Dada () is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Ganesh K. Babu, in his directorial debut. Produced by Olympia Movies, the film stars Kavin and Aparna Das in the lead roles, alongside K. Bhagyaraj, Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran and VTV Ganesh. The story follows a college student who embraces fatherhood, providing care and love to his child while facing the challenges of life as a single father. The film has music composed by Jen Martin, editing by K. Ezhil Arasu and cinematography handled by Kathiresh Alagesan.
Dada was released theatrically on 10 February 2023 to positive reviews.
Manikandan and Sindhu, final-year college students, are in a relationship. Sindhu becomes pregnant, and their lives changes. Mani asks Sindhu to get an abortion, but she refuses, and they both rent a house. Due to his alcoholism, 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 her insistence on not taking 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 Nelson's directorial venture Beast (2022).
The principal photography of the film began in March 2022 and the film was predominantly shot and set in Chennai. The shooting of the film was wrapped up in September 2022.
Dada 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 parenthood is gender neutral.
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 Red Giant Movies and overseas rights bagged by Ayngaran International. 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 Amazon Prime Video while the satellite rights has sold to Kalaignar TV. 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 S. Ambeth Kumar was adamant not to release Tamil version in OTT.
Logesh Balachandran of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Dada is a well-written drama with the right mix of comedy, emotion and love." Navein Darshan of The New Indian Express 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 OTTplay 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 India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Dada is a heartwarming film that talks about parenting and relationship woes."
Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote "Kavin and Aparna Das-starrer rises above mainstream movies and sends out a strong message on parenthood." Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Thanks to ample support from its lead actors, debutant director Ganesh K BabuâÂÂs film about a single father and a fractured relationship turns out to be a wholesome entertainer despite few missteps."