Darlings is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film co-written and directed by Jasmeet K. Reen, in her directorial debut, from a screenplay by Parveez Sheikh, and produced by Alia Bhatt (in her debut production), Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma under the banners Red Chillies Entertainment and Eternal Sunshine Productions.
[1][2][3] The film stars Bhatt herself, Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma and Roshan Mathew in the lead roles.
That evening, upon returning home, Hamza learns that Badru is pregnant with their child, and he pretends to quit drinking because of his promise.
Pre-production started by early January 2021 and the film was planned for 2021 release,[16] it was announced on behalf of Red Chillies Entertainment through a motion poster by Shah Rukh Khan on March 1, 2021.
[17] Set in Mumbai against the backdrop of a conservative lower-middle-class neighborhood, the film was hinted as a story of a quirky mother-daughter duo, sailing through circumstances with courage and love.
Producer Gaurav Verma (Red Chillies Entertainment) mentioned: "Darlings is a move forward in a direction where they would want to collaborate with fresh talent and nurture their perspective."
[20] On her character preparation as 'Badru', Bhatt stated, it was picking up authentic sort of lingo of the area in Byculla, Mumbai which was a mixture of Urdu, English, Hindi and Marathi and heard in film dialogues.
[43][44] The film score is composed and produced by Prashant Pillai, while the soundtrack is written by Vishal Bhardwaj and Mellow D with lyrics by Gulzar and the latter.
[66] Pooja Biraia Jaiswal of The Week gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Except for a few instances here and there, Darlings feels as real as can get.
[68] Tina Das of The Print rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Darlings is a dark comedy par excellence, helmed by powerful performances by Alia Bhatt and Shefali Shah".
Both actresses speak through their eyes and make up for the dreary pace at times with their outstanding performances and chemistry".
[70] Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Darlings is a well-rounded effort by Jasmeet K. Reen, supported by bold ideas and clever imagery".
[71] Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint awarded the film a score of 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Satire is a tough tool and Darlings wields it well.
The performances of Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma are award-winning and serve as the icing on the cake".
[73] Fengyen Chiu of Mashable awarded the film a score of 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Domestic violence has been depicted in several Bollywood movie before, but Darlings has done it in a very creative and fresh way.
All-in Alia Bhatt and Shefali Shah is definitely a must watch and will make you cry, angry, frustrated, and happy throughout the movie".
[75] Avinash Lohana of Pinkvilla rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Darlings stays consistent even in the second half, and a few high points scattered periodically in the script keeps you hooked to the narrative.
[76] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Darlings, which ploughs a dark furrow all its own while making judicious use of genre elements while shunning standard narrative tropes, is watchable all the way".
[77] Namrata Joshi of The National Herald wrote, "The cast of Darlings makes it a riveting watch.
Alia and Shefali's timing and Vijay Varma's acting save Darlings from becoming just another film with a social message".
[79] Bohni Bandyopadhyay of CNN-IBN gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma's black comedy brings out laughs in tragic situations, but is ultimately a story about shattered hopes and dreams".
Reen's control over the lengthier sequences, backed by Anil Mehta's sinuous camerawork and Nitin Baid's elegant editing, is strongest when Hamza drops the mask and lets the misogyny show".
Vetticad of Firstpost rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "This clarity and a certain energy are missing for the most part from the rest of Darlings.