Recently, a film titled Padakkalam was released in Malayalam. A fantasy comedy starring Suraj Venjaramoodu and Sharaf U Dheen, it belongs to a rare genre of comedy: a body-swap comedy that involves the concept of ‘parakaya pravesham’.
Typically, a body-swap comedy involves elements of fantasy or science fiction. In these films, the minds or consciousnesses of two or more characters are exchanged, placing them in each other’s bodies. Mahesh Babu’s Nani was almost one, because it was a body-swap sci-fi subject.
In this section, TFN takes a look at some of the popular body-swap comedies from Hollywood:
Freaky Friday (2003): A mother and daughter, who constantly argue, magically switch bodies and must navigate each other’s lives. Based on a novel, a movie critic “acknowledged the film’s strong message about empathy and understanding across generations”.
Big (1988): A young boy makes a wish to be “big” and wakes up the next morning in the body of an adult man (Tom Hanks). When Nani was released in 2004, some observers compared its plot with Big. “Big is a tender, soft-hearted, and cheerful movie that has a lot of fun with simple verbal misunderstandings,” a critic wrote in praise of Big.
13 Going on 30 (2004): An unpopular 13-year-old girl wishes to be 30 and suddenly finds herself in the body of her adult self.
The Hot Chick (2002): A mean-spirited teenage girl magically swaps bodies with a middle-aged criminal. The film didn’t receive positive reviews, though. “At best routinely assembled—at worst barely competent. The slapstick is labored, and the bigger setpieces flat,” a critic wrote.
17 Again (2009): A middle-aged man who regrets his life choices is magically transformed back into his 17-year-old body.
It’s a Boy Girl Thing (2006): Two high school rivals find themselves in each other’s bodies.
The Change-Up (2011): A married man and his carefree bachelor friend magically swap bodies.
Freaky (2020): A teenage girl swaps bodies with a serial killer. Taking the form of a slasher thriller, this one was described as a genre-bending horror-comedy with a body-swap twist.
Family Switch (2023): The members of a family all swap bodies with each other during a rare cosmic event. This one received unfavourable reviews. “Its characters are drawn in the broadest of strokes and the plot points unfold along creakily predictable beats, but it’s too blandly sweet to be irritating or offensive,” Hollywood Reporter opined.
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