Bro Daddy is actor Prithviraj Sukumaran’s second directorial venture after the super hit Mohanlal starrer Lucifer. Compared to Lucifer which was an action-packed stylish full blown mass film, Bro Daddy is a light film that is easy to the mind, pleasing to the eye and relaxing to the senses. In that sense, it is very different also to the slew of serious Malayalam films that have recently hit OTT platforms with dark themes predominantly.
The film starts as a Malayalam version of the Hindi film Badhai ho with Mohanlal and Meena being the “young at heart” couple with a grown up son in Prithviraj. The film soon shifts focus from this couple to the actually younger yet to be married living in Gen Z couple played by Prithviraj and Kalyani Priyadarshan. How these two get out of the “Good News” situation they get into, mitigating the conflicts that arise in the family, is rest of the story.
The story line isn’t novel. The situations aren’t new. But what makes the film tick is Chemistry. Chemistry between Mohanlal and Prithviraj, Mohanlal and Meena, Prithviraj and Kalyani, Prithviraj and Meena and finally Mohanlal and Lalu Alex. All of them play act their roles so well that director Prithviraj had to just capture the unfolding magic within the frames. Mohanlal is in terrific form all through in a role that doesn’t tax him too much. His famed comic timing is alive and kicking even now. On her part, Kalyani who is a very promising star in Malayalam now, does her role in a very organic way avoiding a lot of theatrics. Lalu Alex fills in for all the melodrama and is superb.
The film has a Karan Johar touch in terms of look and feel. The setting is very rich, the actors look very good 24*7, dress impeccably very well and saunter in houses which are done up stylishly with elegant props. Prithviraj who had impressed us in Lucifer as a director with his command over the craft, continues to impress here, though this film is relatively walk in the park. Everything happens in just few houses and it is clear that the team used the short break between the pandemic breaks to deliver a quickie tailor made for OTT.
While the first half is a breeze with the comedy between the leads occupying our attention, second half gets a bit dragging. Its gets a bit preachy towards the end as well. The subject has enough meat to be sustained as a full length comedy film but the writers choose to make it serious towards the end. While the overall casting is great, actress Meena as the mother of Prithiviraj is a bit hard to digest! For a comedy film, having a separate comedy track doesn’t make sense. Soubin Shahir, a fine actor is wasted here with his comedy track.
With its title Bro Daddy, the intention of the film is to make it a story of chemistry between Mohanlal and Prithviraj. This is obvious right from the title sequence itself. I must say that Director Prithviraj comes out in flying colours in this attempt in this film which is a good, enjoyable one time watch. Bro Daddy is streaming now on Disney Hotstar.
AnandKumarRSonFilms 
Leave a Reply