We need to admit to a fact that director RGV glorified the gangsters’ life on screen and most importantly he put the Mumbai underworld on the silver screen in an attractive fashion. Well, many directors followed that path and we witnessed many films on Mumbai underworld and the latest DADDY film is one among that bunch.

Story Plot:

Arun Gulab Gawli aka Arun Gawli (a former gangster) based on Mumbai’s life story till from his early days in Textile mills to his latest conviction in a local MLA’s murder.

Performances:

Arjun Rampal who played the reel life character of the most versatile real character of Arun Gawli aka Daddy on screen. He gave his hundred percent to this film by jumping into the skin of this character. He even succeeded in changing his physique to look same as Arun Gawli at the age of 20’s, 40’s and now 60’s.

Aishwarya Rajesh: She played the role of Asha Gawli (Wife of Arun Gawli) in the flick. She responded beautifully to the role and also reciprocated well with Arjun Rampal to give that real essence to her role on screen. Meanwhile, this was her Hindi debut and earlier she did more than 20 films down south.

Nishikanth Kamat- this versatile actor-director donned the role of a cop having grey shades and he perfectly showcased his anger towards the Arun Gawli on screen. He also underwent some prosthetics to look different and this performance may open the gates for him as an antagonist in Hindi movies.

A special mention was given by the DADDY team to Farhan Akhtar who played the Dawood Ibrahim role. However, neither his dialogues nor his performance failed to attract the audience. Director wasted a big opportunity by not utilizing his skills to the best.

Analysis:

Real life stories, especially the films on gangsters or Mumbai underworld is still having that craze among the regular film-goers and the films like Satya, Company, Shoot Out At Lokhandwala, Once Upon Time In Mumbai proved this genre got the potential to become a commercial success.

However, Writer-Director Ashim Ahluwalia failed to engage the audience with his style of narration. Well, his approach of detailed narration is a commendable one but he misses out that ‘special touch’ of giving high in the elevation scenes of Arun Gawli to Daddy.

These kinds of films will attract the audience with the dialogues and the scenes. These kinds of larger than life roles in the real life will easily pull the attraction of crowds and director somehow he fails in utilising this big chance. Dialogues by Ritesh Shah lack that power-punch.

Frankly, the audience expected much more from this flick as Arun Gawli known for his intelligent strategies more than his muscle power.  Mostly, Daddy movie gives us a documentary mode while watching and however Arjun Rampal’s screen presence coated this film with a commercial touch. Arjun Rampal’s passion for this story will be visible to us as he worked as co-writer for this flick.

Technical Points:

Cinematography by Jessica Lee Gagne & Pankaj Kumar gave the much-needed feel of 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s on screen. Editing by Deepa Bhatia & Navnita Sen Datta is fine. Songs from Sajid-Wajid are not that attractive. BGM by Naren Chandavarkar was at top notch.

Final Verdict:

Daddy movie is a big blockbuster material that slightly drifted from the right path and ended up as an average flick.

Review By Sandeep