the super role model dad (Appa) who wants his son to pursue his education without the modern day demands of most middle-class and wealthy parents. These include the desire for their children to attend the best private schools, to attain the highest marks, to qualify to attend the best higher educational institutions, and finally to travel and work abroad. ROLE MODEL APPA The role model Appa in this movie wants his son to progress at his own pace and not to be influenced by the dreams of other families. The role model Appa maintains his principled stance, despite at one stage giving in to the dreams of his wife, who is influenced by her neighbours. The different postures adopted by Appa and his wife lead to the wife leaving home and returning to her father’s home. The son of the role model Appa makes friends with two other boys whose fathers adopt different stances. SECOND APPA The second APPA only wants his son to be like the “Joneses” and goes to extreme lengths to isolate his son from other children. This leads to tragic developments in the end when the second father’s son dies after being severely beaten up in an institution where “strict discipline” is the norm. THIRD APPA The third APPA is a person who does not want to offend anyone and does not take any deliberate action to promote the education of his son. The boy, although not inclined to be a top student, attains honours as a poet. His poetry writing was ignored by his father but this led to the role model Appa helping him to achieve his dream. TRAGEDY The movie has a tragic ending and this is due to the demands of the second father. LESSONS FOR OUR YOUNG FAMILIES The movie, APPA, has a lot of lessons for our young families who have to cope with the demands of everyday life today. Whether they are in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town or other cities, our young families will learn a great deal from APPA not to push their children too hard. Parents have to speak to their children and not ONLY make heavy demands to obtain the highest marks in their classes. It would be of great benefit to all our young families in South Africa if they watch APPA. It has English sub-titles and they will definitely understand the moral of the story.