Darlings

Badru lives with her husband Hamza in a Mumbai slum. He works on the railways and drinks. On the nights he drinks he beats her. The next day he apologises and she believes him every time; she thinks he will change if he stops. Her mother Shamshunissa lives in the same building and sees what happens; she tells her daughter again and again to leave. Badru does not. Then one night something happens and mother and daughter make a decision together. Jasmeet K Reen directs. Alia Bhatt plays Badru, Shefali Shah her mother and Vijay Varma plays Hamza. It was released on Netflix. It is Alia Bhatt's first work as a producer, made together with Red Chillies Entertainment. The form is black comedy and the subject is domestic violence; the combination caused argument in India and some viewers said the register did not suit the subject. What the narrative builds is a victim who does not remain without agency; when Badru decides, the film neither vindicates nor judges her. The mother played by Shefali Shah is its soundest side; the character does not pity her daughter, she is angry with her. The husband played by Vijay Varma is nowhere one dimensional, and that is the most uncomfortable thing about the film. Who it is for: viewers who like black comedy and independent Indian production. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, the shifts in register are abrupt, and some sections are long.