Bro Daddy movie review: A lighthearted family drama about accidental pregnancy cut from the same cloth as Badhaai Ho

Prithviraj Sukumaran’s second directorial project, Bro Daddy, unlike his debut film Lucifer, is a lighthearted entertainer that’s long drawn but fun. Cut from the same cloth as Badhaai Ho, Mohanlal’s film is a family drama about an unplanned pregnancy, and manages to tickle the funny bone while handling the subject quite maturely. It’s also a film that brings together two of the biggest stars of Malayalam cinema – Mohanlal (father) and Prithviraj (son) – and lets them have a lot fun with their parts. The bromance between these two actors is what holds the film together in some of its dullest moments.

Mohanlal plays John Kattadi and Meena plays his wife, Annamma. Eesho (Prithviraj Sukumaran) plays their son. Eesho falls in love with Anna (Kalyani Priyadarshan) the daughter of Kurian (Lalu Alex) and Elsy Kurian (Kaniha). John and Kurian are good friends and their wives feel it’d be nice if they get their children married. However, they are unaware of the fact that Eesho and Anna have been living together for four years in Bangalore. Eesho and Anna have been thinking about telling their parents about their relationship and just when they start getting ready to break the news, Anna gets pregnant. At the same time, Eesho learns that his mother is pregnant too.

The highlight of Bro Daddy has to be the fact that it has one of the biggest stars of Malayalam cinema playing father to another leading star. It’s refreshing to see two popular actors come together to back a movie that talks about accidental, late pregnancy, a subject that is still not openly spoken about in mainstream cinema. The film works to a large extent because it treats the subject in a light-hearted manner and it’s the comical moments that help the film stay mostly entertaining. The second half meanders to some extent, and the film gets dragged needlessly, making the latter portion slightly unbearable to sit through. Nevertheless, the performances make up for the film’s boring stretches.

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Mohanlal charms his way through the movie with effortless performance. He nails those minute expressions with ease which make his character stand out. Prithviraj is equally good as Mohanlal’s son and the scenes between them are some of the best moments of the film. Kalyani Priyadarshan gets a meaty part and she shines in the limited screen space she gets. Unlike Badhaai Ho, the story in Bro Daddy is set in an upper middle class family setup and you expect the subject to be dealt with some broad-mindedness but the story still adopts a very predictable narrative. This aspect of the movie is slightly underwhelming and you are left hoping for a more progressive take on the subject of unplanned pregnancy.

Bro Daddy
Director: Prithviraj Sukumaran
Cast: Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Meena and Kalyani Priyadarshan