Bloody Daddy Review: Shahid Kapoor Daringly Tiptoes On Wafer-Thin Plot Of This Sad-Cop Drama

You would be willing to sit through 'Bloody Daddy' for Shahid Kapoor, who seems to be clinging to the ropes of a ship that is sinking.

New Delhi: After Shahid Kapoor's OTT debut in 'Farzi', which once again pointed out just how underrated the actor is, Ali Abbas Zafar's 'Bloody Daddy' was something to look forward to. The actioner is a remake of the French-language film 'Nuit Blanche', which was also remade in Tamil as 'Thoonga Vanam' and starred Kamal Hasan. In order to appeal to Indian sensibilities, Zafar and co-writer Aditya Basu rehash the original screenplay to retain its realism but make it close to home.

It briefly brought to mind 'Looop Lapeta', which is an official remake of the critically acclaimed German film 'Run Lola Run'. The Taapsee Pannu-starrer faltered for the same reason—it was a Western flick packaged as a Desi movie, a move that isn't always fruitful. And given the kind of cinematography and composition chosen for the combat scenes, a fan of John Wick will not be able to overlook the parallels.

The film opens with a rumbling car wreck in a lifeless Connaught Place and the robbery (or burst) of a package of cocaine worth Rs 50 crore. The unfolding drama occurs amid the pandemic when all streets are mostly devoid of human presence. The stolen cocaine turns out to be stuff of a menacing drug lord with moles in the narcotics division, setting off a chain reaction of mayhem.  

'Bloody Daddy' narrates the tale of one night when drug lord Sikander Choudhary (Ronit Roy) faces NCB officer Sumair Azad (Shahid Kapoor), who kidnaps the latter's son as a means to retrieve his seized cocaine. Sumair perfectly recovers the bag from the NCB office with the backing of his deceitful colleague Jaggi (Zeishan Quadri), but the web of crime is far more intricate than it seems at first glance. Sumair falls farther and deeper into the abyss as the night grows.

Shahid Kapoor is hunted across the hotel by Ronit Roy and his client Sanjay Kapoor, who struggles to portray a baddie. Atharva, Sumair's son, who has an unstable bond with his father, is also entangled in the frenzied drug hunt. Nearly nothing to the main story is added by the sub-plot about a struggling undercover cop attempting to heal his family's broken relationships. In fact, there is very little chemistry between Sumair and Atharva (Sartaaj Kakkar). Every time Shahid says "Beta" somehow makes me (uncomfortably) recall how he called Preeti in 'Kabir Singh'. It comes as no surprise as about midway through the movie you notice that his portrayal feels almost like a blend of all of his recent enraged roles in 'Kabir Singh', 'Jersey', and 'Farzi'.

The action-packed thriller offers an appealing ensemble cast and well-choreographed action sequences, but it is sad to see how little of it is put to use. It seems as though the makers had all the necessary ingredients but misread the recipe. Rajeev Khandelwal, an underutilised actor, who weakens in action scenes and hardly delivers his dialogue smoothly. For a seasoned actor like Ronit, the role that he took on felt to be a piece of cake. But he came out to be little more than a story prop. Diana Penty, who portrays Aditi Rawat, an ethical police officer, is plunged into a storm of testosterone and rages where she stands out as the only balanced character. She is depicted by the filmmakers as the dutiful female cop, as is typical in movies. I kept hoping, though, that she would wind up being the major bad guy. 

While a drug lord and a cop engaging in a cat-and-mouse chase on screen isn't unheard of, it is always intriguing to witness how a filmmaker tackles a done-to-death plot. Particularly when a kingpin hunts an undercover, shady cop within the walls of his own seven-star hotel. However, fascination with Zafar's latest venture wanes during the first half hour or so until it is completely lost. Despite having all the pieces of a gripping thriller, the action flick barely binds any of them. For the 'bloody' and broody Shahid Kapoor, who seems to be clinging to the ropes of a ship that is sinking, you would be willing to sit through it.

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