Darling – Film Review
Ram Gopal Verma gets all his film sensibilities together in this film. It is his psychological-emotional-comic take on horror. Being a film delving on the shock factor, I wouldn’t like to give away much and would keep it short.
Darling is an enjoyable, entertaining journey into the mind and sweet-nothings of a family in crisis. A popcorn friendly film.
As is evident, there is a twisted love triangle, there is a ghost pledged to trouble the happy family a la Cape Fear. There is a loose-charitra pati, a saas-bahu-serial-friendly patni. It so happens that you also have a man called Ram Gopal Verma in this scheme of things, who makes all the “agar tumne mujhe apna nahin banaya to main tumhe bhoot banker sataaoongi” plot a delightfully human, detailed, and starkly realized concoction on screen.
It’s just a funny and very fortunate coincidence for RGV that Darling follows the disastrous Aag, and does succeed in making the entire furor over it a little thanda, and brings our faith back in the man resposible for single handedly turning around mechanics of contemporary popular cinema. The whole hysteria and anxiety dies in the first couple of minutes and you forget all the noises outside. Its suddenly back to Bhoot days, all bitterness suspended in a flash.
Nisha Kothari in the opening credits does irk you a bit, but she surprisingly fits well in her bootie shaking avatar here. When you see the opening song, the words “khushi se khud khushi kar le” practically sums up the plot, and you enjoy it more in retrospect as the film progresses.
RGV succeeds in yet again building a set of expectations, and yet again cons you. A kind of con you take pleasure in. You keep trying to put the film in a category and it keeps hopping between the genres, almost supernaturally! The film retains the haunting camera of Naach, the shock factor of Bhoot, the emotional family-psycho-drama of Nishabd and the aloofness of the entire RGV multiplex-small-film repertoire.
Fardeen Khan pitches in an enjoyable shit-scared hero, doing full justice to the amount of time the camera explores various shades of his fear. Fear of losing what he has, regret of committing sins in ignorance, and a constant reminder of his irreversible fate. The beauty of it all lies in how accurately the depictions are structured, thanks to a series of well placed confrontation scenes. You expect it will turn into a comedy, it does not. a brilliantly shot sequence in the beach house makes you empathize with the events circling Fardeen, and there lies the unique charm Darling works on you.
Esha Deol plays the annoying ghost to the tee. She feels very comfortable with the RGV devices, perfectly aligning with the pauses, the sudden screams and the mad camera angles, even a typical Dancing-on-the-beach-with-insignificant-extras song sequence, shot indulgently in whites and more whites.
Isha Koppikar is a tad subtle, a much improved revisit of her over-the-top housewife bit in D.
Zakir Hussain will give you the much needed light moments, and his dawdling delivery and “office soona hai” leaves you in splits.
The cop and a staring-till-eternity assistant, the psychiatrist and a deranged patient, all using RGV’s regular cast from Sarkar, Shiva and Aag(!), complete the comic supporting cast.
Himesh Reshammiya’s Tadap might annoy many, while others may like it as another of RGV’s cheesy devices to allure you, tease you, and yet make it all a fun time at the movies.
Amit Roy’s camera is put to full effect here; the shots run in sync with the Sarkar-esque score. All these technical departments were criticized to all possible limits in Aag, but in Darling, everything seems to be making sense. One memorable shot apart from the inside-out window view in the beach house is the one featuring Fardeen and a cell phone. It rightfully registers the terror, in him, in you, and re-instills your faith in RGV. Trust him to scare you!
And the whole complexity concludes beautifully leaving you with another cheesy number. You walk out with your interpretations. “Ya, nice comedy, or may be horror, or may be….”, while someone has a quiet last laugh somewhere far away….
Tags: Medium
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
hmm..thx 4 the review…will definately watch it as soon as possible…
RGV never got his due for his 10-minute segment of Darna Zaroori Hai, which, judging by my ignorant taste of cinema, was one of the finest performances by Big-B since his beard’s gone grey. Hopefully, this time Darling will ride the tide and will do some Dhamaal.
regards,
Cubicle Bound Misfit
Some hope of a reprieve then?
