Mother Promise review: A smart comedy wrapped in absurdity, chaos and madness
Mother Promise movie review: Dhananjaya's Mother Promise embraces absurdity with confidence, delivering relentless laughs, quirky characters and enough heart to leave audiences walking out of theatres with a smile.
Laughter is the best medicine in the world, mother promise! Because for those few seconds (or even minutes, if the joke is that good), when you laugh wholeheartedly, you forget all the troubles in the world and experience a rare sense of mental relief. The latest Kannada film Mother Promise arrives with the bold claim that it can make anyone crack up. The makers even threw down a 'try not to laugh' challenge before the film's release, reflecting their confidence in the product. But does Mother Promise live up to that promise? Let's find out.
Mother Promise is bizarre, silly, absurd and illogical, but above all, it is genuinely funny and surprisingly smart in its own crazy way. The film comes with its fair share of flaws, but most of them get buried under the laughter. While you might struggle to embrace its absurdity in the opening stretch, the humour slowly creeps up on you and, before you know it, you're laughing along with its madness.
So, what is Mother Promise about? Rossi, Donne Biriyani, Maggie, Ryandi, Jalebi, Gulkand and Anarkali are just some of the wonderfully bizarre character names in the film. Rossi (Dhananjaya) is a gangster who runs the gambling mafia in the fictional city of Bengaluru. Ryandi (Poornachandra Mysore) is a gambling addict with an uncanny knack for the game, but he soon finds himself in trouble with Rossi's henchmen. Donne Biriyani, Rossi's rival, heads the city's narcotics mafia.
Between these three are several other peculiar characters. If we were to mention all their names and quirks here, this review would start reading like the film's end credits. Given the sheer level of absurdity on display, here's the simplest way to describe the plot: a series of mother promises brings the three central characters into conflict, and the hilariously chaotic way that conflict unfolds forms the heart of this comedy gold.
Debut director Poornachandra Mysore impresses with his writing, direction and, above all, his sheer confidence. While he has already established himself in the Kannada industry as an actor, Poorna is an absolute delight as a filmmaker. If you walk into the theatre with no expectations other than wanting to be entertained, Mother Promise is the film for you.
The beauty of Poorna's writing lies in how it gradually wins over even those who would otherwise struggle with absurd comedy. With smart writing and highly relatable humour, he makes the film's madness surprisingly accessible, which speaks volumes about the effectiveness of his writing.
There is definite room for improvement. Several moments make it evident that this isn't a perfectly executed project – from dialogue-sync issues and loose editing to a few inconsistent screenplay choices. The incoherence we're referring to is cinematic rather than narrative, because the film proudly operates without any real logic, and justifiably so.
There are plenty of reasons why Mother Promise falls short of being a perfect comedy entertainer, and Poorna, as a director, has his share of shortcomings. However, what shines through is the impact of his debut and, more importantly, the promise of innovation, originality and bold filmmaking choices.
The climax is where Mother Promise reaches its absolute peak. We'd be surprised if it doesn't bring a smile to the viewer's face, as it has the potential to crack even the toughest audience members into loud laughter. More importantly, it ensures that people walk out of the theatre with a smile, and that's perhaps the film's biggest victory.
Dhananjaya's screen presence certainly adds value to the film. He brings the action and emotional relief to an otherwise joke-after-joke narrative, ensuring the film has enough breathing space between its comedic highs. Poornachandra Mysore also delivers a solid performance, as does the rest of the cast, each embracing their quirks with conviction.
Many of the biggest laughs come from understated one-liners that sneak up on you rather than announcing themselves. While the writing and the situations do much of the heavy lifting, content creators Yashwanth Shetty and Supreeth Bharadwaj stand out as exciting comedic talents who could well become the next generation of comedy stars in Kannada cinema.
Coming to the shortcomings, whenever the film moves to indoor sets, the artificiality becomes distracting. It's a problem that has plagued many Kannada films and is something that has been noticeable in several Daali Pictures productions as well. Even otherwise, Mother Promise had plenty of scope to be quirkier in its technical approach to filmmaking. The team does experiment in a few places, but of all the attempts, only a handful truly land.
Navaneeth Sham's music definitely adds immense value to the overall impact of the film. Both Ra Ga Sa Da Aa and Veni Vidi Vici are absolute chartbusters, while the more emotionally driven tracks lend depth to the characters. The rest of the technical departments complement the film well and collectively enhance the viewing experience.
Mother Promise could be a tough pill to swallow for anyone who is absolutely averse to absurd comedy. But if you give it a chance, you might gradually warm up to its brand of madness. One fanbase that will happily lap it up, though, is the Royal Challengers Bengaluru followers. The song Veni Vidi Vici already enjoys cult popularity among Kannada-speaking RCB fans, and the way the film expands on that idea is bound to leave them cheering even louder.
Last year, around the same time, Kannada cinema delivered one of its most pleasant surprises in Su From So - a rooted comedy-drama that slowly grew through word-of-mouth before making a name for itself across the country. This July, Mother Promise arrives carrying a similar sense of anticipation among Kannada audiences, albeit with a completely different flavour of humour.
