Monica, O My Darling movie review: Murder mystery version of a comedy of errors

Language: Hindi Director: Vasan Bala Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Huma Qureshi, Bagavathi Perumal, Radhika Apte, Sikandar Kher, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Sukant Goel, Zayn Marie Khan There are two ways of interpreting director Vasan Bala’s Monica, O My Darling. You could view it somewhat literally as yet another suspense drama in which matters go out of the hands of the conspirators in a crime and spiral so completely out of their control that they are left chasing a murderer as much as being chased under suspicion for their own role in the plan gone awry. Or you could view it as a tribute to and a spoof of noir thrillers at large. It’s fun to see it as both – a sort of comedy of errors in murder mystery form, a bow to Hindi cinema of the 1960s and ’70s, especially the works of Nasir Hussain; a neo-noir thriller that re-examines a rough template already established by the legends of the past and revisits it in a contemporary setting; a film that takes itself both seriously and non-seriously. _Monica, O My Darling_ begins with a killing. Nothing is hidden from the viewer in this scene. The killer, his motivations, his method are all laid out for us to clearly see. Cut to the current track of events at an office party where Jayant Arkhedkar ( Rajkummar Rao ) – a robotics genius, we are told – is being introduced by the founder-owner as the latest addition to the organisation’s Board of Directors. This causes considerable resentment among Jayant’s colleagues, in particular the boss’ son ( Sikander Kher ) and an ordinary mortal in their midst (Bagavathi Perumal a.k.a. Bucks). Also present is an employee who once knew Jayant a.k.a. Johnny well but now finds himself brushed aside as an inferior being (Sukant Goel) and a warm, friendly woman (Zayn Marie Khan) that the latter clearly dotes on. Meanwhile, the boss’ daughter (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor) flaunts her personal relationship with Jayant, displaying the social skills and subtlety of a loudspeaker.

As the party progresses, Monica Machado ( Huma S. Qureshi ) arrives on stage in full Helen-esque glory, bathed in shadows and draped in a twinkling sequinned gown, to dance for the audience’s entertainment. We soon learn that she is having an affair with Jayant. In this volcanic universe of amorality, anger and jealousy unveiled within just the opening minutes, a crime is conceived, of course nothing works as intended, and chaos follows. Monica, O My Darling takes its title from the iconic musical number picturised on Helen in Nasir Hussain’s Caravan (1971). It is written by Yogesh Chandekar, adapted from Japanese writer Keigo Higashino’s Burutasu No Shinzou as acknowledged in the opening credits. The film trumpets its intentions right at the start with the styling of Monica, the evident R.D. Burman inspiration for the song Ek Zindagi to which she performs, the choreography, the choice of words on screen – Sikandar Kher is not simply listed among the cast, he is announced as “in a dynamic appearance Sikander Kher” – and so much else.

In its first half hour, Monica, O My Darling is tightly paced and exciting, not the least because of editor Atanu Mukherjee’s grip on the material, Swapnil S. Sonawane’s low-lit frames from which he offers visual relief only with cold grays and whites of the daytime when various characters keep their masks on while waiting for the dark, and the manner in which songs are woven into the narrative (the soundtrack in its entirety is by Achint Thakkar, he shares a credit for the song Ek Zindagi with Mikey McCleary). The first misstep comes when the second crime is committed and the obviousness of the trap into which two primary characters are falling stares us in the face. I know I know, the obviousness is itself perhaps part of the nod to the film’s predecessors (like characters in horror flicks down the ages walking, albeit with trepidation, into woods and tunnels although every viewer knows they should not). It doesn’t entirely work here though, and from then on Monica, O My Darling becomes a mix of genuine suspense mixed with other moments of seemingly intentional obviousness that don’t always land. The decision to feature a Muslim character in this cauldron of deceit, as an innocent victim of the games being played by the others, may or may not have been designed to reflect the politics of our times, but either way it clicks. It is troubling though that thinking folk casually wrote a Monica Machado into this script as an office staffer doubling up as a cabaret dancer and also sleeping with everyone in sight, a resurrection of the pre-1990s Hindi film portrayal of Christian women, without recognising the harm that has been done to India’s Christian minority by this old stereotype. This apart, it is also worth noting that Jayant, the lynchpin of the proceedings, is incredibly stupid as a criminal despite his reputation for brilliance and his knowledge of science. The sum of these weaknesses is that Monica, O My Darling as a whole turns out to be not quite as enthralling as its introduction suggests it will be, despite remaining engaging till the end. In its best moments, Monica, O My Darling lives up to that early promise and some more. A fist fight between Jayant and Monica, and another scene involving Jayant, a building and a piece of paper, are terrific – precisely what you might expect from Vasan Bala, the writer-director of Peddlers and the co-writer of Anurag Kashyap’s underrated _Raman Raghav 2.0_ . Three actors in this interesting cast stand out:  Rajkummar Rao for not standing out at all but losing himself so well in the storyline that I forgot for a moment that the selfish, manipulative Jayant is played by the same chap who also starred as the vulnerable gay policeman just acknowledging his sexual orientation to himself and those around him in _Badhaai Do_ earlier this year: Sikander Kher who is so good at being bad that it is impossible not to wonder why we see so little of him in films; and Radhika Apte who seems to be having fun playing an eccentric policewoman. They and the music are among the reasons why Monica, O My Darling remains entertaining all through even if it is not everything that it could have been. Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars) Monica, O My Darling is streaming on Netflix.

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial Read all the ** Latest News ****,** ** Trending News ****,** ** Cricket News ****,** ** Bollywood News ****,**  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on ** Facebook****,**  Twitter and ** Instagram****.**