Even Taran’s given it the thumbs-up…all’s not quite lost yet Ramu!
http://www.indiafm.com/movies/review/12941/index.html
DVD viewing for me. RGV just announced a big-budget underworld/terrorism flick with newcomers called “Dhyeya” which he plans to start immediately after finishing “Sarkar Raj”.
Friends, PFC-ians, Film buffs… last week when the same Tushar reviewed RGV Ki Aag thousands came pouring in to make your points felt and we all know what points they were. Now this week, when he has liked Darling – and trust me there is every damn reason to like the film – and written such a lovely post, why wouldn’t all of you comment yaar? 130 views for 4 comments?? Say what you thought of Darling… Say if you are indifferent to it… Say if Himesh’s song put you off… Say if you don’t want to watch it for Aag… But say something. Personally Darling, for me, is a return (not fully perhaps) to form of Ramu where he spoofs his favourite genre and makes what must be the first horror comedy movie. It’s as funny as Daud… super scary in parts and hilariously funny in others… Give it a chance…
am gonna make this a theater watch since i can’t get myself to watch aag there.. more comments after the watch.. great review boss
Pratim,after watching it definitely will comment..There is no prejudice against RGV perse..Rest assured.
great review boss…will see it in the theatre,@ and pritam da,i was also like many others was angry with ‘aag’..as it is a bad film, but never tried to take away from anything from mr verma…will never deny his participation to indian film history..i still recall how 8 years back every film aspiration used to lead to his office…every drinking session was eger to discuss his plans….he sadly became a part of the system, once he countered….i guess we all felt let down….its like seeing che guevara in a g7 meeting and that too a bad one….i follewd your review closely in the telegraph, and admire your view closely…..great to know you liked the film….
Krysh, I know you will but if you were here last Friday you would have seen the onslaught of comments against Aag and most started or ended with the line “Although I haven’t seen it but I know…” Man, if you haven’t seen something how can you come and trash it? Of course, Aag was bad and we have heard enough about it including an apology by RGV. But now what have we here? Just because he’s released Darling a week later you let the Aag aftermath soak in… You refuse to acknowledge the presence of RGV as if just like Esha Deol’s Geeta, he is dead and buried… At least say you want to watch it like a striker or a vijay… or say that thank you man, but RGVis finished for me… Anyway, I think I am getting too worked up here…
Thanks raj, if you liked daud you will love darling… even otherwise it’s quite enjoyable… it’s good to see ramu so relaxed in his scenes again… Just the background score is so dominating all the while… Rather than highlighting it destroys so many moods…
@anand, thanks. I hope you are not disappointed.
@Cubicle, I loved Darna Part II. Ritesh and Big B was a dream casting.
@night, its Redemption Friday dude!
@Pratim, waiting to read your take on the film.
@striker, Aag bujh gayi ab yaar, bhool ja usko. aur haan, Fardeen is tolerable here
in fact pretty good.
@krysh, thanks mate.
@raj, thanks.
@pratim, ‘relaxed’ is the word. regarding the BGM, I think it was amplified on purpose in some of the confrontation scenes to up the tension. I loved the “aawaaz koi aati hai” bit that follows the “kaheen deep jale” scenes. I would say that RGV has tried to underplay some of the predictable elements. its so easy to give in the temptation and put in a joke here or a dramatic score there. the film has holes that you can fill your own interpretations in. as I discuss the film more, more aspects are coming back to me, and I am liking it all the more…
@night have u watched aag yet ?! :d
taran adarsh having given it a thumbs up ..is that a good sign ?
Tushar bhai, great review.
Just because of your review I am gonna watch it in theater. Mujhe bhi apne andar ki AAG bujhaana hai.
