Father’s Day Fake Sons

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DMX and Aaliyah are in Romeo Must Die
starring Jet Li and Russell Wong.

Gopal Verma’s Hindi film Sarkar Raj has something in common with Romeo Must Die, starring Aaliyah, Jet Li and Delroy Lindo. 

They are both extremes of what happens when young men who manage the wealth of their rich bosses end up seeing themselves as part of the family, and not as hired help.
In Sarkar Raj, Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan), Govinda‘s youngest son comes back from abroad to join his father’s empire.  Govinda, played by Amitabh Bachchan is a political fixer, the local hero or don, depending on who is talking.
Cheka, Govinda’s right hand man for many years sees himself as his son that should take over when the old man goes.  He plots with local politicians and kills Shankar. 

Right hand man wants to be a son
Romeo Must Die was directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak.  The film is about greed and is set mainly in Oaklands California.  Delroy Lindo plays Isaak O’Day, a powerful African American businessman who does not do things legitimately some time. 

He shares this with Ch’u Sing (Henry O) a Chinese-American who uses his restaurant as a cover up for his illegal businesses.

Isaak O’Day has a son Colin, played by D.B. Woodside.  Ch’u Sing has two sons, Po Sing (Jon Kit Lee) who lives in the U.S. with him and Han Sing, played by Jet Li, who is in prison in Hong Kong.  Isaak’s empire is run by his right hand man Mac (Isaiah Washington).  Ch’u Sing also has a right hand man, Kai, played by Russel Wong.

A local businessman wants to build a stadium on the San Francisco waterfront area controlled by Isaak and Ch’u Sing.  Mac and Kai threaten or kill fishermen who don’t want to move.  Han Sing escapes from prison when he hears that his brother Po Sing was murdered. 
He meets Isaak’s daughter Trish O’Day (Aaliyah) when he arrives in the United States.  The film is about how they discover that Mac and Kai regarded themselves as proxy sons to their bosses, and not as employees. 

Blood is not thicker than water because Ch’u Sing killed Po Sing, his own son for that real estate deal on the San Francisco waterfront.
Nonqaba waka Msimang is the author of Sweetness the novel.
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