Whether it manages to replicate that journey remains to be seen, but it certainly has the ingredients to become a crowd favourite. It may not be polished, and its absurdity won't work for everyone, but when a film can make an entire theatre laugh together and walk out smiling, it has already achieved something special. Mother promise!
Laughter is the best medicine in the world, mother promise! Because for those few seconds (or even minutes, if the joke is that good), when you laugh wholeheartedly, you forget all the troubles in the world and experience a rare sense of mental relief. The latest Kannada film Mother Promise arrives with the bold claim that it can make anyone crack up. The makers even threw down a 'try not to laugh' challenge before the film's release, reflecting their confidence in the product. But does Mother Promise live up to that promise? Let's find out.
Mother Promise is bizarre, silly, absurd and illogical, but above all, it is genuinely funny and surprisingly smart in its own crazy way. The film comes with its fair share of flaws, but most of them get buried under the laughter. While you might struggle to embrace its absurdity in the opening stretch, the humour slowly creeps up on you and, before you know it, you're laughing along with its madness.
So, what is Mother Promise about? Rossi, Donne Biriyani, Maggie, Ryandi, Jalebi, Gulkand and Anarkali are just some of the wonderfully bizarre character names in the film. Rossi (Dhananjaya) is a gangster who runs the gambling mafia in the fictional city of Bengaluru. Ryandi (Poornachandra Mysore) is a gambling addict with an uncanny knack for the game, but he soon finds himself in trouble with Rossi's henchmen. Donne Biriyani, Rossi's rival, heads the city's narcotics mafia.
Between these three are several other peculiar characters. If we were to mention all their names and quirks here, this review would start reading like the film's end credits. Given the sheer level of absurdity on display, here's the simplest way to describe the plot: a series of mother promises brings the three central characters into conflict, and the hilariously chaotic way that conflict unfolds forms the heart of this comedy gold.
Debut director Poornachandra Mysore impresses with his writing, direction and, above all, his sheer confidence. While he has already established himself in the Kannada industry as an actor, Poorna is an absolute delight as a filmmaker. If you walk into the theatre with no expectations other than wanting to be entertained, Mother Promise is the film for you.
The beauty of Poorna's writing lies in how it gradually wins over even those who would otherwise struggle with absurd comedy. With smart writing and highly relatable humour, he makes the film's madness surprisingly accessible, which speaks volumes about the effectiveness of his writing.
There is definite room for improvement. Several moments make it evident that this isn't a perfectly executed project – from dialogue-sync issues and loose editing to a few inconsistent screenplay choices. The incoherence we're referring to is cinematic rather than narrative, because the film proudly operates without any real logic, and justifiably so.
There are plenty of reasons why Mother Promise falls short of being a perfect comedy entertainer, and Poorna, as a director, has his share of shortcomings. However, what shines through is the impact of his debut and, more importantly, the promise of innovation, originality and bold filmmaking choices.
The climax is where Mother Promise reaches its absolute peak. We'd be surprised if it doesn't bring a smile to the viewer's face, as it has the potential to crack even the toughest audience members into loud laughter. More importantly, it ensures that people walk out of the theatre with a smile, and that's perhaps the film's biggest victory.
Dhananjaya's screen presence certainly adds value to the film. He brings the action and emotional relief to an otherwise joke-after-joke narrative, ensuring the film has enough breathing space between its comedic highs. Poornachandra Mysore also delivers a solid performance, as does the rest of the cast, each embracing their quirks with conviction.
Many of the biggest laughs come from understated one-liners that sneak up on you rather than announcing themselves. While the writing and the situations do much of the heavy lifting, content creators Yashwanth Shetty and Supreeth Bharadwaj stand out as exciting comedic talents who could well become the next generation of comedy stars in Kannada cinema.
Coming to the shortcomings, whenever the film moves to indoor sets, the artificiality becomes distracting. It's a problem that has plagued many Kannada films and is something that has been noticeable in several Daali Pictures productions as well. Even otherwise, Mother Promise had plenty of scope to be quirkier in its technical approach to filmmaking. The team does experiment in a few places, but of all the attempts, only a handful truly land.
Navaneeth Sham's music definitely adds immense value to the overall impact of the film. Both Ra Ga Sa Da Aa and Veni Vidi Vici are absolute chartbusters, while the more emotionally driven tracks lend depth to the characters. The rest of the technical departments complement the film well and collectively enhance the viewing experience.
Mother Promise could be a tough pill to swallow for anyone who is absolutely averse to absurd comedy. But if you give it a chance, you might gradually warm up to its brand of madness. One fanbase that will happily lap it up, though, is the Royal Challengers Bengaluru followers. The song Veni Vidi Vici already enjoys cult popularity among Kannada-speaking RCB fans, and the way the film expands on that idea is bound to leave them cheering even louder.
Last year, around the same time, Kannada cinema delivered one of its most pleasant surprises in Su From So - a rooted comedy-drama that slowly grew through word-of-mouth before making a name for itself across the country. This July, Mother Promise arrives carrying a similar sense of anticipation among Kannada audiences, albeit with a completely different flavour of humour.
Whether it manages to replicate that journey remains to be seen, but it certainly has the ingredients to become a crowd favourite. It may not be polished, and its absurdity won't work for everyone, but when a film can make an entire theatre laugh together and walk out smiling, it has already achieved something special. Mother promise!