DARLING rocks!! fardeen is really good, esha is superb! isha koppikar is decent…zakir is brilliant…upendra limaye is funny and his assistant is ‘mutely’ effective…the kid is a perfect casting…
the “kahin deep jale kahin dil” scene is awesome…esha coming back as ghost for the first time is rocking!…the anniversary ‘love triangle’ shot is hilarious…the hospital scene where fardeen and isha visit zakir is superb…the mandir scene is so very funny…all the scenes involving the cop and assistant are unforgettable…the climax is what we know RAM GOPAL VARMA for – UNPREDICTABLE! watch it guys…he’s back! ” loha garam hain…maar do hathoda…DARLING!! “
MACHCHAR DARLING,
YOUR COMMENTS? YEH ‘AAG’ AB BUJHEGI?
@aj, leave Adarsh man, anyways as far as I can remember he has given it a thumbs down with his usual confused analysis.
@Saurabh, I am elated!
@ricky, your recall is very good. loha garam hai…lol
Haven’t seen aag, so won’t comment on that. From the comments above I want to see Darling. Here’s hoping that it will be released in Adelaide, Australia.
I’ve always been a fan of RGV…he’s made some trashy movies of late, but hopefully he starts coming up with movies he’s famous for
Saw Darling yesterday night. And yes, Ramu has redeemed himself, at least 75% with this movie. I am still recovering from the horror show put up by him last week. Recovery will take some time.
Both Kusum Punjabi and Prawal Raman have also done a good job. I found the screenplay tight and the dialogues good.
Gus thats the beauty and charm of a man called R G V… he wil rise and he will rise and he will rise from his own ashes…
Though i have’t seen the film, but am glad people are liking it…
Kudos to RGV.
Saahil – I am also waiting for you to take me to the theatres to watch the film….
zzuuryaa,
jussst dont ask me silly questions! you are not a kid that i have to take you to the theatre and buy you popcorn!
if you are a true RGV fan THEN buy your own ticket and watch the film…will be waiting for your feedback…DARLING!
Finally gathered up the courage to go watch Darling. Walked out in the interval. It was intolerable.
This film has proven to be a nightmare even before i have seen it!!!!
Firstly, the film is being shown at selected cinema’s at selected times!!
Secondly, i turn up to one of the ’selected’ cinema’s, only to be told the print hasn’t arrived (that too, after catching a train and two taxi’s to get there mind you!!)
Then i found another cinema which is like 2hours away from my house that will play it.
I get to the train station, and the trains are cancelled due to engineering work!!
I have got the bloody train tickets, but no train…there will be a replacement bus service which will take an extra hour to get there..so i’ll miss one of the 2 shows!
But the second show finishes so late, that i cant get back home and a taxi will cost
Ok. Seen it!!
I dont have too much to say really.
I mean, it was an ok film, quite liked it thankgod as I’m miles and miles away from home and still not sure if a train is taking me or not, but atleast i got to see it!!
The comic scenes worked so well, ditto the creepy scenes!!
And i can’t remember who said it, but i agree with the comment that its not Ramu’s best, but its still a good effort.
Isha Koppikar was in a role which gave her quite a lot to do compared to the usual crap she gets.
Not only did she look great, but performed so well too!!
The right choice for the role.
A few things annoyed me eg, i wasnt so keen on the ‘James Bond’ investigator or the silent partner of his!
But atleast i didnt detest them like i did that Sameer guy who was Fardeens friend!!
How annoying was he??!!
Anyways, the person who shone in every scene was Esha Deol!
She was SUPERB in this!!
She actually makes up for the flaws in the film!
Such a shame there wasnt more of her!
I just love what Ramu did with her character man!!
But now…Fardeen!!
He was….BAD!!
Seriously, he didnt do any justice to the role whatsoever!
He just wasnt convincing AT ALL!!
He may be smart and good looking (and chubby, hee hee) but he really let the film down!!
Really dissapointed with him!!!
But yes, it’s an ok film, worth watching although it aint gonna set the box office on ‘fire’!
Esha?? WOW!!!!
Will defifnitely get the dvd just for her performance!!
Oh..one last thing.
NOw seriously, what is it with Ramu and Nisha Kothari’s ASS??!!
Again we have to endure more IN YOUR FACE ass shots of her!!
Why???
Is it ‘that’ nice?????
No really, is it Ramu??!!!!
