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The baby is immeasurably (if I may use the term!) cute. By hook or by crook (technology!) he smiles, cries, gurgles and looks blank all at the right moment. The second cutie is the Single Papa himself: Kunal Khemu, who made his first appearance 32 years ago as an adorable child artiste in Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993). He sashays into his role with so much ease that you suspect he might have scripted his character himself.
However, the writers are the husband-wife duo of Ishita Moitra (of Four More Shots Please, Call Me Bae and Ricky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahanii fame) and Neeraj Udhwani (Inside Edge et al). Self-confessedly, Ishita stated at a media meet that the idea was to project males as soft and strong in the emotional department and also highlight how tough it is for men to adopt kids as single parents.
Neeraj, along with Shashank Khaitan (of …Ki Dulhania franchise fame) and Hitesh Kewalya (Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan and also writer, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan) also co-directs the well-knit storyline with feel-good content admittedly with some implausible elements.
Gaurav Gehlot (Kunal Khemu), a man-child, gets a divorce from Aparna (Isha Talvar) as she feels he is too immature and she does not want a child. Just after that, Gaurav, or GG as he is called, finds an infant abandoned in a crate of Amul (the iconic Indian brand of milk products) in his accidentally-open car and is bowled over by the child enough to want to adopt him.
And that’s when a monster called Opposition raises its frightening head. So, who comprises this non-compliance of his adopting the baby? To begin with, his dominating father (Manoj Pahwa), his superstition-riddled and hyper-emotional mother (Ayesha Raza Mishra), the chairperson of the Central Authority of Child Adoption, Mrs. Nehra (Neha Dhupia), and well-wishers that include his soon-to-be-married sister, Namrata (Prajakta Koli).
But GG is stubbornness personified. Having named the boy Amul (which also means ‘priceless’) he is single-minded in his devotion to the kid and can—and does try to!—move heaven and earth to win custody of the child. Into the melee come in the rather weak-minded fiancé of Namrata, Goldie (Ankur Rathee), a pesky and interfering elderly neighbor, Mishra-ji (Naresh Gosain), Goldie’s haughty parents, Aparna, who comes back to his life to offer him a fruitful job, Goldie’s cousin Shreya (Aisha Ahmed), a pediatrician and GG’s bestie, Pawan (Suhail Nayyar). Shreya develops a soft corner for Gaurav. But two more angles come in and are ‘forced’ to become relevant—Mishra-ji’s plight and the misunderstanding between GG’s parents.
As GG puts up a determined front, buoyed by a few fibs (!) and unexpected support from Mrs. Nehra’s kid, Shlok (Azinkya Mehra) and a reluctant yet not-so-unwilling ally in Namrata, things come to a boil and the legal and other aspects also come to the fore. Mrs. Nehra stresses that all she wants is the best for Amul, but the way she goes about it seems contrary to GG.
The climax, at Namrata’s wedding, is a tad far-fetched and stretched, all told, but leaves a gratified feeling in a viewer. No surprises there then, for what becomes the culmination of the single papa’s love.
The saga has its share of stretched moments, but overriding them are the tender moments, the humor and satire, and sufficient moving or lump-raising lines and sequences. There is evenness among the directors’ works and the music is quite serviceable if unmemorable.
Heartwarming in the final analysis, the series also examines and tests societal fixation, especially through the core theme as well as the character of the muscular ‘Manny’ or male nanny (Dayanand Shetty) employed by GG, who passionately feels that to nurture and care for a child is gender-agnostic.
Superb performances lift the story further, as most characters are lovingly etched—an Ishita Moitra characteristic. Kunal is plain fantastic, showing his comic expertise yet again after the Golmaal franchise, Go Goa Gone and his 2024 directorial and acting triumph, Madgaon Express. This time, whether he cries, smiles, swaggers or showers affection on the kid, he is essentially cute too!
Neha Dhupia as the stern and matter-of-fact Mrs. Nehra is correctly nuanced and delivers another fine performance. Dayanand Shetty (of CID fame) has been cast against type and tops as the ‘Manny’ showing the emotional side of a tough man. He steals many a scene from Kunal, and that is quite a task in such an author-backed essay for the latter.
Manoj Pahwa and Ayesha Reza Mishra are always endearing, and Ayesha’s a scream in her sequences as a devoted disciple of a spiritual guru. Prajakta Koli is good. I liked Aisha Ahmed in her brief role as Shreya, also the actor playing Aparna’s and Gaurav’s boss, and Azinkya Mehra as Shlok—almost another cutie, though decidedly precocious and a shade fanciful in the way the story maneuvers him! The rest of the supporting cast also helps, including Isha Talvar’s as Aparna, who comes across as both confused and complex.
And of course, Hami Ali Hamil as Amul is the brightest feather in the cap of this series, which is a welcome, clean, fresh departure from the classically crime fare we get to watch on OTT. And for that alone, do go for it!
Rating: ***1/2
Netflix presents Juggernaut Productions’ Single Papa Produced by: Aditya Pittie & Samar Khan Created by: Ishita Moitra & Neeraj Udhwani Directed by: Shashank Khaitan, Neeraj Udhwani & Hitesh Kewalya Written by: Ishita Moitra, Neeraj Udhwani Music: Aman Pant Starring: Kunal Khemu, Prajakta Koli, Isha Talvar, Aisha Ahmed, Manoj Pahwa, Ayesha Reza Mishra, Dayanand Shetty, Ankur Rathee, Suhail Nayyar, Ishhita Arun, Azinkya Mishra, Ajay Madhok, Naresh Gosain, Hami Ali, Priyam Galav, Tuhina Das & others.
