Indian film
Bro Daddy is an upcoming Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and produced by Antony Perumbavoor through Aashirvad Cinemas, with a screenplay by Sreejith.N and Bibin Maliekal. The film features an ensemble cast led by Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Meena, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Unni Mukundan, Lalu Alex, Murali Gopy, Kaniha and Soubin Shahir. The music along with backgroundscore for the film was composed by Deepak Dev.
Principal photography began on 15 July 2021 in Hyderabad, Telangana. Filming lasted 44 days, concluding on 6 October 2021.
Production
Development
Empuraan was supposed to be Prithviraj Sukumaran's second directorial, a sequel to his debut film Lucifer (2019), which was set to begin production in 2021 had the COVID-19 pandemic not hit the globe.[5] On 16 June 2021, Prithviraj announced through an Instagram post that he would be directing a film based on a storyline written by his young daughter Alankrita, about a father and son taking refuge during World War I in the United States, but as the restrictions and regulations against COVID-19 pandemic narrows the chances of it happening, he chose another screenplay which can be shot during the time.[6] Two days later (on 18 June), Bro Daddy was announced as his second directorial, again with Mohanlal in the title role and produced by Antony Perumbavoor for Aashirvad Cinemas, which will also have himself in an equally important role. He described the film as a "fun family drama", written by Sreejith N. and Bibin Maliekal, also featuring an ensemble cast that includes Meena, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Lalu Alex, Murali Gopy, Kaniha, and Soubin Shahir.[7]
Prithviraj said that what persuaded him was that a film like Bro Daddy was the need of the hour, pandemic forced filmmakers to make "contained films" that can be made within pandemic restrictions, "it seems we are badly missing a happy film in Malayalam cinema over the past one and half year. All of the content we see in Kerala is dark. It's either a murder mystery or a dark satire or an investigative thriller ... Just when I was thinking there has been a dearth of happy films, these two writers came and narrated the script to me. I found it to be interesting, hilarious and more than anything, I believe it will be a really enjoyable, light watch". He then narrated it to Mohanlal, who immediately agreed.[5] Prithviraj called Unni Mukundan for the film while they where filming for Bhramam.[8]
Filming
It was scheduled to start production as soon as Aashirvad Cinemas completes 12th Man which was supposed to begin filming on 5 July 2021 and put on hold after failing to obtain permission from the state government due to the restrictions pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, they decided to move ahead with Bro Daddy first.[9] However, Bro Daddy too was denied permission to shoot in Kerala, which was originally planned to shoot entirely in the state, hence they had to move out of Kerala to begin filming, which increased cost of production.[10] Location scouting was complete by early that month.[11] Principal photography began on 15 July 2021 in Hyderabad, Telangana.[12] First day of shoot took place at an IT Park, with scenes featuring Prithviraj and Kalyani. Mohanlal joins on 20 July. A total of 52-day shoot was charted for the film in Telangana.[13] The film was granted permission on 18 July and is now scheduled to shift to Kerala after two weeks filming in Hyderabad.[14] Filming was completed on 6 October 2021.[15] It lasted 44 days. Cinematography was handled by Abinandhan Ramanujam.[16]
Music
The music of the film is composed by Deepak Dev. On 14th August 2021, Prithviraj revealed through a twitter post that actor Vineeth Sreenivasan had rendered his voice for a song in the film.[17]
