Rating : ⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Year: 2022
Running time: 2 hours 13 minutes
Director: Jasmeet K. Reen
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma, Roshan Mathew, Rajesh Sharma
Kid rating: PG
Darlings is about Badrunissa (Alia Bhatt) and Hamza Sheikh (Vijay Verma). Hamza and Badru love each other and get married. Three years down the line we think everything is hunky-dory but then comes the rude shock. Hamza is a violent wife-beater and Badru lives in the belief that one day he will change because he loves her. But then he goes too far. And Badru isn’t quite Badru anymore . . .
So Darlings started out well because it has such an interesting premise. There is the violent husband and his abject sobbing wife. We all wait with bated breath for the day when the husband will go too far and his loving, patient wife will reach the end of her tether. Well, that time comes and goes. The fireworks that we are anticipating peter off into a damp squib.
Alia plays Badru with such frailty and such innocence that we all just want things to turn out well for her. She is supported by her mother Shamsunissa (Shefali Chaya) who lives in the same chawl. Shamsu is independent and smart and she’s supported by her business partner and friends. But as wily as Shamsu and Badru are, they can’t quite come up with a decent plan to outwit Hamza.
Right when the film should have taken off it took a turn for the worse. The pace slowed down tremendously, and the characters went around in circles without really getting any closer to their objective. The film got pretty boring. I seriously considered either quitting it or just skipping to the end.
There was so much promise here! So much potential! All wasted! Where this story could have gone and where it actually did are two completely different places. I can’t blame the actors for this poor film – that responsibility lies solely on director Reen’s shoulders. Alia is magnificent, as is Shefali Chayya. Vijay Varma whom you might remember from his spectacular performance in Gully Boy, plays Hamza with great skill. Roshan Matthew, a veteran of many Malayalam films (like the intense Kappella), is also very good here.
Darlings starts off as a thriller and while it does have his moments, it peters off disappointingly into an insipid bore. It is being touted as a thriller or a dark comedy. Be warned that it is neither.
Kidwise: Scenes of domestic violence.
