Review: Tamil film ‘Dharala Prabhu’ still brings the laughs

‘Dharala Prabhu’, the Tamil remake of Bollywood hit ‘Vicky Donor’, continues to be an evergreen entertainer that also subtly packs in social messages

The words ‘sperm donor’ in the course of the film raised eyebrows when it first released. This concept, which is the need of the hour in today’s society riddled with infertility issues, is packaged as a fun entertainer that still holds relevance.

Remaining true to Shoojit Sircar’s original story, Prabhu (Harish Kalyan) earns himself the sobriquet, ‘Dharala Prabhu’ (magnanimous man). But he soons learns that his generosity is not most people would appreciate but be ashamed of, which prompts Prabhu to keep it a closely guarded secret between him and Dr Kannadasan (Vivek) who runs an infertility clinic.

Written and directed by Krishna Marimuthu, ‘Dharala Prabhu’ has been tweaked to suit the Tamil audience by writers Subu and Sudharshan Narasimhan; some portions have been changed from the original. Nidhi, Prabhu’s lover has a convincing back-story, while overall, ‘Dharala Prabhu’ lends a certain kind of dignity to the cause of sperm donation.

On the acting front, except for Vivek’s exaggerated expressions, the team works in harmony. Kalyan is good at what he does, while Tanya Hope as Nidhi makes a mark with her measured performances. Anupama Kumar fits well as Prabhu’s mother. The best is veteran actress Sachu as Prabhu’s grandmother who is so natural.

‘Dharala Prabhu’ snuggles in a cute love story and brings awareness on sperm donation while campaigning for adoption and to be accepting of individuals for who they are.

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Don’t miss it!

‘Dharala Prabhu’ is now streaming on Amazon Prime.