‘Darling’, starring Priyadarshi and Nabha Natesh as a married couple, is directed by Aswin Raam. Produced by Niranjan Reddy and Smt Chaitanya of ‘HanuMan’ fame, the film arrived at the cinemas today (July 19th):
TeluguFunda’s reveal of the basic plot:
As the Trailer for the movie had made it clear, Anandhi (Nabha Natesh) plays the wife of Priyadarshi’s character, Raghava. Since she suffers from a multiple personality disorder, the husband’s life goes for a toss. His peace is ruined right from the nuptial night. What is the psychological root cause of the disorder? What can Raghava do to save his wife’s mental health and himself? What options has he got before him? That’s what the film is about.
TeluguFunda’s take on the Performances:
- Nabha Natesh: Since she has five personalities within her, she is over-the-top five times than she should have been. Uff!
- Priyadashi: Not as great as he was in ‘Mallesham’, ‘Balagam’ and ‘Jathi Ratnalu’, but he is definitely likeable.
- Comedians: Vishnu Oi of ‘Taxiwala’ and ‘MAD’ draws some laughs. Krishna Teja is okay. ‘Jabardasth’ fame Venu as a Baba is unfunny.
- Cameos: Brahmanandam is wasted. Niharika Konidela is okayish. Suhas was probably roped in believing he brings luck or something.
- Supporting artists: Ananya Nagalla of ‘Vakeel Saab’ fame is seen as a Psychologist who probably never read a single Psychology book. Her knowledge of split personality disorder stems from ‘Aparichitudu’. Others like Raghu Babu, and Muralidhar Goud are average.
TeluguFunda’s take on the Technical output:
For a movie made on a medium-range budget, the production values are decent. The locations could have had some range, though. Most of the story takes place indoors, leaving little room for location-related innovation.
The music by Vivek Sagar lacks finesse. He usually gives at least one trendy song but this film has none. Naresh Ramadurai’s cinematography is good. The editor should have used five scissors as an ode to the five split personalities. At 2 hours 41 minutes, the film is way too stretched out.
TeluguFunda’s take on the Merits:
The split personality disorder is there for a reason. While caricaturing it is a big drawback, exploring the psyche of women through it is welcome.
It is also interesting how Raghava ends up meeting Anandhi rather accidentally. Their initial conversations come with some spark. His workplace scenes with Vishnu Oi and Krishna Teja are watchable.
TeluguFunda’s take on the Demerits:
The hook of the story was revealed by the film’s Trailer itself. There are no surprises as such. The writing department should have infused a few scenes with emotional payoffs in the second half. Barring a moving scene in which a childless middle-aged man reveals his emotional side, there is nothing else worthy of being written about.
There are no scenes between the lead couple worthy of being talked about in the second half. Thanks to her disorder, Anandhi behaves like an immature kid (nicknamed Papa). The screenplay woven around Papa and other personalities (like Jhansi and Sri Sri) is totally hopeless.
The film starts testing the patience of the audience right from the first scene of the second hour.
TeluguFunda’s Verdict:
‘Darling’ is a madcap comedy that misunderstands the strengths of its genre. The writing is odd, and the performances are over-the-top.
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