‘Family Drama’ movie review: This dark comedy comes into its own in a hilarious second half

Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy, Abhay and Rekha Kudligi in ‘Family Drama’.
| Photo Credit: Cheese Popcorn Music/YouTube

The first positive of Akarsh HP’s Family Drama is the non-stereotypical nature of his primary characters. The mother, younger brother, and sister of a lower-middle-class family are refreshingly grey. They are selfish about their personal growth and chase money desperately. Abhay (Abhay S) is a teenager who joins a gang of thugs to make quick bucks and impress his girlfriend (Ananya Amar). Lakshmi, his mother, aims to open a grocery store while Divya (Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy of Aachar & Co fame), a B.Com graduate, struggles to find a job. 

Billed as a dark comedy, Family Drama doesn’t begin promisingly. The first half feels a tad pointless, with most of the scenes not bursting with energy. Barring one interview scene involving Sindhu’s character, who struggles to communicate in English, there aren’t many hilarious moments.

It’s as if the director knew he had a terrific twist for the interval moment but was clueless about getting there without compromising the engagement factor. The establishment of the main characters had to be precise for the film to feel consistently paced.

But once the plot kicks in, Family Drama comes into its own. After the sudden death of Prasanna (Mahadev Hadapad), the head of the family, the remaining three face the predicament of eliminating a don in return for a huge amount. Poornachandra Mysore plays the dreaded gangster Prakasha, and he owns the character splendidly. As someone who has committed more than 30 murders and 60-plus “half murders,” he is a don struggling to get married.

With a goofy sense of humour, Poorna’s character generates several laugh-out-loud moments, including his quest to be romantic and learning dance moves through TikTok to impress women. Aashith, as the don’s ultra-loyal right hand, is also a hoot with his dead-pan expressions and mechanical dialogue delivery that suits the eccentricity of the character.

As the film shifts to thriller mode, Abhay, Sindhu, and Rekha underplay their respective characters brilliantly to help Family Drama move smoothly towards the climax. However, the ending is a tad underwhelming, with the climax proving how it’s a challenge to mix comedy and chaos and finish on a high.

Even as we wait eagerly to see how things unfold in the last act, the film takes a breather with a conversation between Abhay and his girlfriend (Ananya Amar in a promising performance), who explains why money isn’t everything. Just like this scene, the first half ought to have had more episodes offering purpose to its main characters for the film to be more well-rounded.

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Still, some flaws apart, Family Drama is a refreshing attempt at cracking a genre less explored in Kannada cinema, and music director Chethan Ammaiah also deserves special mention for enhancing the vibrant flavour in the second half. The film is a quirky drama in a middle-class setting worth watching, for it gets relatable as it progresses and reveals a bunch of promising talents across departments.

Family Drama is currently running in theatres