DADDY COOL
Hey Papa, You Laugh Ha ha Ha, He, He, hee or Chee chee Cheeeeee…..
by Vishal Verma

A Big Pictures presentation of a co –production between Big Pictures & Maruti International

Producer : Ashok Thakeria & Indra Kumar
Director : K Murli Mohan Rao
Screenplay : Tushar Hiranandani
Genre : Comedy
Target Audience : General

Star Cast
Sunil Shetty...... Steven Lazarus
Aarti Chhabria...... Nancy
Ashish Chowdhry...... Brian
Tulip Joshi...... Maria
Aftab Shivdasani...... Michael
Javed Jaffrey...... Carlos
Kim Sharma...... Jenny
Sophie Choudry...... Ayesha
Rajpal Yadav...... Andrew
Chunky Pandey...... Harry
Suhasini Mulay...... Mrs. Lazarus
Vijay Patkar...... Pinto
Prem Chopra...... Uncle Murphy
Vrajesh Hirjee...... Jim
Sharat Saxena...... Douglas "Daddy Cool" Lazarus

Technical Analysis

When people try to make British comedies for Indian audience, from a story inspired by Frank Oz's English Comedy ‘Death at a Funeral’, rewritten for the Indian audience by Tushaar Hiranandani ( Sunday, Naksha, Pyare Mohan, Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na – all duds at the B.O) & asking a veteran helmer like K Murli Mohan Rao who has helmed successful social dramas like Bandhan, Anari, Prem Qaidi, etc) & has never tried a hand at comedies then obviously bad things will invariably happen.

Big Pictures ‘Daddy Cool’ is another corporate blunder in terms of quality, selection & execution. Even America’s Mac Donalds joints & Russian circuses change their flavor & acts according to local tastes. Explaining the target audience for this circus parade of mourning Goans with loads of unappealing circumstances to send proper Indian audience back to mourning will require the corporate house to hire another expert.

No wonder, you will find people very keen in explaining to you about American humour & what is English humour at the drop of a hat but you will end up laughing at your self when all this experts will shy away or fail to explain what really makes an Indian laugh. Alas, the only thing that needs last rites here is Tushaar Hiranandani’s script that desperate bid to marry a Rishida or Basu Chatterjee’s comedy of middle-class manners with the taste-free gross-out style. An apologetic-looking cast treads gingerly over the resulting wreckage, though only the guy in the coffin emerges with his credibility intact. Then again, what do you expect from a movie which tries to create laughter from such yucky sequences where Javed’s hand gets stuck in Prem Chopra’s ass when he is about to shit.

Suniel Shetty looks so glum as he tries to keep a lid on the chaos that threatens to turn his father's burial into a drug-fuelled orgy that pits decorum against sex, drugs and dysfunction. The winners? Well may be those who laugh hardest when you're not supposed to, and who appreciate the humorous qualities of embarrassment.

With no acting - Ashish Chowdhry  to over the top Aftab Shivdasani, Javed Jaffrey, Kim Sharma. Sophie Choudry, Rajpal Yadav & Chunky Pandey. ‘Daddy Cool’ goes over the top of everybodys head , with the helmer – writer team of Murli & Tushar betraying the bollywood audience for laughs by their amazing innocence the pic ends up as an exercise of your patience, tolerance & to what extend you can bear immaturity.

The pic gets 1 out of five

For finding theatres & having a successful release with fine production values.

The movie loses heavily on the basics - writing, directing and acting. Ratings are based on originality & even if it’s something inspired, then its creditability in the Indian market makes the counts. Which this one lacks in plenty.

David Dhawan’s ‘Hitch’ was inspired but how smartly it fulfilled the taste of Indian audience inspite of having an American concept.

The Story

Inspired by Oz’s ‘Death at a Funeral’, : Tushar hardly does any thing innovative in this story where Steven Lazarus (Suniel Shetty), an aspiring writer tries to give his father a decent funeral by delivering a eulogy has differences with his first class younger brother Brian (Ashish Chowdhry), suave, successful and much admired writer from Mumbai, not ready to share responsibility for his mother, Nancy (Aarti Chabria) Steven's wife who is trying to get away from her mother-in-law Mrs. Lazarus (Suhasini Mulay) , who though just bereaved, lives up to her title admirably.

 A prospective groom Michael (Aftab Shivdasani) to a cousin, Maria (Tulip Joshi), nervous about meeting father-in-law to be (Naseer Abdullah ) comes in completely spaced out because of a hallucinogenic drug given to him out of Maria's junkie brother Harry's (Chunky Pandey) bottle of "Relaxo."

A knife-wielding suspicious Jenny (Kim Sharma) finds her husband Carlos (Javed Jaffrey) pleading forgiveness from the red- hot model Ayesha (Sophie Chodhry). While the model, told to bestow her favours on a man in a black suit, in order to feature in an ad film, finds herself in a room full of potential employers.

A doddering old Uncle Murphy (Prem Chopra) in a wheelchair believes in practicing "rapchick" to get the girls...

And then enters a "Blackmailer" Andrew (Rajpal Yadav) who has a scandalous secret about the deceased Douglas "Daddy Cool" Lazarus (Sharat Saxena).

Read this and the synopsis of ‘Death at the Funeral’ to understand the degree of inspiration.    

Promotion

Having a Boney M Number is just not enough. Anyways a movie need some plus to be highlighted which this pic doesen,t has.

Business Analysis

This apology in the name of a comedy will be cold throughout. It’s a disaster.

Other Credits

Cassettes and CD's on Big Music. Singers: Raghav Sachar, Paroma P.Dasgupta,
Neha Bhasin & Farhad. Lyricist: Aditya Dhar, Prashant Ingole, Farhad. Music Director: Raghav Sachar, Farhad & Sajid. Cinematography: T Surendra Reddy. Art: Jeena Shetty.
Editor: Sanjay Sankla. Sound: Chiranjeevi Nanda. Dialogue: Farhad. Reviewed at Famous Studios, Mumbai on August 27, 2009.

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