Monica o my darling rating

Nasty surprises and quirky humour make Monica, O My Darling an intriguing, fun, watch, observes Sukanya Verma. Few film-makers wink at their audience like Vasan Bala. Fewer have the nerve to embrace their madcap energy. A delightful discipline in his whimsical ideas is as certain as the element of surprise. But for all the nonconforming he subscribes to, Bala understands and uses music in the most traditional Hindi film sense. Songs in our movies pave the way for dance and celebration. But they are also the viewer's most intimate friends, letting us in on a character's untold desires, deceit and secrets. Fittingly then, the title of his latest work is inspired by the most iconic line, Monica, O My Darling of Caravan's most sizzling song, Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja. It's not the first time someone's doffed their hat at the feverish melody, but the trills and turns of Asha Bhosle's voice and Rahul Dev Burman's tune play a dramatic role in amping up that foreboding feeling before throwing everything off balance. Movie references come naturally to his cinema-pickled head when pat comes the reply, ' aakhree raasta', a casual introduction to 'my cousin Vinny' alludes to a Joe Pesci gem and if you listen carefully, Jalwa's diabolic drone reserved for Dalip Tahil's hitman can be heard hovering above a character's demons here as well. Exuberant reminders of the pop culture overabundance that Bala's first release Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota doled out, 'pop' up here as well. Mostly though, it is...

Cups of tea have never been as portentous as they are in a sequence that plays out about an hour into in Monica, O My Darling. The eponymous character - a CEO's secretary - makes the chai for her boss and the company's chief tech developer. The latter baulks. He fears a deadly slip between the cup and the lip. Director Vasan Bala and screenwriter Yogesh Chandekar inform this stray moment with a delicious mix of wit, wickedness and whimsicality that defines the neo-noir comic thriller as a whole. Full of knowing winks thrown the audience's way, Netflix's Monica, O My Darling, is a wildly entertaining film packed with twists and turns that keep on giving until the final fadeout. It is delightfully tricksy, transfixing concoction that probes the goings-on in a Pune-based company, a veritable viper's pit where nothing is what it seems. The film taps the nuts and bolts of the genre and other necessary tools to produce a movie experience that, sometimes playfully and sometimes with a sudden grab at the scruff of the neck, pushes the audience into the innards of a moral black hole where people caught in a bind continually draw upon their wiles but find no way out. Behind the manipulations and manic measures that the warped minds resort to, a privileged lot battle it out with the not-so-privileged who not only seek their pound of flesh but also figure out ways to get it. Rajkummar Rao plays robotics expert Jayant Arkhedkar, a small-town lad who has wormed his way into the corporat...

Express News Service A good mystery commands your attention and reinforces it in every direction possible. A handful of scenes into Monica, O My Darling, I was noticing everything, from the wifi password scrawled on Rajkummar Rao’s office wall to the way different paintings and knickknacks were arranged. Very little of this turned out to be information crucial to the film’s plot. Yet, the fact that I was noticing them seemed to indicate something in the movie’s favour. Often while reviewing Hindi films, I’m flipping furiously through my notebook to recall what a primary character or his wife was called. But with Monica, I can tell you precise surnames or which restaurant Huma Qureshi orders her dinner from. Here’s the setup. Monica Machado (Huma) is a secretary at Pune’s Unicorn Group of Companies. She is also – as we soon find out – the squeeze of several of its employees, including robotics wunderkind Jayant (Rajkummar). An IITian who lucked out at one of those nerdy college fests, Jayant has worked his way up from the factory workshop to its board of directors. He’s young, ambitious, and toadyishly engaged to his boss’s daughter. Hailing from humbler stock — he gives his hometown as ‘Angola’ (like Unicorn, a fictive name) – Jayant can’t let his present life slip away. Naturally, he gets a fright when Monica announces to be pregnant with his child, and demands hush money for her troubles. Turns out, Jayant isn’t the only toad in Monica’s talons. So he, along with company...

Monica, O My Darling, which premiered on Netflix, is a dark comedy crime thriller that fills the viewers with a sense of nocturnal aura with the old Hindi music “Piya Tu Ab to Aaja” which is echoed throughout the movie. Structured in pulp fiction style, the film, starring Rajkummar Rao, Huma Qureshi and Radhika Apte, is an engaging suspense thriller with plenty of twists, thrills, and robots. A cycle of murders, and a cat-mouse chase with the killer, with some romance and revenge added to the proceedings, Monica, O My Darling throws in several elements to make it a fun watch. Jayant Arkhedkar (Rao), a robot specialist who struggled his way up to the top from a small village, is found by the business tycoon Satyanarayan Adhikari (Vijay Kenkre) at an IIT fest. Jayant becomes an important part of the business and falls for Adhikar’s daughter Nikki (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor), who comes across as a spoilt rich girl. The smooth ride is interrupted by the entry of enticing Monica (Qureshi), and chaos follows. There is corporate jealousy, vengeance, a sequence of dramatic events, and some unexpected twists and turns which bring in the character of Apte, a cop. But Apte's is a fun cop, and says things like “give a little slack to the story, with feelings” when interrogating Jayant, which sums up the whole mood of the movie. The film also showcases a few innovative techniques for the action and murder sequences. The background score is enchanting too, adding to the fun and drama unfold...

