Actor Arjun Rampal’s film ‘Daddy’ (nickname for Arun Gawli) traces the journey of Arun Gawli, one of the most feared gangsters in Mumbai at one time, who would eventually become a politician. The movie gives you a feel of Mumbai’s underworld circuit, and traces Daddy’s journey over four decades.
Cast: Arjun Rampal, Aishwarya Rajesh, Rajesh Shringarpure, Anand ingale, Nishikant Kamat
Director: Ashim Ahluwalia
Producer: Arjun Rampal, Rutvij Patel
Ratings:3.5/5 Review By:Meena Site:Times Of India
The first half touches on Gawli’s growth as a don and the second half attempts to stay with his life as a family man and politician. Married to a Muslim girl, Zubeida (Aishwarya), his secular streak is subtely touched. Though he converts his wife to Asha, he is large-hearted enough to play a benefactor to both communities during the Mumbai riots. In fact, the maximum drama here is depicted through the protagonist Arjun’s own performance graph. If you like crime drama, Daddy is bound to fuel your imagination. Gawli is a part of India’s crime-history. And this is the closest you will come to ‘encountering’ him.
Ratings:2/5 Review By:Sweta Site:Hindustan Times
Unlike most gangster films, Daddy does not glorify its subject but it does worse.Given the time frame of the protagonist’s story, the film has a retro look. Unfortunately, even its treatment belongs to the 80s when makers tried to justify the protagonist turning to crime by pointing out his sufferings “before he turned into one”. The state machinery must take better care of the citizens and ensure basic amenities but the system’s faults cannot be used to justify a criminal’s action.
Daddy, a biopic on Arun Gulab Gawli, a mill worker’s son who metamorphoses into a feared underworld don and runs his own corporate mafiosi, director Ashim Ahluwalia takes too many liberties with facts and litters the 135 minute saga with plot holes.My biggest issue with this film is that Rampal plays it safe with facts, events and characters while bringing to the screen the life of one of the most colourful dons
DADDY begins on a shocking note and you expect the film to be a fast-paced, well-preserved gangster drama. The film however falls a bit immediately but still, the scenes of the ‘B.R.A. gang’ are engaging. But as the film progresses, it becomes too confusing and incoherent.On the whole, DADDY is a poor show due to its incoherent script and weak direction. Arjun Rampal’s performance is the sole factor that makes the film realistic. Watch it if you are a fan of Arjun Rampal or gangster flicks.
The trailer of Daddy looks convincing, as it successfully recreates Mumbai underworld’s of the 1970s. Arjun Rampal says the movie is not an attempt to glorify the life of the gangster-turned-politician, and insists that it should be left to the audience to form an opinion about the movie. The film “is not an image-building exercise and steers clear of glorifying anything that is undesirable”.
When Arjun Rampal began his film career, he was often criticised for his lack of acting skills, but he still managed to survive in the industry, and now even has a National Award to his credit. However, many feel that Arjun might have delivered his career best performance in this gritty film.
Another notable thing is that Arjun Rampal looks every bit like the don in the poster and the trailer. Wearing a prosthetic nose, long tresses, a beard and an intense look, Arjun looked exactly like the don in the poster.
Arjun Rampal on getting the ‘Arun Gawli’ look right:
“I am playing a real life character, so the first thing for me was to undergo a physical transformation in order to look like him, in order to look thin. I did not go to the gym for two years and stopped lifting weight to lose 20 kg, as I had muscle.”
More about the movie
In the 1970s, several textile mills in Mumbai were shit down, leaving millions of mill workers jobless. There was widespread hunger, and the situation turned hostile. The workers living in ‘Dagdi Chawl’ were slowly drawn into the Underworld. They started building their own gangs, and one of them was the B.R.A (Babu, Rama, Arun Gawli) gang.
This movie is based on Arun Gawli’s life, a one-time henchman of mafia boss Dawood Ibrahim who later broke away and formed his own gang.
The tagline of the movie is “The only one who did not run”
Arun Gawli, who once worked as a milkman, rose to the ranks of underworld while being the people’s hero known as Robinhood of the poor, who lovingly called him Daddy. Dagdi Chawl in Mumbai used to be Gawli’s stronghold.The colony of seven buildings houses families who live in one-room houses. Arun Gawli’s family still lives there.
At its peak, Arun Gawli’s extortionists and contract killers spread terror in and around Mumbai. He also found patronage in the Shiv Sena, which made the Mumbai police go easy on Gawli. Another thing that worked in his favour was that he was a local man, as opposed to his Muslim rivals.
Gawli, is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of a politician from the right-wing Shiv Sena party.
The movie is directed by Ashim Ahluwalia and produced by Arjun Rampal. Daddy also stars Farhan Akhtar (in a small role as Dawood Ibrahim) and Aishwarya Rai.
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