Movie Review: Mona Darling
First Published on Follo.in
Mona Darling is a pegged as India’s first “social media thriller”. What that means is anyone’s guess. But the film does hold reasonable suspense though for most parts. Until the last few minutes, that is.
Set in ‘Institute of Science and Technology’ situated somewhere remote, Mona Darling starts on a shaky note. It quickly moves to four male students being murdered and a girl gone missing. The police start investigations while the best friend of the missing girl plays detective, trying to find what may have happened. She manages to get help from another student Wiki (Anshuman Jha). Wiki is a wizard with computers & his skills come useful.
The story moves back and forth, between the present date and what happened a year back. The missing girl was driven into depression after a group of boys leaked a video featuring her in a compromising position with her ex-boyfriend. Things had got back to normalcy after Wiki ensured that the video was taken off the net.
While the mystery is maintained, director Shashi Sudigala also manages to work out a scare factor. The cinematography adds an eerie feel to the settings. The treatment is real, and the dialogues are written to fit.
Among the things that work for the film are the lead characters and their performances. Anshuman Jha is convincing as Wiki. He manages to add some quirks that make his character interesting. Divya Menon, earlier seen in Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, shows confidence. The only actor who fails is the usually dependable Sanjay Suri. But that more for the lack of proper writing than his capability as an actor. While his character is elevated from the shadows to prominence, the writer fails to give Sanjay good enough lines.
Mona Darling collapses in the final 20 minutes. This is when the screenplay goes on a rampage. The film suddenly turns from a taut thriller into something incomprehensibly convoluted. There are a few gimmicky moments which do not auger well either.
Overall, Mona Darling shows promise. Director Shashi Sudigala shows an ability to deal with the budgetary restraints without hampering the way he wants the film to look. Yet, it is he who falters as he is credited with the writing too. It could have been a far more impressive film had the end not been as inexplicable.
Mona Darling is a pegged as India’s first “social media thriller”. What that means is anyone’s guess. But the film does hold reasonable suspense though for most parts. Until the last few minutes, that is.
Set in ‘Institute of Science and Technology’ situated somewhere remote, Mona Darling starts on a shaky note. It quickly moves to four male students being murdered and a girl gone missing. The police start investigations while the best friend of the missing girl plays detective, trying to find what may have happened. She manages to get help from another student Wiki (Anshuman Jha). Wiki is a wizard with computers & his skills come useful.
The story moves back and forth, between the present date and what happened a year back. The missing girl was driven into depression after a group of boys leaked a video featuring her in a compromising position with her ex-boyfriend. Things had got back to normalcy after Wiki ensured that the video was taken off the net.
While the mystery is maintained, director Shashi Sudigala also manages to work out a scare factor. The cinematography adds an eerie feel to the settings. The treatment is real, and the dialogues are written to fit.
Among the things that work for the film are the lead characters and their performances. Anshuman Jha is convincing as Wiki. He manages to add some quirks that make his character interesting. Divya Menon, earlier seen in Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, shows confidence. The only actor who fails is the usually dependable Sanjay Suri. But that more for the lack of proper writing than his capability as an actor. While his character is elevated from the shadows to prominence, the writer fails to give Sanjay good enough lines.
Mona Darling collapses in the final 20 minutes. This is when the screenplay goes on a rampage. The film suddenly turns from a taut thriller into something incomprehensibly convoluted. There are a few gimmicky moments which do not auger well either.
Overall, Mona Darling shows promise. Director Shashi Sudigala shows an ability to deal with the budgetary restraints without hampering the way he wants the film to look. Yet, it is he who falters as he is credited with the writing too. It could have been a far more impressive film had the end not been as inexplicable.
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