Suriya wanted to play on 20-year age-gap with Mamitha Baiju: Director on Vishwanath and Sons

According to Venky Atluri, the film follows Sanjay Vishwanath, a 42-year-old international pistol shooting champion played by Suriya, and Maddy, a free-spirited 22-year-old played by Mamitha Baiju. Atluri said the sport is not the film’s driving force. “The pistol shooting element in the film is just the second layer. The main focus is the relationship between Sanjay Vishwanath and Maddy,” he said.

Venky Atluri was upfront about the fact that the 20-year age difference between the two leads is the most provocative aspect of the story, and said the film does not pretend otherwise. “A 20-year age gap may be a fantasy for some and a taboo for others. I’ve addressed both perspectives in the climax, so everyone will find their own peace,” he said.

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What surprised him, he revealed, was that Suriya was more comfortable leaning into the age-gap than the director himself. “Actors don’t even want their age to be mentioned on screen in today’s world, but Suriya sir asked me to clearly keep the age-gap as 20 years so that psychologically it would feel significant,” Venky Atluri said. “His acceptance level was greater than my own reservations.”

Venky Atluri also spoke about the research that went into making the relationship feel credible to a younger audience. “I spoke to many Gen Z youngsters, and for them, even a 15-year age difference or someone being 40 years old isn’t a problem. They told me that age is just a number,” he said.

On Mamitha Baiju, who gained significant popularity with the Malayalam blockbuster Premalu in 2024 and has since been cast opposite Vijay in Jana Nayagan, Venky Atluri had nothing but praise. “Mamitha Baiju performed like a pro. She never had self-doubt, and most of her scenes were completed in a single take,” he said. He described the on-screen pairing with Suriya, “They looked like two apples on screen. They were absolute eye candy. I feel the script found these two beautiful actors. They always improvise,” he said.

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The director also addressed the decision to shoot the film primarily in Tamil rather than simultaneously in both Tamil and Telugu, which is a common practice for South Indian films targeting both markets. “It’s a straight Tamil film, and we’re dubbing it in Telugu. After a certain point, shooting simultaneously in both languages doesn’t make sense because it only extends the shooting schedule,” Venky Atluri explained. “I had to choose the primary language. Tamil is my prime audience and the language my actors were most comfortable performing in. I always wanted to make a Tamil film.”

He confirmed that the script remained largely unchanged from its original form. “I didn’t change much in the script except the Tamil dialogues. The soul of the film remained unchanged. We were honest to the film from start to finish,” he said, adding that he has a dedicated writers’ team for the Tamil dialogue.

Venky Atluri also touched on the difficulty of writing comedy, which plays a significant role in the film. “Comedy is the most painful process. You write something the first time and feel it’s funny. The second time you read it, it doesn’t feel funny anymore,” he said. “It took me three months to write the film.”

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Vishwanath and Sons also stars Radhika Sarathkumar and Raveena Tandon in supporting roles. The film features music by G.V. Prakash Kumar, cinematography by Nimish Ravi, editing by Navin Nooli and production design by Banglan. It is produced by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya under Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas, presented by Srikara Studios. The film is set for a theatrical release in July 2026.