Even as "Hridayam" is running to packed houses, we had another big banner release in the form of Prithvi's "Bro Daddy" last night. On the occasion of our 73rd Republic Day, Aashirvad Cinemas decided to take the OTT route and streamed Prithvi's second directorial venture on Disney Hotstar. With an enviable cast on board headlined by Lalettan & Prithvi, the expectations were sky high especially since the trailer kind of gave the vibe of the flair with which Lalettan handled comedy in the past. The last time the duo had joined hands for "Lucifer", it created box office history & even though the genre is totally different this time around, the makers will be hoping it will cater to the taste of the audience. So did they manage to???
The opening credits along with the title track 'Vannu Pokum' rendered by Lalettan & Prithvi gives us a fleeting glimpse of how John (Lalettan) & Anna (Meena) became young parents to Eesho (Prithvi). Soon enough the time comes along when they decide to find a suitable alliance for their son & approach John's best buddy Kurian (Lalu Alex) for his daughter Anna (Kalyani Priyadarshan). However, with both the parties not showing much interest, the talk doesn't proceed further. But unknown to both the parents, John & Anna were already in a live in relationship.
This light hearted entertainer was penned by Bibin Maliekal & N Sreejith and starts off in a jovial manner with humour generated through situational comedy rather than wise cracks. (SPOILER ALERT) The first time I heard about the title it reminded me of Chettachan (due to the literal translation) from "Pavithram". Though not quite the same, this storyline does have some similarity in the thread with "Pavithram" & "Badhaai Ho" (ALERT ENDS). But the momentum fails to sustain in the latter half and the proceedings feel rather sluggish & boring. Even the comedy that is tried to infuse through Soubin was cringy & Antony's intro failed to bring a smile as opposed to his teaser. Eventually everything is resolved in a rather convenient manner without resorting to heavy melodrama.
As a director, Prithvi has definitely done reasonably well with the material that was provided to him. It does proves that he does have the ability to handle other genres as well especially since comedy is not an easy task to direct. The overall mood, frames and textures were vibrant for which Abinandan Ramanujam deserves praise and ona lighter note, uber lifestyle of the protagonists resembled what we observe in Telugu movies (especially Mahesh Babu's..;)). As for other technical aspects, both the art and styling department deserves a pat on their back while Akhilesh Mohan could have done a better job with the editing in the post interval session.
Among the accomplished stars that had lined up for this project, the one that impresses the most is undoubtedly Lalu Alex & that is primarily because of the well rounded character arc to which he has done utmost justice. Lalettan was fine and at ease essaying his role and shared good chemistry with Prithvi, who also showed that he can also handle humour adequately. Kalyani was impressive while Meena and Kanika did their parts aptly. Another person who impressed was Mallika Sukumaran in a brief role while Soubin had a poorly etched role, Jagadish was ok while Unni Mukundan was wasted.
Verdict: The USP of the movie was a light hearted vibrant entertainer which it more or less achieves. However, the latter half was pretty mediocre and certainly tempts one to fast forward quite a few of the sequences. In short, the performances were fine but the movie as such could have been way better!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Regards...Ben
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