Release Date : August 05, 2022
123telugu.com Rating : 3.25/5
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shaw, Vijay Varma, Roshan Mathew
Director: Jasmeet K. Reen
Producers: Alia Bhatt, Gauri Khan, Gaurav Verma
Music Directors: Prashant Pillai, Vishal Bharadwaj, Mellow D
Cinematography : Anil Mehta
Editor: Nitin Baid
One of the top actresses in Bollywood Alia Bhatt ventured into production with Darlings in which she played the lead role. The movie was released directly on OTT. Let’s see how it is.
Story:
Hamza Shaikh (Vijay Varma) and Badrunissa Shaikh (Alia Bhatt) love each other. Hamza gets a Railway department job and both get married. They move to a mid-range flat in Mumbai. After a three-year married life, we see Badrunissa being tortured by Hamza atrociously who also turns a boozer. Shamshunissa Ansari (Shefali Shah), the mother of Badrunissa who also stays in the same colony, keeps suggesting Badrunissa to get rid of her husband by killing him. But Badrunissa doesn’t accept this. Badrunissa says she wanted to change him by having a kid. Also, she desires to live in a good apartment which Hamza denies. Hamza goes to an extreme extent and abuses her physically way more awful. What did Badrunissa do? Was she successful in changing her husband? This forms part of the rest of the story.
Plus Points:
If Gangubai Kathiawadi showed the complete potential of Alia Bhatt, Darlings is just an extension of it. She is a gifted talent in Indian cinema and she once again shows her caliber. She performed remarkably as a housewife who is ill-treated by her husband. The English accent of Alia is quite funny.
Vijay Varma who did good roles in quite a few films gave an equally good performance. His act as a sadist husband is nothing short of brilliance. We get the feeling to punch that character in the face. In simple words, that’s how he lived in his character.
The dark comedy is well written and presented. It comes according to the situation and is embraced elegantly into the story. The police station scene in the first half is an example of it. The theme of the movie is clearly established by the director. The best part is it doesn’t generalize things.
There are a couple of scenes that make our eyes teary. The performances by Shefali Shah and Roshan Mathew are splendid and their characters have a proper connection to the story. The characters become strong as the story progresses forward.
Minus Points:
After a very good initial hour, the second hour boggles down for some part of the time. One generally expects things to be on par with the first hour as the story and characters are well established. But sadly that doesn’t happen here.
Few scenes feel repetitive. The fact that Alia’s character has been tortured horribly and she continuing to live with her husband even after her mother suggests leaving him isn’t that convincing.
Had the trauma and mental agony undergone by the victim been made known to the outside world present in the film, it would have been even great as the film centers around this aspect.
Technical Aspects:
The music of the film is situational. It is not something great but it goes according to the narrative. Anil Mehta’s cinematography is very fine. The production values are decent. The editing is good.
Jasmeet K. Reen’s direction is good. She took a sensational and burning topic present in society and the way she narrated it by adding the dark comedy angle is amazing. Also, she is successful in conveying that it is not generalizing things. It just addresses the pain from the point of view of the victim.
Few dialogues are praiseworthy. Shefali Shah’s character in a scene mentions that the world just changes for the people on Twitter which has a lot of depth in it and has relevance to modern-day people.
Verdict:
On the whole, Darlings is a well-made thought-provoking film. Domestic violence which is the main subject matter of the film is effectively presented by Jasmeet Reen. The award-worthy performances by the lead cast and the dark comedy make it a good watch. On the flip side, the latter hour and a few key aspects could have been handled even better which could have made it exceptional. Nevertheless, Darlings is a good watch on OTT this weekend.
123telugu.com Rating: 3.25/5
Reviewed by 123telugu Team