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Movie Review: “Darlings”

The movie starts with a dark onset, showing us the painful realities of domestic violence. A girl whose only dream was to marry the love of her life, unfortunately, became a victim of abuse, gaslighting, and violence. It hurts to see how she was ill-treated by a man she only ever loved, but it hurts more to see that the same love became her weakness.

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The movie starts with a dark onset, showing us the painful realities of domestic violence. Badrunissa Shaikh, aka Badru, is smitten by roadside Romeo Hamza Shaikh (Vijay Varma) and marries him as soon as he secures himself a government job. The movie also throws light on major issues like miscarriage, which isn’t something shown in the media often. The supportive mother and her only friend (Shefali Shah) play a very sizeable role, where instead of pushing Badru to adjust with patience and continue her life with a toxic man, breaking the stereotype, she becomes her support system and keeps suggesting ending her abusive marriage. Apart from sharing her day-to-day problems, Badru shares all her joy and jokes with her mother.

Despite her ups and downs, Badru tries her hardest to fix her life, pouring her heart into it and is portrayed as a force of love, strength, and courage. A girl whose only dream was to marry the love of her life, unfortunately, became a victim of abuse, gaslighting, and violence. It hurts to see how she was ill-treated by a man she only ever loved, but it hurts more to see that the same love became her weakness.

It was heartbreaking yet empowering to see how she rose like a phoenix when Hamza crossed the ultimate line. She finally knew she had to show him how cruel he’d been to her all along. She was also a great daughter to a courageous mother who wanted to protect her child at all costs. Come to think of it, she was just as fierce as her mother was when it came to avenging her child’s fate. As events unfolded, everything she did to teach him a lesson, and she grew from being a gullible girl to a fearless woman, was incredible. She earned the ultimate respect back-the one she’d lost for herself, and that was her biggest win in all. She proved that gone are the times when men continued to win over women, because, for every Hamza in the world, a Badru awaits, with a bold dress powerfully exuding her confidence, red stilettos proving her capability of walking by herself in life if she has to, and a ponytail always teaching her to hold her head high.

The film also showcases the support of male allies in eliminating violence and empowering women to become financially independent through the characters of Zulfi and Kasim Kasai(the butcher), seeding in a better representation of men going beyond being perpetrators. The policeman adds a comment while Badru files her complaint that “men do this because women let them.” This statement is partially correct because it’s not always the victims who let the culprits mistreat them, but as shown in the movie, Badru continuously gives a chance to Hamza to bring a change in him even after he hits her mother. Victims often carry soft corners and don’t raise their voices at times.

As financial and emotional dependence become the biggest reasons for the endurance of abuse, the movie promotes women empowering themselves. There’s no victim blaming, no fetishizing abuse, no damsel in distress portrayal of the victim waiting to be rescued by a Prince Charming. The movie also shows the judgment that follows Zulfi’s confession of love to Shamsu, a woman much older than himself. However, the pair’s appearance ends on a positive note and reflects how the “age gap” is not a deterrent to maturity, toxicity, and love.

Badru and her mother plan to murder Hamza, but they end up giving up on the plan. Taking away someone’s right to live or victim punishing the culprits is not an idea to be appreciated. Taking the law in hand is something that cannot be celebrated. Instead of mistreating Hamza the way he ridiculed Badru, the idea of a divorce or separation would have been better.

The movie ends with a statutory warning: “Violence against women is injurious to health.” This movie is like riding a roller-coaster. There were timely emotional scenes and dark humor scattered all throughout the movie. 

The depiction of Muslim figures has increased in popular cinema, where their religious identity has not always been a matter of friction. In Bollywood movies, the portrayal of Muslims is always marked as problematic. Domestic violence in families is a harsh reality, but confining it to Muslim families and their evil portrayal is not at all well founded.

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