This is the gritty and sensational true story of Arun Gulab Gawli, a mill worker’s son who grew up in Mumbai’s impoverished Dagdi Chawl, to become an infamous don, politician and chief rival of the most powerful crime boss of the day, Dawood Ibrahim. Daddy realistically charts Mumbai’s true crime history from the 1970s and 1980s until 2012, when Gawli was finally sentenced to life imprisonment.
Direction
Ahluwalia's docu-drama aesthetic rejects Bollywood glorification.
Production
Dagdi Chawl recreated with suffocating authenticity.
Acting
Rampal vanishes into Gawli's hunched, calculating stillness.
Director
Ashim Ahluwalia
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gawli remains politically active from prison; his daughter Geeta was elected MLA in 2019.
Rampal spent months in Dagdi Chawl, living with residents who actually knew Gawli.
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