Monica O My Darling Review: This neo-noir crime comedy thriller is full of twists and quirky comedy that will give you different experience
Monica O My Darling Movie Rating: 3.5 Stars
Finally watched Monica O My Darling movie on Netflix. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte, Sikander Kher, Sukant Goel, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor and Zayn Marie.
Director: Vasan Bala
Release Date: 11th November 2022 on Netflix
Story: During a night shift at the Unicorn factory, Dev Prakash (Shiv Chauhan) informs his friend Gaurav (Sukant Goel) that he has proposed marriage to Shalu (Zayn Marie Khan) and she has accepted. Soon after, the company’s robot attacks and kills Dev. The case is closed as an accident while security officer Faridi Baig (Faisal Rashid) is fired from the company.
6 months later, at the Unicorn’s 50th anniversary, Jayant Arkhedkar (Rajkummar Rao) is promoted to the board of directors for the company by CEO Satyanarayan Adhikari (Vijay Kenkre). Jayant is about to marry Nikki (Akansha Rajan Kapoor) who is the CEO’s daughter. But Jayant maintains an affair with Monica Machado (Huma Qureshi) works in the same company.
One day, Monica informs Jayant that she is pregnant with his child and that he should pay the maintenance for her as well as the child. Jayant shocks when he learns Nishikanth Adhikari (Sikander Kher), the CEO’s son and Accounts Officer Arvind Swamy (Bhagavathi Perumal) is also in an affair with Monica. Monica starts blackmailing all three, and hence they decide to kill her.
Things start to fall apart for him when his company is beset with a string of murders. And he’s prime suspect in the eyes of investigating officer ACP Naidu (Radhika Apte). The rest of the film is about how these three tried to get rid of Monica and the situations they faced during this.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Direction
3. Screenplay
4. Story
5. Background Music
Negatives
1. Climax
2. 2nd Half
3. Too many characters
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie on premiere date as trailer looks very exciting and unique.
Jayant Arkhedkar is a tech and robotics geek, with a rags-to-riches background. Engaged to the daughter of the CEO of his company; at loggerheads with her brother and in an illicit relationship with the saucy secretary of the CEO, things start to fall apart for him when his company is beset with a string of murders. And he’s prime suspect in the eyes of investigating officer ACP Naidu.
Movie is an adaptation of the Japanese novel Burūtasu No Shinzou written by Keigo Higashino. Story is thrilling and has loads of twists and turns to keep the viewers hooked. Screenplay does justice to the plot at hand. Despite so much gore and murder in the script, the writer keeps the mood light and adds humor in adequate doses. On the flipside, a few scenes could have been better and less predictable. Direction is also good. The film has too many characters, back stories etc. but Vasan has handled it in such a manner that not even once do the proceedings get confusing. He has also done justice to the retro element. On the flipside, the film drops a bit in the second half. Too many murders take place, and it becomes convenient after a point. Another issue is that the makers have needlessly made a few scenes predictable. By shortening a few scenes or hiding a few details, the impact would have been better in these scenes.
Aided by a terrific screenplay and a tremendous cast of actors, Vasan Bala assembles all that a twisted thriller should ideally have and then adds his own singular flourishes in the form of wonderfully organic, homegrown elements fueled by an unbridled love for popular cinema and a sensibility that can turn familiar into fresh with minimum fuss. It has all the ingredients of a perfect suspense thriller but sees a major setback in the execution department. After a rigorous build up in the first half, the film nosedives after the interval with murders without any logic happening at a speed that’s difficult to fathom. Moreover, too many back stories might help take the story forward but after a point, they all start to look confusing, and you don’t know what to really focus on. And I don’t see a point in making a film so predictable that the number of scenes and twists that you can predict actually make you want to give yourself a pat on your back. I don’t know what the makers were thinking while writing those portions. I mean are they really doubting audience intelligence or making it way too easier for their story to unfold? Only they would know.
Overall, movie works due to the exceptional performances, tight script, unpredictable twists, retro-style music and taut direction. However, the film suffers a bit due to a comparatively weaker second half. It also offers a different experience for the audience with more twists and quirky comedy. The performances are great from the lead cast, but the very nature of the film may not appeal to everyone.My view on this movie Highly Recommended.
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