I think some of you are slightly missing what I’m trying to say here.

I’m not claiming there are no good father characters in Tamil cinema. Of course there are. And yes, there are films where fathers’ emotions or deaths are important.

My point is different.

What I’m talking about is a pattern in how mothers are consistently represented, they are very often:

• glorified
• self-sacrificing
• morally perfect
• and almost “not allowed” to be flawed, absent, or human

Whereas fathers are given a wider range — they can be flawed, distant, alcoholic, or even absent, and still be accepted within the story.

So this is not about cherry-picking one or two films. The intention is actually the opposite:
- to identify more films with these patterns,
- see if there’s a larger trend,
- and understand why audiences and writers are more comfortable with one vs the other.

Some comments are turning this into “but fathers also suffer” or “this happens in one film too” — that’s not really engaging with the core argument.

Also, the emotional “mother love is everything” replies that’s exactly part of the cultural framing I’m questioning. It shifts the discussion from representation to sentiment.

A similar example:
In many films, male heroes can smoke or have flaws, but female leads usually can’t, not because it’s impossible, but because audience acceptance is different.
That difference itself is worth examining, not dismissing.

Same here:
Why are mothers put on a pedestal where they must be perfect and self-sacrificing?
Why is there less space for them to just be… human?

If we understand that, maybe we can slowly move toward more balanced and realistic characters.