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Darling Review
- Thread starter Aanya
- Start date
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Darlings have a cast to kill for. Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma and Roshan Mathew headline this seductive black comedy set in Mumbai. But that's just the start. Equally fascinating, at least to me, are the supporting players who populate the world of this film. Vijay Maurya, Rajesh Sharma, Puja Swarup, Kiran Karmarkar and Ajit Kelkar turn up in minor parts and make them memorable. Even in unimportant scenes, your eye is never bored. Darlings is a reminder that, though Hindi cinema may be having a generally drab year, it's not for a lack of human resources.
The film opens with a short, smart prologue. Badrunissa (Alia Bhatt) rushes to a movie date with her boyfriend, Hamza (Vijay Varma). She waits and waits, missing the show. He turns up late, bearing a teddy bear and apologizing. "Government job leke aya (I found a government job)," he tells her. "Let's get married." Badru brightens up, hugging him. The couple looks happy though we already know what's coming. It's also notable, I think, that the scene unfolds outside a famous multiplex in Mumbai. Having missed a film, Badru's life proceeds to get decidedly un-filmy.
When we meet her next, Badru is three years into an abusive marriage. Hamza, a jerk and an alcoholic, routinely hits his wife, triggered by anything from slips in her cooking to a genuine concern for his well-being. He's an inept ticket examiner by profession, projecting—it is suggested—his anger and frustration from work on his quietly suffering wife. Badru tries everything to get him to change: de-addiction pills, titillation, even a child. One day, pushed beyond all fathomable limits, she takes her husband hostage.
The film opens with a short, smart prologue. Badrunissa (Alia Bhatt) rushes to a movie date with her boyfriend, Hamza (Vijay Varma). She waits and waits, missing the show. He turns up late, bearing a teddy bear and apologizing. "Government job leke aya (I found a government job)," he tells her. "Let's get married." Badru brightens up, hugging him. The couple looks happy though we already know what's coming. It's also notable, I think, that the scene unfolds outside a famous multiplex in Mumbai. Having missed a film, Badru's life proceeds to get decidedly un-filmy.
When we meet her next, Badru is three years into an abusive marriage. Hamza, a jerk and an alcoholic, routinely hits his wife, triggered by anything from slips in her cooking to a genuine concern for his well-being. He's an inept ticket examiner by profession, projecting—it is suggested—his anger and frustration from work on his quietly suffering wife. Badru tries everything to get him to change: de-addiction pills, titillation, even a child. One day, pushed beyond all fathomable limits, she takes her husband hostage.