If you do read this Ramu, then PLEASE, I BEG YOU, STOP PUTTING US THROUGH THIS……STOP PUTTING US THROUGH HER ASS!!!
Seen enough of it to last 10 lifetimes!!!!!!
Vintage RGV! Look at the scene when Esha’s dead body stares at Fardeen; or the scene when Esha’s father cries in front of Fardeen; or the fantastic scene when he throws Esha’s mobile into the sea and comes back!! It is a pity that this film is released just after the backlash of Aag…had it been released before Shiva (immdtly after Sarkar), people would have treated it as a RGV classic; today people acknowledge it as a good film but say it is not as good as Company or Bhoot. Hard luck RGV.
My review in The Telegraph…
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070909/asp/entertainment/story_8292206.asp
very apt reviews..pratim…good job….
pratim,
good review…completely unbiased…so true to the film…but some reviewers like khalid mohhamed, mayank shekhar, rajeev masand and nikhat kazmi have written against the film or should i say against the filmmaker! some personal vendetta i guess!
these guys have given a no-brainer like DHAMAAL 3 stars and DARLING just 1 1/2 star…not fair…DARLING surely deserves a 3 star…these four ‘film critic’ morons have lost it!!
good reviews of DARLING by raja sen(rediff), taran adarsh(indiafm),naomi dutt & omar quereshi(timesnow), apk(cinegoer)…i guess the film will do good with word of mouth…
@Surya, jaldi film dekho, yaar!
@Steve, hope your troubles end soon yaar. Tumhari sad story sunke meri aankhon mein aansoon aa gaye..lol
@Anand, you are bang on! the mobile scene is a classic.
@pratim, very apt review. I loved the way you have reconstructed the memorable scenes. Thanks for reminding me about My wife’s murder. Yes, this is truly RGV’s best shot at self-referencing.
@ricky, people are more interested in commenting on RGV than on what he makes. he has almost become a sand bag, a mandir ka ghanta. I to hope the film picks up.It deserves a just acknowledgment at least.
hey tushar,
you are right…the film deserves one watch for sure…atleast for our ‘darling’ RGV!
Tushar!!
Thanks…but my troubles only got worse!
Would you like me to tell you how????
Anyways, saw it last night….
It was an ok film, quite liked it thankgod as I went miles and miles away from home to see it!!
The comic scenes worked so well, ditto the creepy scenes!!
And i can’t remember who said it, but i agree with the comment that it’s not Ramu’s best, but it’s still a good effort.
Isha Koppikar was in a role which gave her quite a lot to do compared to the usual crap she gets.
Not only did she look great, but performed so well too!!
The right choice for the role.
A few things annoyed me eg, I wasnt so keen on the ‘James Bond’investigator.
But atleast i didnt detest him like i did that Sameer guy who was Fardeens friend!!
How annoying was he??!!
Anyways, the person who shone in every scene was Esha Deol!
She was SUPERB in this!!
She actually makes up for the flaws in the film!
Such a shame there wasn’t more of her!
I just love what Ramu did with her character man!!
But now…Fardeen!!
He was….BAD!!
Seriously, he didn’t do any justice to the role whatsoever!
He just wasnt convincing AT ALL!!
He may be smart and good looking (and chubby, hee hee) but he really let the film down!!
Really dissapointed with him!!!
But yes, it’s an ok film, worth watching although it aint gonna set the box office on ‘fire’!
Esha?? WOW!!!!
Will defifnitely get the dvd just for her performance!!
Oh..one last thing.
NOw seriously, what is it with Ramu and Nisha Kothari’s ASS??!!
Again we have to endure more IN YOUR FACE ass shots of her!!
Why???
Is it ‘that’ nice?????
No really, is it Ramu??!!!!
If you do read this Ramu, then PLEASE, I BEG YOU, STOP PUTTING US THROUGH THIS……STOP PUTTING US THROUGH HER ASS!!!
Seen enough of it to last 10 lifetimes!!!!!!
(and again, I don’t know who said this, but the more I think of it, the more I like the film too!!)
Tushar..here is a brief description of the troubles I went through to see this film!
