Movie Review - Daddy by Suhel Johar

Arjun Rampal’s Daddy Lacks A Soul

Daddy, the much talked about biopic on gangster turned politician Arun Gawli, is co-written and directed by Ashim Ahluwalia. The film stars Arjun Rampal, who also co-wrote the film, portraying gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli. Director Ashim Ahluwalia has made an effort to highlight the life of this man from the dagdi chawl. However, his efforts cannot be said to be completely successful.

The story of Arun Gawli – from a shy young boy of the Dagdi slum to the nefarious member of the BRA (Babu-Rama-Arun) gang to a failed politician – is not a new one. Daddy’s plot is an oft repeated, all-too-familiar one. A mill worker’s son Arun Gulab Gawli from a poor family due to economic stagnation and misery is forced to walk through gambling, liquor and criminal activities. His friendship with Babu (Anand Ingale) and Rama (Rajesh Shringarpore) and the patronage of the notorious don, Dawood named Maqsood (Farhan Akhtar) in the film, propel them further into infamy. Set in the backdrop of this bloodshed and violence is Gawli’s love story with Zubeida (Aishwarya Rajesh) who becomes his wife.

Brushes with the police become regular and Maqsood becomes a rival rather a mentor. Even as Rama and Babu are both killed, Arun emerges as the leader of his gang and Dagdi becomes impenetrable fortress. With the introduction of TADA and Maqsood’s flight to Dubai Gawli chooses to stay at the safest place possible – in prison. After about a decade of controlling from behind bars, Gawli decides to enter politics but fails to garner the respect he hopes to get. His crimes ultimately catch up with him and he is sent away to serve a long sentence.

The story of gangster Arun Gawli offers no surprises, not that we expected any. The responsibility of holding the audience in awe then falls on the narrative but this too fails to offer any novelty or thrill. Most of the tale is told in sepia toned flashbacks and fail at introducing any element of excitement. The flashbacks leading to a new track of flashback only add to the confusion. This is Daddy’s greatest shortcoming.

We do not see Gawli’s benevolent Godfather-like persona, nor do we get a glimpse of the ruthless cunning that translates into survival in the shady lanes of Mumbai. Gawli earned his reputation as the Robin Hood of Mumbai but the film fails to reflect this aspect of the mobster. The director failed to show the role of Dawood (Maqsood) in the right way as Farhan’s character lacks menace but comes across as a suave rival. The Gawli-Zubeida love story, too, falls flat and turns into a boring affair.

 

Daddy is a film that could have been a lot more. Instead what we have is a love crime drama which is bland at worst and patchy at best. In fact, Arjun Rampal and Ashim Ahluwalia, before the release of the film, had admitted that Arun Gawli's personality was not exposed to them. What makes Daddy watchable if at all is the bewitching camerawork. The rather accurate but mildly interesting depiction of Mumbai and the changes in its society over the years is also impressive.

Ashim Ahluwalia made his directorial debut with the feature-length documentary John & Jane (2005), which won him the 2005 National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director. This was followed by his first feature film Miss Lovely, which won him India's National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Feature film), and Best Production Design at the 61st National Film Awards. But Ashim Ahluwalia with Daddy is unable to leave a lasting impression on film lovers. He has failed here both as a writer (Arjun Rampal has collaborated with Ahluwalia in working on the story and screenplay of the film) and as a director and the film falls flat on its face. Dialogues by Ritesh Shah are ordinary. Cinematography by Jessica Lee Gagné is outstanding she does her bit to keep the film going and the audience awake. Editing by Deepa Bhatia suffers due to the poor material she has at hand. Stunt sequences by Sham Kaushal are routine. Music by Sajid Ali and Wajid Ali is mediocre at best. The background score by Naren Chandavarkar and Benedict Taylor is impressive.

Performamcewise, Arjun Rampal has put in his heart and soul into transforming himself into Gawli. He has rendered a brilliant performance as the reluctant gangster. Arjun's voice modulation and dialogue delivery is very impressive. At the same time, Farhan Akhtar in an ill etched role does not fit anywhere in the role of Dawood or Maqsood as he is called in the film. Tamil films actress Aishwarya Rajesh makes her Bollywood debut as Gawli’s wife and she is just about okay. Nishikant Kamat is okay in the role of encounter specialist Police Inspector Vijaykar Nitin. Anand Ingale as Babu Reshim and Rajesh Shringarpure as Rama Naik do well in their respective roles. Anupriya Goenka as Hilda and Shruti Bapna as Rani are average. Purnanand Wandekar as Vijay is good. The rest of the cast lend adequate support.

On the whole, watch it if you are a fan of Arjun Rampal and for some good cinematography.