Attahasam; Michael Madana Kamarajan, Enga Veetu Pillai, ........ connection !!!!

Attahasam, released in 2004 directed by Saran featured Ajith in dual roles – one in Chennai and other in Tuticorin.    Michael Madhana Kama Rajan  was a hilarious comedy released in 1990 – directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao with Crazy Mohan’s dialogues had Kamalhassan in 4 roles. Michael, Madhanagopal, Kameshwaran, and Raju, all played by Kamal distinguishing  characters with his body language and language lingo.  Decades ago, Enga Veettu Pillai had MGR in dual roles.  This  film was a remake of the 1964 Telugu movie Ramudu Bheemudu which had N. T. Rama Rao in the lead role.  Apoorva Sagodharargal, again a great comedy  directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao had Kamal performing 3 roles – one as father – two as sons of which one was a mechanic and other a dwarf performer at Circus. 

Wondering the link ?  - ‘separated at birth’ is a recurrent theme in many movies.  The kids upon birth would be separated and would grow in different environs. 

There was a time when Indian bowlers, especially spinners had a web cast on opponent batsmen.  They could easily bowl out best of opposition twice in a test – what lacked was quality batting.  Till he came along, with a boyish mop of hair and a defiant attitude beneath, Indians had been told that they could not play fast bowling. India's batsmen, in spite of a legacy of Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar, were the subject of much leg-pulling, especially in England, and young minds in the late sixties and early seventies were convinced by the gullible local media into thinking that anything British was better than everything Indian.  In 1971, his debut changed the scenario – he aggregated record 774 runs laced with 4 centuries including a 220.  His batting style, his strong defence took him to towering heights and ensured safe draws in many matches.  He gave the first hour to the bowlers and fought to get the next four-and-a-half. He hit the ball along the ground and he built his innings on ones and twos,  and with some neatly driven fours especially the straight drives.   He ended his career after becoming the first batsman to cross 10000.  He ended up with 10122 in 125 Tests with 34 centuries / 45 fifties.  In ODIs he made 3092 runs in 108. 

In his biography he were to convey that all could have all gone so wrong for Indian and World cricket.  There in the hospital upon his birth there was a near exchange of babies  -  Sunil and a fisherman’s new born got exchanged.  Madhav Mantri,  a wicket keeper batsman who played 4 tests for India was Gavaskar’s uncle.  He reportedly  had spotted a birth mark on Sunil earlier and seeing the baby on the cot sounded the difference.   If you are wondering such things would happen only in Cinema, read on :

Daily Mail reports of the case of twocouples who discovered they had been given the wrong babies ’10 years’ after their daughters were born.    The report states that babies born to Sophie Serrano and an unnamed French mother in 1994 had been placed in same incubator because they were jaundiced.  They were unwittingly handed to the wrong mothers by auxiliary nurse. 

Ten years later, DNA test revealed Manon was not biological daughter.  A court in the southern town of Grasse ordered the clinic in Cannes to pay the compensation, which was six times less than what the families had been demanding. The Cannes-la-Bocca Clinic was ordered to pay 400,000 euros to each of the swapped babies, who are now adult women, along with 300,000 euros to each of the parents and 60,000 euros to three siblings.

The families first discovered they had been given the wrong children after Sophie Serrano, now 38, gave birth to a daughter at the clinic in July, 1994. Ten years later, troubled by the fact his daughter, Manon, bore no resemblance to him with her darker skin, the father did a paternity test that revealed he was not her biological parent. Mrs Serrano then discovered she was not Manon's mother either, prompting a probe to try and find the other family who had been handed their biological daughter. The investigation revealed that at the time of the births in 1994, three newborns suffered from jaundice - the two girls and a boy - and the clinic only had two incubators with the special lights. The girls were therefore put together in one incubator.

The two sets of parents only met their biological daughters for the first time when they were both 10 years old, but did not ask that they be switched back. The two families have distanced themselves from each other since the meeting a decade ago. After a closed court hearing in December, Manon said: 'It was a pretty disturbing moment.  The lawyers' office representing the clinic noted the 'significant difference' between the amount requested and the sum the court demanded, acknowledging nevertheless that the damages awarded were 'high'.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

11^th Feb 2015.