Walt Disney Pictures, Gunn Films and Burr! Productions’ Freakier Friday (dubbed from the Hollywood film of the same name; UA) is another after Freaky Friday — in the same premise.
A mother and daughter magically swap bodies just before the mother’s big wedding. Also, the body of the bride-to-be’s mother is swapped with that of the groom-to-be’s daughter. The drama that ensues has moments of tension, comedy, laughter and mayhem.
Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) is due to marry Eric Davies (Manny Jacinto). While Anna’s mother, Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis), is happy, Anna’s daughter, Harper Coleman (Julia Butters), is not. Ditto for Lily Davies (Sophia Hammons), daughter of Eric. Harper and Lily resent the fact that they would have to live with one another. One day, Anna and Harper’s bodies get swapped so that Anna resides in Harper’s body and vice versa. On the same day, Tess Coleman and Lily Davies’ bodies get swapped so that Tess resides in young Lily’s body while Lily is trapped inside the much older Tess’ body. Do Anna and Eric get married? Does the tension between Harper and Lily get resolved?
Elyse Hollander and Jordan Weiss’ story is interesting but having said that, the fact remains that it is a far-fetched story idea. The story itself is based on Mary Rodgers’ book, Freaky Friday. Jordan Weiss’ screenplay is entertaining but also gets confusing at times because there are two pairs of body swaps. Besides, the drama does tend to get too verbose because the comedy is all born out of the dialogues.
Lindsay Lohan does a fine job in the role of Anna Coleman. Jamie Lee Curtis is lovely as Tess Coleman. Julia Butters acts well as Harper Coleman. Sophia Hammons is nice as Lily Davies. Manny Jacinto is impressive as Eric Davies. Mark Harmon is adequate as Tess’ husband, Ryan. Chad Michael Murray leaves a mark as Anna’s former boyfriend, Jake. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has her moments as Ella. Vanessa Bayer makes a fine impression as fortune teller Madame Jen. Others are quite alright.
Nisha Ganatra’s direction is of a good standard. However, having said that, it must be added that there’s masala only for the classes among the Hindi film-going audience. Amie Doherty’s background music is quite nice. Matthew Clark’s cinematography is appealing. Kay Lee’s production designing is appropriate. Eleanor Infante’s editing is reasonably sharp. Dubbing is nice.
On the whole, Freakier Friday is a fair entertainer but the box-office potential of the Hindi dubbed version is bleak. Even the original English version will do very limited business in India.
Released on 8-8-’25 at Gemini (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by JioStar India Pvt. Ltd. Publicity & opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor at most of the places.