Suriya's Vishwanath and Sons has finally hit the theatres after the actor had a blockbuster run with Karuppu. Venky Atluri's movie is a feel-good rom-com with a lot of emotions packed in. A salt-and-pepper Suriya dons the character of Sanjay Vishwanath, a 40-year-old multi-billionaire industrialist. Vishwanath, who denies the idea of marriage, embraces surrogacy and has a baby who encounters a health issue that requires a bone marrow transplant. The actual surrogate mother, played by Mamitha Baiju, and thus the story steps into deeper, complex emotions wrapped with fun.
Radhika Sarathkumar plays the role of Sanjay's mother, and she is superb. Mamitha Baiju turns out to be a show-stealer. Even though the age gap between Mamitha and Suriya raises a question mark, once you start watching the film, everything falls into place. The way Suriya has pulled off Sanjay is extremely convincing, as the actor brings his trademark charm, style and looks. We're constantly reminded of an Indian Bruce Wayne while watching his character.
Venky has previously worked wonders with actors like Dhanush and Dulquer Salmaan, and here too he sticks to what he does best: a warm, family-rooted drama with just enough commercial masala sprinkled in to keep it from feeling like a slog. The first half moves briskly, mixing genuine laughs with the kind of breezy charm that makes you forget you're watching a man in his 40s navigate surrogacy and a sudden medical crisis.
Then the second half happens.
There's a subplot involving a second family that drags on far longer than it earns, and it's here the film loses the tight grip it had in the first hour. Scenes that should hit hard start to feel repetitive, and a couple of emotional beats get stretched thin instead of landing clean. Suriya still has his moments, particularly one quietly effective scene where he drops the polish and just lets the character feel lost, but the momentum never fully comes back.
GV Prakash Kumar's score does a lot of heavy lifting in these stretches, keeping scenes afloat even when the writing wobbles. Nimish Ravi's camera work stays elegant throughout, and the production design never lets the film feel cheap, even when the story does.
Verdict: Vishwanath and Sons is a good watch, not a great one. The first half alone is worth the ticket. The second half asks for more patience than it probably should, but Suriya and Mamitha's chemistry, along with a genuinely warm family core, keep it from tipping into forgettable.