Cups of tea have never been as portentous as they are in a sequence that plays out about an hour into in Monica, O My Darling. The eponymous character - a CEO's secretary - makes the chai for her boss and the company's chief tech developer. The latter baulks. He fears a deadly slip between the cup and the lip. Director Vasan Bala and screenwriter Yogesh Chandekar inform this stray moment with a delicious mix of wit, wickedness and whimsicality that defines the neo-noir comic thriller as a whole. Full of knowing winks thrown the audience's way, Netflix's Monica, O My Darling, is a wildly entertaining film packed with twists and turns that keep on giving until the final fadeout. It is delightfully tricksy, transfixing concoction that probes the goings-on in a Pune-based company, a veritable viper's pit where nothing is what it seems. The film taps the nuts and bolts of the genre and other necessary tools to produce a movie experience that, sometimes playfully and sometimes with a sudden grab at the scruff of the neck, pushes the audience into the innards of a moral black hole where people caught in a bind continually draw upon their wiles but find no way out. Behind the manipulations and manic measures that the warped minds resort to, a privileged lot battle it out with the not-so-privileged who not only seek their pound of flesh but also figure out ways to get it. Rajkummar Rao plays robotics expert Jayant Arkhedkar, a small-town lad who has wormed his way into the corporat...

Monica, O My Darling, which premiered on Netflix, is a dark comedy crime thriller that fills the viewers with a sense of nocturnal aura with the old Hindi music “Piya Tu Ab to Aaja” which is echoed throughout the movie. Structured in pulp fiction style, the film, starring Rajkummar Rao, Huma Qureshi and Radhika Apte, is an engaging suspense thriller with plenty of twists, thrills, and robots. A cycle of murders, and a cat-mouse chase with the killer, with some romance and revenge added to the proceedings, Monica, O My Darling throws in several elements to make it a fun watch. Jayant Arkhedkar (Rao), a robot specialist who struggled his way up to the top from a small village, is found by the business tycoon Satyanarayan Adhikari (Vijay Kenkre) at an IIT fest. Jayant becomes an important part of the business and falls for Adhikar’s daughter Nikki (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor), who comes across as a spoilt rich girl. The smooth ride is interrupted by the entry of enticing Monica (Qureshi), and chaos follows. There is corporate jealousy, vengeance, a sequence of dramatic events, and some unexpected twists and turns which bring in the character of Apte, a cop. But Apte's is a fun cop, and says things like “give a little slack to the story, with feelings” when interrogating Jayant, which sums up the whole mood of the movie. The film also showcases a few innovative techniques for the action and murder sequences. The background score is enchanting too, adding to the fun and drama unfold...

Express News Service A good mystery commands your attention and reinforces it in every direction possible. A handful of scenes into Monica, O My Darling, I was noticing everything, from the wifi password scrawled on Rajkummar Rao’s office wall to the way different paintings and knickknacks were arranged. Very little of this turned out to be information crucial to the film’s plot. Yet, the fact that I was noticing them seemed to indicate something in the movie’s favour. Often while reviewing Hindi films, I’m flipping furiously through my notebook to recall what a primary character or his wife was called. But with Monica, I can tell you precise surnames or which restaurant Huma Qureshi orders her dinner from. Here’s the setup. Monica Machado (Huma) is a secretary at Pune’s Unicorn Group of Companies. She is also – as we soon find out – the squeeze of several of its employees, including robotics wunderkind Jayant (Rajkummar). An IITian who lucked out at one of those nerdy college fests, Jayant has worked his way up from the factory workshop to its board of directors. He’s young, ambitious, and toadyishly engaged to his boss’s daughter. Hailing from humbler stock — he gives his hometown as ‘Angola’ (like Unicorn, a fictive name) – Jayant can’t let his present life slip away. Naturally, he gets a fright when Monica announces to be pregnant with his child, and demands hush money for her troubles. Turns out, Jayant isn’t the only toad in Monica’s talons. So he, along with company...

Nasty surprises and quirky humour make Monica, O My Darling an intriguing, fun, watch, observes Sukanya Verma. Few film-makers wink at their audience like Vasan Bala. Fewer have the nerve to embrace their madcap energy. A delightful discipline in his whimsical ideas is as certain as the element of surprise. But for all the nonconforming he subscribes to, Bala understands and uses music in the most traditional Hindi film sense. Songs in our movies pave the way for dance and celebration. But they are also the viewer's most intimate friends, letting us in on a character's untold desires, deceit and secrets. Fittingly then, the title of his latest work is inspired by the most iconic line, Monica, O My Darling of Caravan's most sizzling song, Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja. It's not the first time someone's doffed their hat at the feverish melody, but the trills and turns of Asha Bhosle's voice and Rahul Dev Burman's tune play a dramatic role in amping up that foreboding feeling before throwing everything off balance. Movie references come naturally to his cinema-pickled head when pat comes the reply, ' aakhree raasta', a casual introduction to 'my cousin Vinny' alludes to a Joe Pesci gem and if you listen carefully, Jalwa's diabolic drone reserved for Dalip Tahil's hitman can be heard hovering above a character's demons here as well. Exuberant reminders of the pop culture overabundance that Bala's first release Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota doled out, 'pop' up here as well. Mostly though, it is...