Gawli's meteoric rise to the top also meant that he would eventually confront his contemporary, Dawood Ibrahim, referred to as Maqsud (Farhan) here. Our biggest complaint would be Farhan’s casting as Maqsud. Arjun has yet again proved, that he is an actor of great caliber, and that Rajneeti wasn’t a shot in the dark lucky performance. The movie is kept clean of exaggerated drama for the sake of a factual documentary-esque look. However, the actors could have definitely done without mumbling their dialogues. So, download a subtitle file with this movie, because it’s doubtful you’d want to watch it in theatres.

The fact that Daddy claims to be based on the “true story” of Gawli has a lot to answer for. The backstories of criminals often make for gripping films but Daddy fails there as well. With a sloppy storyline and over-dramatic dialogues, there is nothing fresh to watch in Daddy except for Arjun Rampal’s performance and the film’s surprise package – Farhan Akhtar as Gawli’s bête noire. Unfortunately, even they are not on top of their game. Rampal aces his looks as Gawli and his body language is impressive in parts. It is commendable on Ahluwalia’s part that despite playing the bigger don, Akhtar does not seem to overshadow Rampal - it is Gawli’s story and he must shine. However, this performance will not be counted among Farhan’s best. Unlike most gangster films, Daddy does not glorify its subject but it does worse. Daddy tries to justify Gawli’s actions with the decades-old filmy dialogue ‘gareebi uska sabsa bada mistake tha’. Given the time frame of the protagonist’s story, the film has a retro look. Unfortunately, even its treatment belongs to the 80s when makers tried to justify the protagonist turning to crime by pointing out his sufferings “before he turned into one”. The state machinery must take better care of the citizens and ensure basic amenities but the system’s faults cannot be used to justify a criminal’s action.

The only one who did not run. When the posters of Daddy were out, the tagline left many impressed. The biopic of Arun Gawli , gangster turned politician (briefly), was obviously designed to take a dig at Dawood Ibrahim. Gawli's arch-nemesis is called Maqsood in Daddy but the animosity is evident in every frame that director Ashim Ahluwalia places Arjun Rampal (in the role of Arun Gawli) and Farhan Akhtar (as Maqsood, a character based on Dawood Ibrahim) in. Arjun Rampal pulls off his role as Arun Gawli with elan. It is a refreshing change to see a role completely cut out, tailor-made for Rampal. He does not have many dialogues in Daddy, and he takes care of the anger well. The grimace on his face is befitting of Gawli. He pulls the trigger with as much skill as he delivers a speech in front of his chawl. Daddy is one of Rampal's best roles and definitely more impactful than the one he won a National Film Award for. Daddy brings the 70s-80s Bombay alive on screen. The fancy sideburns to the moustaches, the bell-bottoms to the sunglasses, all are tinted sepia and presented to the audience in a believable manner. But it is the story that stops short of being powerful after a point. It works in fits and starts before losing steam altogether.  The problem with Daddy lies in its inability to rise above the superficial. Ahluwalia never quite lets his lead actor dive into the complexities and flaws of Gawli's character. Gawli comes across as one-dimensional. The script is saddled with a lot of action per se, but none of it is powerful enough to help Daddy overpower its weaknesses. Watch this gangster drama for Arjun Rampal's heartfelt performance. He breathes as Arun Gawli in Daddy. But don't go into the theatre expecting to learn anything eye-opening about the Mumbai underworld. You will come back disappointed.

Arjun Rampal who plays the lead character, is believable only in fits and starts. 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. And Farhan Akhtar’s don-who-flees-to-Dubai (here called Maqsud) is singularly lacking in menace: his lemon yellow glares that obscure his face are more memorable than his subdued body language. Part of this film’s pleasures is also in how it nails a period, which is either too glossed up in Bollywood mob dramas, or too toned down. Where it falters in creating an exact fit between Rampal, who has clearly worked on his look and the lingo, and the hard-edged gangster he is trying to be. That one central performance could have resulted in a crackling retread of familiar gangsta territory, and given us a riveting account of an individual’s progress, from a guy who couldn’t do anything right to one who wanted to do the right thing. It’s also the 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. I ended up drinking in every single frame, and searching for a full film.

Mumbaikars are well-versed with the rise of Gawli, an out-of-work mill worker's son who resorted to extortion, gambling and murder to ultimately become the face of the underworld. For those who've tuned in late, this film serves as a refresher course on the life and times of the infamous gangs of Bombay. Since most of this is documented, the screenplay of this biopic offers no surprises. At times, it even feels like you're being lead from one point to another, almost blindfolded. Ahluwalia deliberately adopts a flat narrative and takes the viewer through the dark, gritty world with minimum dramatization. As a result, there are fewer earpiercing emotional outbursts, but also fewer moments of dread. The first half touches on Gawli's growth as a don and the second half attempts to stay with his life as a family man and politician. Married to a Muslim girl, Zubeida (Aishwarya), his secular streak is subtely touched. Though he converts his wife to Asha, he is large-hearted enough to play a benefactor to both communities during the Mumbai riots. In fact, the maximum drama here is depicted through the protagonist Arjun's own performance graph. Besides obviously altering his features to match Gawli's prominent forehead and nose, the actor cleverly imbibes his grunt and soft-spoken singsong manner, lending complete credibility to what is a first-rate act from the actor. If you like crime drama, Daddy is bound to fuel your imagination. Gawli is a part of India's crime-history. And this is the closest you will come to 'encountering' him.