At a time when Mollywood was creating only thrillers and dark satires, the announcement of Prithviraj Sukumaran’s second directorial venture came as a sweet surprise. No, it wasn’t the much-awaited L2: Empuraan, but was titled Bro Daddy. Just like everyone, I, too, was intrigued to see what the film has in store for the viewers. From the teasers and promos, it was sure that the film would be an out and out entertainer just to make us laugh and have an enjoyable time. After having watched the entire film, I can confidently say that the film indeed offers what it promised. Bro Daddy is written by Sreejith N and Bibin Maliekal with an ensemble cast consisting of Mohanlal, Prithviraj, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Meena, Lalu Alex, Kaniha, Jagadeesh, Unni Mukundan, Soubin Shahir, Mallika Sukumaran and others.
Bro Daddy – The Base Plot
The film introduces us to John Kattadi (Mohanlal), a businessman who lives with his wife Annama (Meena). Their son, Eesho John Kattadi (Prithviraj) works in an advertising company in Bangalore. John’s best friend Kurien (Lalu Alex), wife Elsy (Kaniha) and daughter Anna (Kalyani Priyadarshan) are close to John’s family. Eesho and Anna are childhood sweethearts, and they decide to get married after they come to know that Anna is pregnant. How the matters are presented before both the set of parents and whether the path to their marriage is an easy one or not forms the remaining premise of Bro Daddy.
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Funny and Witty Script, But Does It Get A Bit Lengthy?
Bro Daddy‘s heart and soul is undoubtedly its script. Sreejith N and Bibin Maliekal do a great job with the writing. They establish the world of the characters efficiently, which makes us emotionally connect with them. The film’s screenplay looked like it was always designed to be a colourful comical entertainer because the placement of the jokes, the way in which the events in the film is structured and the overall flow of the story, guarantees an enjoyable watch.
The writers also subtly promote the theme of having open conversations with parents as well as the happiness a family can receive when a child arrives. The humour in the film landed most of the time. Most of the humour in the film was situational and only a few of them were dialogue-oriented. The writers also effectively play out the emotions in the film and it works well. Just like it was marketed, the script gave the film its required colour and pitch, due to which the film was a thorough entertainer.
However, the film was a tad bit too stretched out. It takes a lot of time to get right into the solution of the conflicts. It also spends a lot of time finding the solutions and an end, because of which, the film becomes a bit of a drag, especially at the 3/4th mark. However, the smartly written dialogues, which have wit and humour, along with some deeply meaningful thoughts, does not make the viewers lose their attention and keep the film’s intensity intact.
Prithviraj Sukumaran – The Filmmaker
Prithviraj definitely made all of us go wow with his debut directorial venture, Lucifer, which was as sophisticated as his acting skills. However, with Bro Daddy, he loosens up to such an extent that as viewers, we cannot believe the fact that the film is directed by the same man who made Lucifer.
Prithviraj has proved yet again that he is a skilled craftsman and can do wonders with his vision. He has finely crafted this film by bringing out the best from his cast. Through the making of videos and BTS clips, we saw that he acted out several sequences for the actors, in order to give them an idea of what he expected of them. Prithviraj has showcased the Mohanlal fanboy in him with several references in the film. Be it the usage of old pics from Mohanlal’s old films or the recreation of iconic dialogues from his old films, he did well this time.
Top Billed Cast With Top-Notch Acting Performances
The cast in Bro Daddy has done a phenomenal job. Everyone plays their role to perfection. Mohanlal as John Kattadi was brilliant in his role. It has been a long time since we saw Mohanlal do comedy. I won’t claim that he was in his A-game in Bro Daddy, but he was far better than several duds he offered recently. Mohanlal gets into the character perfectly and performs the role with grace. This role of John Kattadi is yet another gift from Prithviraj, after Stephen Nedumpally, which should give Mohanlal the required momentum to get back to his old charm.
Prithviraj as Eesho, embodies a carefree and chilled out attitude, which is exactly what his character deserves. The chemistry between Mohanlal and Prithviraj was a treat to watch, as it was one of the most crucial elements for the entertainment factor in the film. Since both the artists were spot on with their performances, the chemistry works and the viewers were offered entertainment.
Kalyani Priyadarshan puts forward a mature and convincing performance. There are several scenes in the film where her character is in a vulnerable situation, but by not going overboard with her dialogue delivery or expressions, she makes the character of Anna look convincing.
Since “Personally parayuva” is patented by Lalu Alex, I have to personally say that the star of this film is hands down the legend himself. The comic timing, voice modulations while delivering dialogues and the overall body language is so apt for the character that it works wonders.
Meena and Kaniha are great as the wives of Mohanlal and Lalu Alex respectively. Soubin Shahir does well as Happy Pinto. However, in a few instances, Soubin’s comic timing didn’t really work and it stuck out in a bad way. Barring that, he does a good job. Unni Mukundan, Jagadeesh, Mallika Sukumaran and the other supporting cast do great in their limited screen time.
Technical Work To Aid The Entertainment
The cinematography by Abinandhan Ramanujam is beautiful to watch. The smooth flowing visuals are captured brilliantly and give the film a great visual appeal. The brilliant cinematography is aided by slick editing from Akhilesh Mohan. Though the film was a tad bit long in its runtime and got a bit slow in certain areas, Akhilesh does well to make sure the film’s overall intensity isn’t reduced. The music and background score by Deepak Dev fit into the film like a glove. It elevates the different scenes and emotions in the film. The production design, costume designers, make up department, art department, set department, as well as colourists too, deserve special credits for their valuable contributions.
Bro Daddy – Watch It or Skip It?
As a whole, Bro Daddy is indeed a colourful, comical, family entertainer drama that is worth a watch. It is one of those light-hearted films, which should not be watched to be dissected to understand the messaging or logic. Though it gets a bit slow and dragged out in the second half, Bro Daddy is a thorough entertainer, filled with humour and intense emotions. This film may be a great one to watch with your family or friends, who are in need of a good entertainer. Bro Daddy is a well crafted, one-time watchable entertainer movie, just like how the makers promised us. It’s definitely worthy of your time, do check it out!
Bro Daddy: 3.25/5
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