Appealing, stirring and just a little bit naughty, Daddy Cool is fine family entertainment. And for all its faults, Ashiq's film has an overriding good humor and sense of fun that saves it from the usual drudgery associated with dad-son films.
Antony Simon (Mammootty) is a cop who adores his son like no other dad in the entire world. And for Adi (Dhananjay) Daddy is Cool. And by Cool, he means the glass shattering kind. Mommy (Richa Palot) is least amused at the sluggish duo, and keeps walking out every time a bout of anger surges out.
At times funny, and at times moving the camaraderie that the father-son duo share is quite charming. In fact, it's this chemistry that keeps the film bobbing up on the water, even as it makes do with all the non-happenings in the script. There are several delightful little touches that the director throws in, and a few thought provoking undertones that makes its very ordinary scenarios unfold in an extraordinary color.
One cannot overlook the glitches that mar the script time and again though. Perhaps it's unintentional, or on second thoughts maybe even intentional, but the mom does mess up things. Every time she's around, she dampens affairs. I dunno if that's what Ashiq was driving at, but I would rather attribute it to occasions when the writer suddenly ran out of ink and ideas.
There are at least three very definitive instances of directorial charm that we come across in the film. The suspension order that gets typed out on the screen corner, even as the cop gawks mystified at his folly is one of them. Several scenes later, as the dad walks away along the corridors of the hospital, dejected and depressed at the turn of events, the kid follows suit, with a drooped head and a drawn out face. The distance that creeps in between them for the first time in the film, is suffocating, to say the least. And when the director intersperses the climactic sequence when daddy beats up the baddies black and blue, with shots of the kid gaping in awe and amazement, Aashiq seems to have got his cart right on path.
Mammootty is the coolest dad ever, no doubt, and he literally rocks the screen. Smart, suave and stylish he is every bit the superhero who drops a sparkle in his son's eyes. Dhananjay is adorable and is a crowd pleaser with those kiddo spikes and the playful twitch on his face. Richa is expected to look gorgeous and she unquestionably does as well.
The film could very well be a style statement in all possible potentials that the term offers. It's spectacularly shot with each frame maintaining a uniqueness of its own. Samir Thahir is exceptional and fills up his frames with an elation and wonder that's simply stunning. Technically, the film is slick as far as slickness would go, and I would admit I am still hunting around for a better word.
Even as it has not much of a tale to tell, Ashiq Abu's impressive directorial debut remains likeable to the core on account of the intimacy that it celebrates. Granted that several more cards could have been put on the table, but Daddy Cool is a splendid illustration of how regular notions work out with a great vision and style. I am already looking forward to Ashiq's next, that would hopefully have much more context blending in with situation.
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