DIRECTOR: Ali Abbas Zafar
CAST: Shahid Kapoor, Diana Penty, Rajeev Khandelwal, Ronit Bose Roy, Ankur Bhatia, Vivan Bhatena, Sanjay Kapoor and others
STREAMING ON: JioCinema
RATING: 3.5 stars
Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar, who pertained to create national interest stories with his earlier films like Sultan, Tiger Zinda Hai, Bharat, etc., for the first time officially adapts a film titled Sleepless Night (2011, Nuit Blanche in French). Set in one night at a 7-star hotel, Bloody Daddy is a stylish action-adventure shot in the Middle East (shown as Gurugram).
Sumair (Shahid Kapoor), a corrupt officer at Narcotics Control Bureau gets into trouble when his son Atharv is kidnapped by drug lords Sikandar (Ronit Bose Roy) and his brothers Danny (Vivan Bhatena) and Vicky (Ankur Bhatia). Little did they know that Sumair is all set for a bloody revenge.
Sikandar, who works for Hameed (Sanjay Kapoor) puts him in a soup as Sumair elopes with his crores of drugs. Officer Aditi (Diana Penty) and her boss Rajeev Khandelwal intervene in this brawl.
Shahid plays Narcotics Control Bureau Chief Sumair
A still from Bloody Daddy
Because the subject is such that it is based on the drug mafia, this is by far Ali’s most stylish film. He kept the first half edgy to the core with his fast-paced narrative. The action designed for almost every scene is slick and comes as a surprise. However, under pressure to cater to the Indian audiences for serving an international remake, Ali hurried through the second half, that in a way upsets somewhere.
Ali hasn’t Indianised his version by overdoing the father-son emotional equation, especially when he could have done it to please his own people. He has kept the tone of the original film throughout. The film nowhere leads to boredom and the BGM by Julius Packiam is one of the key highlights of Bloody Daddy.
A still from the film
Shahid, who changed his image with his characters from Vishal Bhardwaj’s films, is unstoppable. Recently, Farzi and now Bloody Daddy is yet another testimony of his huge potential as an artiste. He does sharp action, carries off his new hairdo with confidence and delivers a top-notch performance as Sumair, a father and cop, who can go to any extent to save his son.
Ronit opts for a tailor-made role of a drug daddy, Vivan and Ankur do justice to their respective roles. Sanjay fits in as an absurd goon, who adds humour to the game. Rajeev and Diana are sincere.
Ali’s new offering Bloody Daddy is a thrilling watch. Mildly flawed but a good pick for an Indian remake.
