Darlings Review, Netflix Movie, Alia Bhatt Sets the bar for meaningful films.

There are a few things that ‘Darlings’ a film about domestic violence, gets absolutely right, the most striking of which is the way it creates its couple — a husband who continues to beat his wife; and a wife who continues to believe, in a curdled mix of hope and desperation, that ‘Ek din woh Badal Jayenge (one day he will change).

Alia Bhatt Darling Movie ON Netflix Review, Plot, and Conclusion

Netflix Movie Darlings Plot

A serial wife-beater does it because he enjoys it, not because he is obliged to. It helps him feel like a huge man in his own home after being unmanned everywhere else, particularly at work, where he is treated like trash. And a woman who continues to ignore the beating, concealing all evidence behind a smile, does it with an almost superhuman resilience that most other victims recognize.

On that front, Alia Bhatt and Vijay Varma are excellent as the brilliantly written Badru and Hamza, whose ‘love marriage’ turns into a cyclical sequence of beatings followed by apologies a few years later.

Bhatt’s quicksilver mood shifts disclose her emotional temperature beneath very few performers in Bollywood today who can detect emotions without speaking a word. And Varma is fantastic: as a ticket collector at the bottom of the totem pole at his job, laboring under a jolly bully (Karmakar), he hasn’t gotten what he wanted, so he’ll make sure no one else gets what they want. It’s all command and control, and he never misses a beat.

Alia Bhatt Darlings Review Netflix OTT 

Darlings, directed by Jasmeet K. Reen and co-written with Parveez Shaikh, is her first attempt at dark humor. Alia Bhatt’s debut film as a producer is a story of a marriage plagued by spousal violence set in Mumbai. Badrunissa Sheikh, played by Alia, is constantly beaten up by her husband Hamza Sheikh (Vijay Varma). For this guy, ‘provocation’ might be anything, even the rice at supper not being precisely cleaned. In hindsight, his justification is always that he was inebriated.

Badrunissa, a.k.a. Badru’s mother, Shamshunissa Ansari (Shefali Shah), a fiery single lady whose acquaintances include an ambitious young entrepreneur named Zulfi, lives in the same chawl as the couple (Roshan Mathew).

When Hamza abuses Badru, the residents in the building are used to hearing her screams. She will not abandon him because she hopes he will change his ways. When he ultimately breaches a boundary that even she can’t stand, she joins forces with Shamshunissa a.k.a. Shamshu for a clumsy vendetta.

Shefali Shah delivers another spectacular performance. Shamsu, Badru’s mother, provides unwavering support for her daughter, but she is more than simply a door-stopper.

We observe a mother doing anything she can to keep her head above water, with the difficult task of raising her kid alone barely acknowledged in passing. She’s attempting to build a name for herself, and the scenes between her and her eager, gorgeous accomplice (Rohan Mathew), when she begins putting out her goods as a home chef, provide a comic touch to the proceedings. He’s also quite excellent, and you want to see more of them, this unusual couple that makes you grin.

Aside from Shamshu, there are a few indications in the first hour that Darlings intended to be a comedy. Only in the second hour and fourteen minutes of the two-and-a-half-hour, It instantly struggles to maintain its levity while also balancing it with the dismal message.

When a film deals with a subject as serious as domestic abuse, one would expect the authors to do extensive research before putting pen to paper and to flesh out every point made throughout the story to prevent the spreading of preconceptions and prejudices. Alia Bhatt’s irrepressible enthusiasm and aptitude for light humor are ideal for the lead part. Bhatt, who also co-produced Darlings, demonstrates that she is a team player, never dominating the screen yet demanding attention every time she appears.

Alia Bhatt Netflix Darling Movie Conclusion

The film is too focused on Bhatt’s radiant presence to make Badru’s transformation from a mistreated husband to an evil schemer convincing. This clarity and intensity are mostly lacking in the remainder of Darlings. The group deserves credit for taking chances. However, it barely passes muster in terms of execution. However, the climax moment, which has gratifying gravitas, saves ‘Darlings.’ Alia Bhatt has elevated the standard for movies with meaning with her first production, peppered with a slew of superb performances, something only a lost-in-the-woods Bollywood can manage.

Darlings

Director: Jasmeet K. Reen

Date Created: 2023-07-13 13:11

Editor's Rating:
4