Dada

<p>Manikandan and Sindhu, final-year college students, are in a relationship. Sindhu becomes , and their lives changes. Mani asks Sindhu to get an , but she refuses, and they both rent a house. Due to his , Mani mistreats Sindhu by not paying attention to her and not caring about her. After Sindhu gives birth, Mani reaches the hospital to see Sindhu missing and leaving the baby behind. Caring for the baby, Mani names his child Aditya and raises him to be a gentleman. After a few years, Mani searches for a new job and finally lands one, where he meets Sindhu. Knowing that she is the manager of the company, Mani is nervous to work at the office at first but later starts to feel comfortable about going to the office. One day, Mani brings Aditya to his office. When Aditya tells Sindhu his name (Aditya was the name Sindhu chose) and his father is Mani, Sindhu realizes that Aditya is her son. After realizing this, Sindhu converses with Mani, who asks Sindhu about leaving the baby despite his insistence for an abortion. Sindhu reveals that her parents had lied that the baby had died and she thought it was due to Mani’s irresponsible behavior during her pregnancy and left him. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Aditya, Sindhu, and Mani reunite as a family. The project was announced by debutant filmmaker Ganesh K. Babu, and also marked Aparna Das’s debut as the lead actress in Tamil after previously making her debut in a small role in ‘s directorial venture (2022). The of the film began in March 2022 and the film was predominantly shot and set in . The shooting of the film was wrapped up in September 2022. is loosely based on incidents in the life of Ganesh K. Babu’s friend and focuses on a young man’s journey of adoring the role of fatherhood and being a single parent. It sends out a strong message that is . The soundtrack was composed by newcomer Jen Martin. The film was released in over 400 theatres across Tamil Nadu. The Tamil theatrical release for the film was acquired by and overseas rights bagged by . After 2 years, of the Tamil version, Telugu version named as Papa, was released on 13th June 2025 The digital streaming rights of the film has been bagged by while the satellite rights has sold to . The film was made available on the streaming platform from 10 March 2023 but the Tamil version of the film was removed soon and only Hindi version was made available. Many fans requested to release the Tamil version but the producer<br /> S. Ambeth Kumar was adamant not to release Tamil version in OTT. On the website , 80% of 5 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. Logesh Balachandran of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote ” is a well-written drama with the right mix of comedy, emotion and love.” Navein Darshan of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “The film is emotional, but is equally fun with a strong undercurrent of tasteful humour.” Thinkal Menon of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “Dada’s target seems to be young audience, but the right packaging of emotions and instantly likeable characters are adequate enough to attract all sections of audience.” Janani K from gave 3/5 stars and wrote “Dada is a heartwarming film that talks about parenting and relationship woes.” Haricharan Pudipeddi of wrote “Kavin and Aparna Das-starrer rises above mainstream movies and sends out a strong message on parenthood.” Bhuvanesh Chandar of wrote “Thanks to ample support from its lead actors, debutant director Ganesh K Babu’s film about a single father and a fractured relationship turns out to be a wholesome entertainer despite few missteps.”</p>