The disclaimer at the beginning of Bloody Daddy sets the tone for what is to come. It reads: ‘In 2021, by the end of the second wave, millions had lost their lives and livelihood and the crime rate was at an all-time high. Just after the second wave, India was opening up again.’
An isolated, locked down Connaught Place (Delhi) appears on screen soon after the disclaimer, and two cops, played by Shahid Kapoor and Zeishan Quadri, are seen chasing after a few drug peddlers. Kapoor’s Sumair is a single father who struggles to manage time between his only son and his duty as a cop.
Kapoor’s Sumair, a good cop with shades of grey, derives his inspiration from various characters that the actor himself has played in the past– Farzi’s Sunny, Badmaash Company’s Karan Kapoor, a bit of Kabir Singh and a pinch of R… Rajkumar’s Romeo Rajkumar. The actor performs unbelievable action sequences that go on from the beginning till the end.
Rajeev Khandelwal’s cop act too is praiseworthy. Ronit Roy and Sanjay Kapoor shine as the baddies. However, the three supposedly strong characters in the film fail to hit the mark as well as Shahid does. Quadri appears on screen after what seems like ages (and dealing with several controversies) in a negative role but leaves little impact.
Bloody Daddy is about a good cop gone bad and the rotten police system. Top cops are corrupt and work in tandem with the drug mafia. Almost everyone in the department appears to be in nexus with the bad guys.
Like many films conceptualized and shot during the pandemic, Bloody Daddy too tries to bring in the struggles caused by Covid-19. Sumair wears a mask before taking on the goons, the antigen tests, financial stresses due to lockdowns, and mandatory masks make their way into the film.
There is an interesting scene in the movie where Sumair packs in wheat flour in packages to make them look like drugs to get his son back from the drug lords. Upon sniffing and tasting the ‘drugs’ Sanjay Kapoor' Hameed remarks he doesn’t taste anything. ‘Kahi Covid toh nahi ho gaya hai,’ remarks his aid.
To sum it up, Ali Abbas Zafar makes a few hits, some misses and some stretches in the film that is at best, a not-so-impressive one-time watch action entertainer.
Film: Bloody Daddy
Platform: Jio Cinemas
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Sanjay Kapoor
Rating: 3/5
