In the span of only one week, Mamitha Baiju has had two big film releases. First, there was Vishwanath and Sons, a Tamil-Telugu bilingual, in which she was paired with Suriya, which she followed up with the Malayalam Onam release Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, opposite Nivin Pauly. Both Venky Atluri and Girish AD’s films centred on age-gap romances, with Mamitha’s co-stars significantly older than her. Both were marketed as family entertainers, but where one nailed it, the other failed.
Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju in Bethlehem Kudumba Unit
In the clash of the age-gap romance dramas, Girish’s film emerged the overwhelming victor, as he presented a grounded, breezy love story that did not border on creepy. In Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, Nivin’s Justin is wary of engaging in a relationship with young collegian Ashley because he’s 12-13 years older than her. While that might seem like a lot, Girish and co. manage to convince audiences it is just as acceptable as the film’s co-producer Fahadh Faasil’s age difference with wife Nazriya.
Also read: The Bethlehem Kudumba Unit review
Justin and Ashley’s union is never forced; it is an organic liking that the duo develops for each other over the course of time. She may have professed it first while he tried to resist for a bit, but eventually it feels like it was always meant to be. There’s nothing really out of place here and you genuinely root for Justin and Ashley to get together.
On the other hand, in Vishwanath and Sons, Suriya’s Sanjay Vishwanath is two decades older than Maddy. Her initial encounters with Sanjay are strictly transactional, and he, quite literally, fills in as her sugar daddy, albeit without romantic entanglement. The woman who chose to be an anonymous surrogate and have no contact with the child thereafter for a handsome payout, then has a complete change of heart once she lays eyes on the kid and, more importantly, the baby daddy.
Also read: The Vishwanath and Sons review
Atluri tries desperately to ensure that Maddy does not come across as a gold-digger, and that she actually has a heart of gold. The dynamics of the Vishwanath family, where 75 thousand dollars is discussed like petty cash, make it difficult to buy into that though. For what it’s worth, Sanjay is shown steadfastly shunning Maddy’s advances citing the age gap and the need for her to focus on studies and make something of her life. But then the most eligible bachelor has to have his happily-ever-after, so he overlooks all of his earlier objections eventually.
Until then, it seemed that Atluri was on course to deliver a film that defies traditional tropes with Sanjay insisting that Maddy find someone closer in age to her, but alas, that sentiment was not to last very long.
