Hello Mummy movie review: A horror comedy, if done right, is all it takes to breathe life into a struggling box office and Bollywood’s story this year is a testament to that. Interestingly, two of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2024 belong to the horror-comedy genre: Amar Kaushik’s Stree 2 — starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor — and Anees Bazmee’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, featuring Kartik Aaryan, Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri. What’s particularly noteworthy is that both movies are part of established horror-comedy franchises, reaffirming audiences’ enduring love for the genre. The success of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 over the star-studded actioner Singham Again, and Stree 2 emerging as the second-highest-grossing Indian film of the year — despite the release of several superstar-led films across languages — further highlights this fondness, which can be noticed in other industries too. Given this favourable climate for horror comedies, debutant director Vaishakh Elans’ Hello Mummy seemed poised for success; unfortunately, the film fails to capitalise on this.
For an extremely pampered and spoiled Bony (Sharaf U Dheen), hailing from an affluent family, marriage has never been of any interest. While he claims this is because it would restrict the freedoms of bachelorhood, the truth is more obvious: no sensible person would want to be in a relationship with a coddled man-child like him who frequently lands in trouble and lives off his family’s wealth without any sense of responsibility. Though Bony runs a pet shop and loves dogs, he spends most of his time chilling with his best friend (Joemon Jyothir) and the moment they are together, troubles come knocking on their doors immediately. Fortunately for him, his rich father (Johny Antony) is always ready to bail him out by throwing money at the consequences of his actions.
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However, Bony’s life takes a dramatic turn when his brother-in-law Thomson (Adhri Joe), who runs a marriage bureau, brings Stephy’s proposal (Aishwarya Lekshmi). A Junior Research Fellowship recipient, she lives with her father, retired mathematics professor Samuel (Jagadish). Nonetheless, her life is anything but ordinary as her mother, Grace, who passed away decades ago while they were living in Shimla, continues to be with Stephy as a spirit, controlling every aspect of the latter’s life and the household, and that too to an obsessive degree. When Stephy explains this strange reality to Bony, he assumes she’s making it up to get rid of him. Instead of backing off, he pretends to believe her story, promising to move into her house after marriage, as per mummy’s demand, and abide by the rules set by her spirit. His mindset and attitude here impress Stephy since none of her previous potential matches showed such care. However, Bony’s romantic dreams of a perfect life with Stephy are soon shattered when he realises that Grace’s spirit is very real — and firmly in charge of the household. Spoiled, disorganised and careless, Bony quickly finds himself on the receiving end of Grace’s punishments, often in the form of beatings, whenever he steps out of line. However, with her interference becoming increasingly overbearing, Bony and Stephy struggle to lead a peaceful married life, with even their physical relationship becoming impossible under her watchful eye. The remainder of the film explores how the couple, particularly Bony, navigates this unusual predicament and tries to resolve the chaos caused by Grace’s lingering presence.
Hello Mummy is one of those films that struggle to find a clear tone or voice, leaving it in a constant loop of uncertainty without ever settling into something cohesive or fully engaging. From the start, Sanjo Joseph’s script and Vaishakh’s direction fail to deliver the comedy, only evoking weak smiles from audiences. By relying too much on familiar, clichéd moments that come with portraying characters like Bony, the film is unable to keep the viewers engaged and both the humour and situations come across as half-baked or forced.
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After Stephy’s introduction, Hello Mummy’s woes intensify, particularly owing to its inability to decide whether to focus more on the growing romance between the two or the comedy. The result is a lacklustre blend of both. While Sharaf and Aishwarya try to make the most of their characters, the lack of standout moments for them soon begins to affect the film and this issue only deepens as the story progresses. In addition to the leads, actors Jagadish, Johny Antony, Adhri Joe and Aju Varghese, who plays a true-crime podcaster living next door to Stephy and Bony, also try to elicit laughs with their performances; but with very few ‘witty’ lines or ‘jokes’ on paper, the actors are left to rely on physical comedy and a few other tricks in their pockets. Even the moments when a character delivers a ‘funny’ line and others on-screen laugh, pass off without eliciting any laughter from viewers and such misfires, sadly, occur throughout the movie.
After the introduction of Grace too, who is never fully shown as a figure — in flashback scenes either — but is instead felt through her spectral actions, such as throwing items and punishing Bony, Hello Mummy fails to deliver either effective horror or comedy, remaining a middling experience overall. Despite having moments that could have sparked laugh riots, similar to the chaotic kitchen fight scene in Ee Parakkum Thalika (2001), these scenes end up being half-cooked. The lack of solid character development — especially the inconsistent dynamics between various persons and their fluctuating reactions to the ghost — adds to the film’s shortcomings. While Vaishakh and Sanjo attempt to blend comedy, horror and a bit of thrill, this mix feels uneven, particularly in the climax, where the sequence ends up feeling disjointed.
Despite its ongoing creative shortcomings, Hello Mummy is largely carried by the actors, especially Sharaf U Dheen and Aishwarya Lekshmi. (Image: Vaishakh Elans/Facebook)
Despite its ongoing creative shortcomings, Hello Mummy is largely carried by the actors, especially Sharaf U Dheen, who stands out throughout the film and his encounters with the mummy’s spectre and the punishments he faces for his misdeeds are particularly amusing. Aishwarya Lekshmi also delivers a strong performance, particularly in the more emotional scenes. However, it needs to be emphasised that the actor could benefit from improving her dialogue delivery and diction, as occasional lapses detract from her performance — issues that could easily be avoided. While the film doesn’t offer them many memorable romantic moments, making it hard to understand why Bony and Stephy remain together amidst the chaos, Sharaf and Aishwarya make up for it with their performances, making their relationship endearing. Though Jagadish and Adhri Joe don’t have standout moments, they make the best of what they’re given and manage to impress. Despite Bindu Panicker’s ghostbuster character having potential, especially with her quest to regain her lost powers, Hello Mummy ruins her role and even her attempts at humour feel forced. Aju Varghese does a decent job, though his character serves little purpose and adds little to the film.
Jakes Bejoy’s background score fits the tone perfectly, though the same can’t be said for the songs. The film briefly features a remix of the iconic song “Nizhalaay Ozhukivarum” from the 1979 horror film Kalliyankattu Neeli, but it feels underutilised, leaving one to wonder why it was wasted. Praveen Kumar’s cinematography and Chaman Chakko’s editing are impressive, while Sabu Mohan’s production design is just average. Sameera Saneesh does a good job in the costume department, though Ronex Xavier’s makeup occasionally feels excessive.
Hello Mummy movie cast: Sharaf U Dheen, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sunny Hinduja, Jagadish, Aju Varghese, Johny Antony, Bindu Panicker
Hello Mummy movie director: Vaishakh Elans
Hello Mummy movie rating: 2 stars
