RIFLE RANGE BOY: #IdliKadai

Idli Kadai (Tamil, Idli Shop; 2025)

Written & Directed: Dhanush

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/
idly-kadai-expected-ott-release-date-is-here-1907311

Just 15 minutes into the movie, one can get a clear idea where the story is going and how it will end. It was not the storytelling that excited me but rather the sentiment it tried to stir. Indians, generally being emotional, must have had to endure, or maybe succumb to, emotional blackmail from the generation before them. The question is whether it is productive or a hindrance to our development as human beings. Are they cautionary tales to warn us of the rough patches ahead or merely counter currents that drag us down at a time we grow wings and learn to fly? Do Indian mothers breastfeed the poison of emotional dependency on their children? Is this their way of keeping the family unit intact?

'Idli Kadai' tells the story of a simpleton father who leads a simple life, putting his heart and soul into his trade, making piping hot, fluffy idlis (steamed rice puffs). He is a kind and disciplined man who believes in Gandhi's non-violent approach to resolving issues. He teaches the same lessons to his young son, Murugan. Murugan grows up admiring his father and decides to study culinary arts in college. Murugan proposes his ambitious plans to modernise his business and set up branches elsewhere. The old man is not interested in acquiring wealth or using modern machinery to expand the rundown shop that he and his wife built from scratch.

Murugan goes on to work at a 5-star hotel in Bangkok, and, long story short, this young man with humble beginnings is soon to marry the boss' daughter. Just a couple of days before the proposed wedding, Murugan's father dies. Murugan has to return to India to perform the final rites. Unfortunately, the situation back home becomes complicated as his mother also dies, and the strings of melancholia pin him down so hard that the wedding has to be cancelled.

It is human nature to aim to be better off than one's parents. Even the parents go all out, breaking their backs to provide for their children, for their offspring to prosper. Together with financial and emotional support, they impart the lessons they acquired through the hard knocks of life. All through that, too, they inculcate their value of filial piety.

The trouble is that, in the modern world, doing well in life means acquiring wealth. This would also include going out of the comfort zone, conquering and gaining knowledge from faraway lands, and letting the aged parents fend for themselves. This abandonment makes the children carry a great sense of guilt. The Indian family expects the children to care for the aged.