POPCORN REVIEWSS

Written by Ishita Moitra and Neeraj Udhwani (and script supervisor Ankita Sarkar), Single Papa kicks off miles from the point wherein most stories would end. The setting is of a family court wherein GG is about to be divorced with his then wife Aparna (Isha Talwar), simply because the former remains a man-child who wants children but the latter cannot handle two ‘children’ together, thereby prompting a decision to separate and divorce. The tone remains callous and frivolous, although I could not quite tell if it was intentional – almost in line with the personality of the protagonist or just indifferent as a buildup for the drama to follow. Yet, it does try to build a base for the protagonist in creating bouts of ‘Baapta’ – going from a random making-out session in a car gone wrong wherein he spots a baby in an Amul box (thereby prompting the name of the baby to be ‘Amul’) to believing the baby to be his soulmate, so much so that he wishes to adopt it. In between, the template remains that of an underdog story which could also be viewed as a coming of age one!

The proceedings are genuinely funny given how the pop-cultural references form a landing base for many of the jokes in the narrative. Be it GG’s drunken dad Jatin (Manoj Pahwa) being referred to as ‘Haryanvi Devdas’ given his drinking problem while staying in Gurgaon, or in another scene wherein GG’s mother Poonam (Ayesha Raza Mishra) referring to the ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’ problem (erectile dysfunction) of her son while telling her husband – ‘Aap ‘Zyaada Saavdhan’ Wale Pe Chal Gaye’, when Jatin thinks his son is a gay! Even when GG goes to the orphanage for the first time, the colourful nature of the setting makes him compare the vibe to the ‘Taare Zameen Par’ mood. It remains an interesting mixed bag of humour in play, even in scenes outside the cultural references – be it Jatin asking GG whether he is ‘important’ (read: impotent), or when asked about the ‘s*x’ of the infant, GG replying that it has been more than a year or so. The fabric of the narrative is filled with such hilarious one-liners that frequently fuel the narrative.

The drama scores the best when the focus remains on GG and his tryst with the child adoption, that sees him cross swords with Mrs Nehra (Neha Dhupia) who is a social worker. There is an underlying commentary on feminism of a different kind – something that would give men the equal rights to raise a baby, even while emphasizing on the fact that the general perception of men in general doesn’t tilt the law in their favour. In a beautifully heartfelt scene that cuts through the frivolous tone, you see GG pleading with the concerned body to give him one chance to adopt ‘Amul’. This, while previously Mrs Nehra spots GG and his family in a hilarious three-way ‘Suicidal attempt’ with guns and knives in full display! It is the kind of duality that in-turn forms as arc for GG who is reminded by his mother in a fleeting moment on how even a goldfish under his care had died, to now bringing himself to raise a child on his own – even after being forced to leave his home.

That said, some of the subplots don’t exactly land – either working just in isolation or completely missing the mark. For instance, GG’s sister Namrata’s (Prajakta Koli) to-be marriage to Goldie (Ankur Rathee) who belongs to a rather conservative family, even while GG wishes to nominate her for the role of a sole ‘female’ caretaker for his child without the knowledge of her in-laws. The subplot kind of flirted with the Priyadarshan school of filmmaking that thrived on the chaos that the characters find themselves in – something that threatened to explode but never really raised the stakes in the drama. Likewise, Poonam’s tryst with a local Godman doesn’t necessarily roundup in the narrative, even while not fully committing to the confusion of her husband suspecting her for adultry.

The proceedings remain watchable and also heartwarming when GG is back in picture – be it having to adjust his life according to the baby, or bringing his baby to work much to the annoyance of his new boss, or even managing his love-life with his ex-wife Aparna and his baby’s pediatrician Dr Shreya (Aisha Ahmed). In a hilarious scene, you see all three characters along with Mrs Nehra landing up at the same place, that fuels a gentle streak of measured chaos (it is that kind of a show). Even a lesser subplot involving GG’s tryst with Amul’s new nanny (or manny) – Parbat Singh (Dayanand Shetty), results in a heartwarming watch. In many ways, Parbat Singh remains a tall and sturdy figure that doesn’t fit into the perception of a ‘Nanny’, and there is a subtext to be consumed about equality right there too!

The area where the drama truly falters in is at the end with the whole marriage sequence being a breeding ground for revelations and solutions. The writing felt almost too convenient given how the revelations would immediately lead to a truce, thereby giving an impression of the drama barely scratching the surface as opposed to going deep inside the rabbit hole. I really wished for a little more complexity in the mix as opposed to straight up binary answers that deviate the drama towards an emotional but predictable conclusion. That said, I couldn’t overlook the humour along with the transformative character arc of GG that remained the basis of the screenplay, something that was decently well written.