By Rajesh Ahuja New Delhi, Sept 9 (UNI) It seems to be the year of gangster dramas in Bollywood. After the action thriller 'Babumoshai Bandookbaaz ' , the story of sharpshooter who comes back from death to take revenge from his killer's,this week's film 'Daddy' charts the real life story of gangster turned politician Arun Gawli. 'Daddy ' is, however, unlike any of the films based on lives of gangsters like 'Company ' and 'Once upon a time in Mumbai '. It is a ' no frills' saga on life of Arun Gawli without any dramatisation. It is the story of rise of Arun Gawli from his humble origins of Mumbai's Dagdi Chawl, which was home to the mill workers in the 70s, to becoming a dreaded don and later a politician. Daddy takes us inside the precincts of the Dagdi Chawl of the year 1976, which witnessed the rise of the staunch Lord Shiva devotee Arun Gulab Gawli (Arjun Rampal) from being a mere mill worker’s son to a dreaded don to a politician. It speaks about the formation of BRA (Babu, Rama, Arun) members who were the key people behind many nefarious activities. One day, after his wife Zubeida (Aishwarya Rajesh) asks him to wuit the world of crime, Arun Gawli decides to leave his entire criminal past behind and start a new life. However , just as he is going to meet his friend Rama to announce his decision, he witnesses a board daylight ‘encounter’ of Rama at the hands of Inspector Vijaykar Nitin (Nishikant Kamat) and his fellow policemen. Seeing this, Arun reverses his decision to leave the crime world. From hereon the film sees a war between Gawli and Inspector Vijaykar with the latter leaving nothing to chance in his attempts to put Arun behind bars. Despite all the odds being against him, Arun still manages to contest the elections and eventually wins it by a huge margin. The rest of the film is about attempts by Inspector Vijaykar to jail Arun as well as Arun's tryst with politics. The story also reveals whether Arun succeeds in leaving his past behind and start a new life . The beauty of the film lies in the way it manages to realistically capture the life of the gangster turned politician. For those who gave read about the life of Arun Gawli, watching the film would make them feel that they are watching hus real life story unfold in front if their eyes. It is a 'no frills' script that captures Gawli's life on the big screen without any 'adulteration'. Starting off with a broad in-house murder of an MLA, 'Daddy' features an 'unabashed' display of blood and Gore all through its length, often providing viewers with no respite in form of dramatic moments or comic interludes. In this sense, the film will appeal to lovers of crime thrillers with its unadulterated show of action. The film boasts of excellent production values. The director Ashim Ahluwalia has managed to captures the era of 70s and 80ss perfectly A meticulous research seems to have gone behind the making of the film. The director has also managed to extract brilliant performances from his cast. The highlight of the film is cleanly Arjun Rampal with his portrayal of Arun Gawli. He undergoes a seamless transformation to the character of Arun Gawli. His body language and his mastering of the lingo makes him a perfect choice for the gangster turned politician. It is sure to go down as one of the best performances of his career. As his wife Zubeida, South Indian actor Aishwarya Rajesh manages to impress despite a brief role. Another highlight of the film is Nishikant kamat as Inspector Vijaykar. He manages to match up to the acting of Arjun Rampal. Farnham Akhtar fails to impress as Gawli's rival (dawood) . Rajesh Shringarpure and Anand Ingale have done a fair job as Gawli's associates. The cinematography is eye catching. However, The music is ordinary. 'Daddy' is thus a 'no frills' saga on Arun Gawli's life with a virtuoso act by Arjun Rampal. Rating: 3.5/5; one for performances by Arjun Rampal and Nishikant Kamat, one for direction , one for the taut script and 0.5 for cinematography. UNI AR SDR 1025