I caught up with a Neo-Noir, black comedy thriller with some fantastic dialogues that was released in 2022 and am still debating why this could not attain the status of a cult classic. #VasanBala of #Mardkodardnahihota fame is the man behind this #RajkummarRao, #HumaQureshi and #RadhikaApte starrer #MonicaOmyDarling on #NetflixIndia.
First, the song… Piya Tu Ab to Aaja is from the 1971 film Carvaan and is arguably Asha Bhosle’s finest song with Helen doing the seductive cabaret number. #AchintThakkar puts together a retro score that almost holds this film together!
Jayant Arkedhkar (#RajkummarRao) is a robotics expert working with the Unicorn group owned by Satyanarayan Adhikari (#VijayKenkre). He is dating Adhikari’s daughter Nikki (#AkanshaRanjanKapoor) and is envied by colleagues at the office; the owner’s son Nishikant Adhikari (#SikanderKher) in ‘a dynamic role’ in particular. The secretary in the office Monica Machado (#HumaQureshi in one of her best appearances) is pregnant and not loathe to blackmail three people all at once for being the father - Nishikant, Jayant and the finance head Arvind (#BagavathiPerumal). The film starts with a murder and has a series of murders and a laugh riot of an investigation in the second half; what could have been a perfect crime thriller meanders into mediocrity with too many sub tracks, back stories and a rather stretched climax. #RadhikaApte as ACP Naidu is stellar in her interpretation of the investigative lead and delivers quite a few guffaws. There is the unmistakable #SriramRaghavan touch to this film and I do believe that with a tighter screenplay this one could well have punched far above its weight.
#MonicaOmydarling is adapted from the Japanese novel Burutasu No Shinzou written by Keigo Higashino and the story by #YogeshChandekar has flawed women protagonists at its centre. Monica tells Jayant that she will send the bills for all the purchases made for their baby for payments. She has no regrets in using love as a means to meet materialistic ends. So also, ACP Naidu almost makes an apologetic entry and has no qualms in nailing the potential culprits with her signature style banter and dialogues. She tells Jayant that even suspects should not provide alibi stores that are water tight ; a bit of loose ends work! And there is Jayant’s sister played by #ZaynMarieKhan who is dating #SukantGoel and has an eye only for her interests.
The set design is stylish, sometimes gaudy to get the retro feel, the lighting and mood is very nineties and the dialogues are quirky. There is a murderers agreement because guess what, even the killers can have disputes amongst them. Then there is Captain Zatack from the 1991 #AmitabhBachchan starrer #Hum… with #ShivaRindani playing the role of the fall guy. There are a lot of Easter Eggs thrown around in the peppy narrative style. Some of the scenes are beautifully done.
The movie of course has deeper nuances in that Jayant’s story is that of the underdog who makes it big in the corporate world and this is a throwback to the class struggle of the outsider rankling the cushy comfort of the privileged class. Personally, i didn't think much of that bit… i would rather listen to the title track Yeh Zindagi on a loop for now and marvel at what could have been a cult classic to revisit a few years down the line !
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