Cinema has been a medium that has the power to communicate and influence the perception of the audience. One of the most innovative ways to effectively convey any message to society is by adding a pinch of humor to it. The recently released, Darlings perfectly delivers a solid story along with the elements of dark humor that keep us hooked throughout the film. Here are the 5 things that we absolutely loved about this quirky dark comedy- ‘‘Darlings’’
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead !
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| Source: Eternal Sunshine Production |
- The Right Balance of Dark and Humor
The co-writer and debutant director Jasmeet K Reen has delivered a bold story in the quirkiest manner. The writing of the film is its strongest element. It is commendable how efficiently the story is conveyed without mocking the seriousness of the issue. Instead the story empathizes with the victims of domestic violence and gives us an accurate insight into what a toxic relationship looks like. Its humor elements are extremely subtle which makes the movie entertaining throughout. The scenes where the mother-daughter duo are discussing what has to be done with Hamza lead to some of the most hilarious scenes. Yet there are some scenes projecting the violent nature of the relationship between Badru and Hamza that make the audience uncomfortable. The job of making the audience feel all of these emotions in one film has been delivered gracefully by the writers and the director.
The Power-Packed Performances
Alia Bhatt steals the show completely as the innocent Badrunissa who strongly believes that she can change her husband who she deeply loves, until the turn of events happen that transform her forever. Shefali Shah as Shamshunissa cracks up the audience with her subtle dark comedy. She effortlessly acts with her eyes and plays the mother who has a bond with her daughter that is similar to that of best friends. Vijay Varma makes us hate Hamza to the core and love him as an actor simultaneously. He makes the violent scenes so uncomfortable to watch without actually the audience seeing him ‘hit’ Badru for most of the parts. Roshan Mathew plays Zulfi, the struggling writer and an innocent boy who ends up between all the chaos created by Badru and her mother.
The Attention to Details
As the story unfolds, there can be seen some noteworthy details. The broken mirror in Hamza and Badru's house probably signifies their broken relationship or is simply a sign of the frequent outbursts of violence by Hamza. The simple gestures that Badru does in her day-to-day life like asking to take money from the right hand, signify that she is a bit superstitious and believes the things she has heard. In the scene where she walks out of the hospital and a black cat crosses her path, she still goes ahead. The scene signifies a transformation in her character and how she has changed her mind.
The Well-Written Characters
All the credit goes to the writers for making such a well developed structure where each character finds a significance in the overall story. It is essentially a story of the mother-daughter trying to fix Hamza. But how all the stories connect with the police station, the old connection with Kasim, the scenes from the neighborhood beauty-parlor and Zulfi revealing his love for Shamshunissa was a chaotic yet fun ride to watch. Badru undergoes a whole character development, from an innocent wife who submits to all the abuse her husband makes her go through, to avenging for herself. And finally realizing that the respect is hers and shouldn't be seeked from him. The end reveal of her mother’s past also gives a complete arc to the story. The story of frog and scorpion truly summarizes the theme in a nutshell.
Delivering the Message without being Preachy
This is not the first time the issue of domestic violence is being portrayed in a movie. But Darlings gives us a relevant story which is unfortunately the reality in our society, yet it never gets preachy. It doesn't try to up its drama quotient. The film could've been a preachy story with heavy dialogues, but the makers made a wise decision to keep it crisp and quirky. The lingo of Darling's' is weirdly funny and gives it a unique touch. The title song "Pleaj" written by Gulzar works really well with the theme of the movie. The visual at the end which stated "Violence against women is injurious to health" was a clever move to subtly share the intended message of the film. It is an example of how effective writing is the key to convey a strong message.
Dark comedy is a unique and a difficult genre to tackle. It requires the art of writing in a way that humor can be incorporated without making light of the dark issues. There have been only a few dark comedies in the Indian film industry, and Netflix’s Darlings can definitely be added to the list of the good ones.