Monika O My Darling, based on an obscure novel by Japanese mystery maestro Keigo Higashino is a saga of multi-angle love, betrayal and revenge with a unique plot…writes Dr.Priyaankaa Mathur.
This murder mystery is a thriller with multiple twists and turns. It’s gripping storyline and narration keep you wondering who’s the next on the death trap, keeping the suspense about who’s the actual murderer till the end. Starring Rajkumar Rao and Huma Qureshi in the lead roles, the film is indeed a multi-layered saga of love, revenge, and power portraying different characters who play mind games to vent personal biases and egos.
The film makes you assume Monika (Huma Qureshi) as the real culprit, the devious female who is eager to climb the corporate ladder at any cost, while she is even made to perform an item number at a company event.Jayant (Rajkumar Rao), who’s a small-time guy, a robotic engineer and an expert. He manages to impress the company’s owner Satyanarayan (Vijay Kenkre),who announces him to be the CEO of the robotic firm Unicorn Group,even after Jayant’s robot malfunction lead to a mysterious casualty. Nishikant (Sikandar Kher) who was supposed to be the natural heir being the the son of Satyanarayam, is jealous of Jayant being appointed as CEO and as one of the board of directors.
Jayant is also the future son-in-law of Satyanarayan, who’s dating his daughter Nikki (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor) just to get hold of her father’s empire,while he has a fling with Monika. He is quite in his head after his promotion as a CEO, and mistreats his sister, Shalu (Zayn Marie Khan) who is also his office assistant and Gaurya (Sukant Goel) who is his office workshop technician and an old school friend, who has a soft corner for shalu.
Jayant often engages in sexual encounters with Monika, who tells him about her pregnancy and starts blackmailing him for money.Eventually he comes to know that Nishikant and Arvind (Bhagawati Perumal) who are also blackmailed by Monika for her pregnancy. While they join hands and conspire her murder, there after follows a series of murders, which keeps the story gripped.
Rajkumar Rao and Huma Qureshi are very appealing and display a good performance. Radhika Apte who plays an investigative officer rather looks comic and fails to impress as a police officer, while her character needed more gravitas.
The best part of the film is the daunting direction by Vasan Bala and the visible mark of Sriram Raghavan, while they together succeed in maneuvering a very tight script with unpredictable twists even till the climax. The plot is thrilling yet hilarious with good comic timing, while its retro-style music and background score lifts the plot.
The film is a tale of love multi-angles, betrayal, a game of throne, a tale of self-interest or jealousy between childhood friends, which all keep you glued to the climax. All you need is to be vigilant till the end to find out who’s the real culprit.
