Monica O My Darling

MONICA O MY DARLING is the story of a man who gets entangled in a conspiracy. Satyanarayan Adhikari (Vijay Kenkre) heads the Unicorn group, based in Pune. It has created a state-of-the-art robot, with the help of Jayant Arkhedkar (Rajkummar Rao). Satyanarayan is so happy with his work that he promotes him to the board of directors, much to the annoyance of Nishikant Adhikari (Sikandar Kher), Satyanarayan’s son. Satyanarayan has one more child – daughter Nikki (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor) – and she’s in love with Jayant. Jayant doesn’t love her but is dating her so that he can marry her and then one day, usurp the Unicorn empire. Monica Machado (Huma S Qureshi) works in Unicorn and Jayant gets attracted to her. They have a fling. 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 is scared and he agrees. The next day, he gets a letter from an unknown person, asking him to come to a Khandala hotel if he doesn’t want his affair with Monica to get exposed. Jayant reaches there and realizes that it was Nishikant who had written the letter to him. Nishikant is not alone in the hotel room. He’s accompanied by Arvind Manivannan (Bagavathi Perumal) from the accounts department. Nishikant informs Jayant that Monica has blackmailed him as well as Arvind. Hence, Nishikant convinces them that they should murder Monica, or else she’ll keep blackmailing them for life. They are reluctant but nevertheless agree as they don’t want to ruin their relationship with their respective partners. As per the plan finalized by them, Nishikant will kill Monica in a mill owned by Unicorn in Mumbai. Jayant will come to the mill, collect the body and head to Khandala. In Khandala, Arvind will dispose of the body. On the night of the murder, Jayant reaches the mill and sees a body, wrapped in a tarpaulin sheet, is placed on the foot. Assuming it’s Monica’s mortal remains, he collects it and transports it to Khandala. The body is then disposed of. The next day, an investor meeting takes place in the Unicorn office. Jayant and Arvind both are present, and they get the shock of their lives when they see Monica walk in! They are astonished not just to learn that she is alive but are also wondering whose body they transported and disposed of. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

MONICA O MY DARLING is an adaptation of the Japanese novel ‘Burūtasu No Shinzou’ written by Keigo Higashino. Yogesh Chandekar’s story is thrilling and has loads of twists and turns to keep the viewers hooked. Yogesh Chandekar’s 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 humour in adequate doses. On the flipside, a few scenes could have been better and less predictable. Yogesh Chandekar and Vasan Bala’s dialogues are well-worded and contribute to the humour quotient.

Vasan Bala’s direction is praiseworthy. The Sriram Raghavan stamp is all over the film, be it the Pune setting or the way the murders take place in the film, possibly because he was associated with the film at one point (he is also mentioned under ‘Special Thanks’). However, Vasan has added his own quirks as well and it makes for a fun watch. 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. The tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic PSYCHO [1960] in a shot is impressive.

On the flipside, the film drops a bit in the second half. Too many murders take place, and it becomes convenient after a point. ACP Naidu’s investigation scenes are funny but it’s bewildering to see so many murders taking place in such a short span and she takes things coolly, with no pressure from her seniors. Shalu (Zayn Marie Khan) and Gaurya’s (Sukant Goel) track is difficult to digest especially how quickly they get married, especially after what Shalu goes through six months ago. 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. Moreover, Jayant’s behaviour and action also seem unconvincing in the second half. Due to these minuses, the second half gets a bit messy. Lastly, the film is a niche fare and not meant for all sections of the audiences.

Genres:Drama

Director:Mathukutty Xavier

Cast:Sunny Kaushal, Janhvi Kapoor, Vikram Kochar, Hasleen Kaur, Anurag Arora, Rajesh Jais, Sanjay Suri, Manoj Pahwa