The film wasn
Went by gut instinct and watched this movie first day… and was pleasantly surprised by it – RGV’s said in interviews that this is a deliberate mishmash of horror, comedy, and more, and that is exactly what it is… The theatre was full ( I’m in Pune btw), and everyone seemed to enjoy the movie. Hope it does well.
I sort-of agree with Cubicle-bound’s comment that RGV’s segment in DZH was very good…. but I’d give the credit to RGV for his amazing camera positioning in that segment, rather than to AB. Hands down, the buildup and ending of that single story is the creepiest bit of film I’ve ever seen.
The same camera work comes into play here… Several shots taken along glass edged-tables, extremely creepy shots of Esha Deol staring into space (if you’ve seen it, you know what I mean).
RGV’s put one over the T-Series guys, too, I’d think – the requirements for a commercial movie include 4 songs atleast, and the producers must have pushed him into adding songs into an otherwise taut movie. Fine, says RGV, and puts two songs into beginning and end credits, and one into a beach sequence before anything really happens in the movie. The last one runs in the background for a few seconds. So we wind up with a ‘commercially viable musical movie’ in which the songs don’t interfere with the movie at all
Perhaps the only criticism I can think of, was the shorten-able dialogue between Fardeen and Esha, right at the end… Kind of loosened the tension a bit, and I could feel the audience too getting restless, beginning to talk among themselves. Though the ending is a cracker, it would’ve had a bit more of an impact if that particular dialogue had been spread through the movie, happening in bits instead of all at once. But, well… movie worth a watch.
@night have u watched aag yet ?! (aj)
@ aj: Haha, still not seen it, but will def do so when I get a chance. Like I said, I wanna find at least 6 good things to say about it! Darling is on my list too. I mostly like Ramu and will still watch his films, but I also know when to call a spade a spade.
About Taran – it’s neither a good nor bad thing, I was just surprised that he didn’t totally trash it as I was expecting him to. Usually with such films (low-key or non formula types)he might start out appreciating it, but then he suddenly signs off very dramatically, proclaiming something like: “BUT AT THE BOX OFFICE THIS LOOKS SET TO BE A SURE-SHOT DISASTER!!!” :d
I don’t go by everything he says of course, but he gets the BO part right most times, and as most mainstream reviewers have been giving RGV a v hard time lately, this can only be hopeful for Ramu who needs some respite from press & public alike after Aag.
yeah night he used to get the box office part right , but he has lostthat touch now.look at his last few predictions , they are all wrong….the audience tastes are changing more rapidly than mr taran adarsh’s viewing habits
Yeah aj, you’re right about TA’s recent predictions. I was just kinda surprised that he didn’t totally trash this one that’s all. Anyway, Taran or no Taran I’m still watchin Darling & Aag….and thank god for the changing tastes of the audience
@steve, sad to hear about your troubles man.
except for vijay, everyone commenting on this post liked DARLING…that says a lot about the film…what say tushar?
@Ricky, can’t generalise, as Vijay has seen more films and knows much more about films than me.
Yes, the response to this review has been very positive, and I haven’t read any out and out bad reviews, save for some intentional ones. so we have reasons to smile man!
tushar,
you are right friend…;)
This is one of the worst film, I have seen recently. The movie is sans logic.
Zakir Hussain at his hamming best. I dont know how the poster was in splits at his super-bad jokes.
The inspector and his asst, the psychiatrist, fardeen khan, were as bad as one can get. Isha Koppikar is strictly okay.
The biggest flaw is the plot. There is actually no plot at all.
Complete waste of time and money.
Only saving grace is sexy Esha Deol.
I just saw the film and thought that “it could have been”.
This could have been a great film, except I didn’t like any of the characters. I found none of them sympathetic or likable.
Which is a shame, because the story was great.
Saw Johnny Gaddar right after seeing Darling. Zakir Hussain is now one of my favourite actors. He brings a level of class and fun to whatever he does, even if it is an annoying character as in Darling, and is a very good actor. Didn’t realize when I first saw him in Black Friday what a true talent he is…
Still waiting for a good horror film from India…