As cinemagoers, we come across many over-the-top action dramas that serve only one purpose: entertainment. But what if the entertainment aspect cannot be relied on and the film is unable to intrigue us or bring anything new to the platter? The same could be said about Ali Abbas Zafar’s new Jio cinema release, Bloody Daddy, which is an official remake of the critically and commercially acclaimed Kamal Hassan-starring 2015 film Thoongaa Vanam.
Spoilers Ahead
What Did Sumair Jaggi Find After The Chase?
This Hindi remake begins with the hope of delivering a suave neo-noir action thriller about the drug mafia and corrupt police, but a lazy start set the tone of how the rest of this film would be. Set in 2021, right after the second wave of the pandemic, Sumair and his partner Jaggi chase two drug suppliers. They are successful in getting hold of the drugs, and the supplier escapes. This would cost Sumair a lot because, by the looks of it, there was more to this chase than getting hold of high-value narcotics. They also get hold of 3 kgs of extra product, which is a surprise because this would mean there is some jackpot awaiting the two of them.
Sumair and Jaggi are narcotics officers with the Delhi Police. The former gets a call from Sikandar Chowdhary, the local drug mafia and the conversation between the two seemed like they knew each other very well. Sikandar informs Sumair that Atharva is being held hostage. They will release the boy if Sumair returns the bag of narcotics to Sikandar. It can be assumed that Sumair and Sikandar had a long-standing relationship, but right now, things seem dicey, which probably led to this incident.
Sumair agrees to give up the bag to save his son. The man is a divorcee, and his son is his only solace, and he cannot have his job come between him and his son. His son lately has been distant from him, and this kidnapping could not have come at a more wrong time.
Sumair Meets Sikandar
Sumair reaches Sikandar’s hotel and hides the bag inside the men’s washroom. Sumair’s movement in the hotel gives way to the fact that he is aware of this hotel and its surroundings, and it is probably not the first time he has done Sikander’s work. Sikander does not trust Sumair anymore because of the stunt he pulled. There is still confusion regarding whether Sumair is acting as a double agent or if he is just a corrupt official. He presents himself to gain the trust of Sikandar, and the latter lets Sumair meet his son for a few seconds. Sumair goes back to retrieve the bag, only to find it missing. Sumair panics because he cannot afford to lose his son over a deal gone wrong. Sumair can only hope to find a way to replace the actual narcotics with something else. This showcases how the man plans to be a better father, and if he and Atharva come out alive, he will work on his relationship with him. It turns out Aditi, Sameer’s junior at the Narcotics Wing, was the one who moved the bag to the women’s washroom after following Sumair into the hotel and finding his movements suspicious. Aditi comes across as one of the few honest officers in the department who believes in doing the right thing.
How Does Sumair Save His Son?
Sumair thinks fast about how to replace the bag so that Sikander does not suspect. He heads to the hotel kitchen, makes packets filled with white flour, and delivers them as they are. Aditi lets Sameer know the actual location of the bag, believing that the man is clean. Sameer’s tense mood proves that he is in panic as much as Sumair is. There might have been some tension brewing between Sumair and Sameer for a while, and taking leverage of that situation Sameer plans to nab Sumair under the guise of possession of narcotics. Sumair delivered the fake drugs to Sikandar and his partner, Hameed, and was quick to leave with his son. Sumair is glad this ordeal is over, and he wants to get out before he gets caught. With his son out of the picture, Sumair would be able to make his way back into the nexus and offer a new deal to Sikandar and Hameed.
There is major confusion regarding Sameer and his connections to the drug mafia, which is not made clear. If he is looking for the same bag, why was Sumair also under pressure to deliver the bag to Sikandar? This is the kind of confusion that was not made clear in the screenplay because, for the audience, after this point, there was nothing but chaos. Sikandar reveals to Hameed that Sumair is a narcotics officer working for him. Sumair’s role was to only make sure Sikandar stayed out of jail. He became a part of this circle to gather information or, just like Sameer, he wanted to be on Sikandar’s payroll. Hameed and Sikandar are in rude shock to see Sumair deliver fake narcotics. Sumair’s worst nightmare came true as Atharva was taken hostage again. Sumair has no clue regarding the location of the bag and, as a result, he is willing to kill everyone in his pursuit to find his son. He wants to save his son because he cannot let him be collateral damage for his mistakes.
Sumair informs Aditi that he is an undercover cop planning to take down not just Sikandar and Hameed but also a high-ranking police officer who is at the center of the drug nexus. Stealing the bag was part of the plan, and this proves Sumair is probably clean, and just like Aditi, he wants to straighten up the entire narcotics wing. Viewers are still confused about the various twists being thrown at them, making it difficult to connect the dots. Sumair gets hold of Jaggi’s phone and concludes that someone was forcing Jaggi to go behind Sumair for the bag. This proved that Jaggi was a dirty cop too, and Sumair probably knew about it. His crusade against corrupt officers is just the beginning. In a bid to get his son back, a massive gunfight begins between Sumair and Sikandar’s men, which ends up killing Hameed and Sikander’s brother. This again puts Sumair in a good light.
Sumair fights Sameer over the bag, and Sameer claims Sumair is the one who has gone rogue. This is mostly a trope to make sure Sumair is arrested alive, and Sameer is hailed as a hero. Aditi believed the narrative, and this made her move the bag elsewhere. At this point, she has no idea who to believe, but the audiences know where their alliances lie. Too many back-and-forth fights lead to more confusion as to what exactly is going on and when there will be an end to this ordeal. Sumair manages to get his son out of the mess. He chooses to keep his son with him instead of going after the bag because, as a father, he wants Atharva to believe that Sumair is proud of his job, but his son’s life is more valuable to him. Amidst this chaos, Sumair places Jaggi’s phone into Aditi’s jacket.
How Does ‘Bloody Daddy’ End?
Aditi and Sameer finally arrested Sikandar because this long chain of fights exposed him and his misgivings. Aditi, on the way to the police station, learns that Sameer is the main cop sheltering the drug kingpins, including Sikandar. This was not news for the audience, but it was for Aditi because she looked up to him as a colleague. Sameer kills Aditi, Sikandar, and the driver of the car, and manipulates the crime scene so that the blame goes to Sikandar, and Sameer had to kill him in self-defense. This, again, does not solve the problem. If Sameer was not working for Sikandar or Hameed, who was he planning to deliver the bag of narcotics? Was there a new drug lord who was willing to pay Sameer more, or was Sameer himself trying to create his syndicate? Unluckily for him, Aditi was just gravely injured, and it is easily assumed that she would speak up against him and his role in safeguarding the criminals. Aditi did this for the love of her job and felt it was her responsibility to speak up.
Sumair survived some major injuries he faced at the hotel. He is the hero who saves his son from grave danger. Sumair seems like a changed person who would want to spend more time with Atharva. The ending scene in Bloody Daddy has Aditi asking him about the extra three kilograms of narcotics that were in the bag. Sumair claims he is unaware of it, but his son finds the same stash in his car. They drive off together, at a place which they claimed to be in Delhi as per the story, but it is obvious that the closing shot was in Abu Dhabi. The extra three kilograms of narcotics in Sumair’s possession might prove that he is probably not the clean police officer he portrays himself to be. Sameer was right about every cop who claimed to be undercover being corrupt. This proves Sumair, just like every other narcotics officer, might be a sellout.
