| Daddy | |
|---|---|
| File:Daddy Film Poster.jpg Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ashim Ahluwalia |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by |
|
| Dialogues by | Ritesh Shah Asad Hussain |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Songs: Sajid–Wajid Score: Naren Chadavarkar Benedict Taylor |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by |
|
Production company |
|
Release date |
|
Running time | 134 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | est.₹15.5 crore[2] |
Daddy is a 2017 Hindi-language biographical crime drama film co-written and directed by Ashim Ahluwalia. The film stars Arjun Rampal, who also co-wrote and produced the film, portraying gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli,[3] alongside Aishwarya Rajesh in her Hindi film debut.
The film was released on 8 September 2017, and received mixed reviews from critics, emerging as a commercial faliure.
Plot[edit | edit source]
 | This article needs an improved plot summary. (September 2024) |
In the 1960s and late 1970s, when Mumbai's textile mills are shutting down one after the other, many unemployed youths, including Arun Gawli, resort to matka-gambling on the insistence of his friends, Rama Naik and Babu Reshim, to earn a quick buck and form their own gang. However, soon, Gawli finds himself getting trapped in a vortex of crime when he is taken under the wing of Maqsood Bhai after committing a murder. Further, their clashes of ideologies and power games turn them against each other. Meanwhile, Gawli marries his sweetheart Zubeida Mujawar, who coaxes him to leave behind his criminal profession. He almost makes up his mind to turn clean. But, when Rama gets killed in a brutal police encounter, Gawli takes charge of their gang based in Dagdi. He suspects that Rama's killing was engineered by Maqsood and thus begins a gruesome gang war between them. Hot on the heels is a cop, Vijaykar Nitin, who wants to nab Gawli at any cost and bring him to justice. The rest of the plot revolves around how one of India's most feared gangsters landed in politics and his transition to becoming 'Daddy'.
Cast[edit | edit source]
- Arjun Rampal as Arun Gawli
- Aishwarya Rajesh as Zubeida Mujawar / Asha Gawli
- Nishikant Kamat as Inspector Vijaykar Nitin
- Rajesh Shringarpure as Rama Naik
- Purnanand Wandekar as Vijay
- Anupriya Goenka as Hilda
- Shruti Bapna as Rani
- Usha Naik as Arun's mother
- Shrikant Yadav as Sada
- Deepak Damle as Phamplet Bandya
- Raj Arjun as Rafique
- Mir Sarwar as Samaad Khan
- Vijay Sanap as Salim Gurda
- Abhimanue Arun as Newman
- Anand Ingle as Babu Reshim
- Vidhyadhar Joshi as Politician
- Richa Meena as Geeta Gawli
- Vijay Nikam as Ashok Joshi
- Girish Pal as Sachit
- Vishal O Sharma as Vakil
- Sanjay Mhatre as MLA Mhatre
- Farhan Akhtar as Maqsood (based on Dawood Ibrahim) (cameo appearance)
- Nataša Stanković as item dancer in the song "Dance Dance"
Soundtrack[edit | edit source]
The music of the film was composed by Sajid–Wajid. The song "Zindagi Meri Dance Dance" from the 1987 film Dance Dance was recreated by Olefonken.[4]
| Daddy | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | September 21, 2017 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 15:16 |
| Label | T-Series |
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Eid Mubarak Qawwali" | Shabab Sabri, Tanvir Hussain | 3:18 |
| 2. | "Aala Re Aala Ganesha" | Wajid Ali, Ganesh Chandanshive | 5:32 |
| 3. | "Zindagi Meri Dance Dance" (Recreated by Olefonken) | Alisha Chinai, Vijay Benedict | 6:25 |
Total length: |
15:16 | ||
Reception[edit | edit source]
Subhash K. Jha of NDTV gave 3 out of 5 stars, writing "Arjun Rampal plays Arun Gawli as a time bomb waiting to explode. There are no extra toppings, bonuses to this performance".[5] Udita Jhunjhunwala of Firstpost wrote "Arjun Rampal's intense act elevates Ashim Ahluwalia's brave biopic".[6] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars writing "The Arjun Rampal starrer has a thickly-populated circuitous plot, which goes back and forth in time, which comes in the way of a solid crime thriller cum study of the making of a gangster".[7] Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times gave 2/5 stars, and wrote "The film romanticises the hero (Arjun Rampal as Arun Gawli) and then serves the usual formula gangster fare. Where it fails, however, is keeping it all coherent".[8] Ananya Bhattacharya of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars writing "Arjun Rampal steps into the shoes of gangster Arun Gawli in his biopic, Daddy. The film is disappointing as both a biopic and an entertainer".[9]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "Daddy (2017)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ↑ "Daddy - Movie". Box Office India. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Arjun Rampal's "Daddy" movie is a Arun Gawli biopic; releasing on 21st July". Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ↑ "30 saal baad – Mithun Chakraborty's disco song 'Zindagi Meri Dance' recreated for Arjun Rampal's Daddy 30". Bollywood Hungama. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Daddy Movie Review: Arjun Rampal's Powerful Performance Creeps Up On You Without Warning". NDTV. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 22 May 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Daddy movie review: Arjun Rampal's intense act elevates Ashim Ahluwalia's brave biopic". Firstpost. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 25 April 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Daddy movie review: A thickly-populated circuitous plot ruins this Arjun Rampal film". The Indian Express. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Daddy movie review: Arjun Rampal's film stays on the beaten course". Hindustan Times. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ Bhattacharya, Ananya (8 September 2017). "Daddy Movie Review: Arjun Rampal shines as Arun Gawli". India Today. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Daddy on IMDb
- Daddy at Bollywood Hungama