Film: Darling-2
Director: Sathish Chandrasekharan
Cast: Kalaiarasan, Rameez, Kali Venkat, ‘Johnny’ Hari, Arjunan, Maya.
Though the horror-comic genre has attained respectability and audience acceptance with even top actors, directors and production houses indulging in it, many of the recent films in the genre have failed to give total satisfaction. Like Darling-2 the second installment in the Darling sequence.
Directed by debutant Sathish Chandrasekaran, a short film maker, the film though taking just about 117 minutes of viewing time, seems like a short film stretched to unmanageable length.
Touching on friendship, love and betrayal, the plot centers on the vendetta of the spirits of a couple who were betrayed by a near one. It begins when five friends go on a holiday trip to a hill station. Staying in a mansion arranged by the caretaker Varadan, the five begin to experience strange sound and sights. And when one of the friends is possessed by the ghost of a dead friend it’s about how the rest deal with it.
The scenes seem repetitive, the same sites revisited. The interior of the bungalow hasn’t been used to its optimum advantage. And when the characters move around the rooms, a better knowledge of the layout of the place could have added to the tension and thrill. A lot of atmosphere has been created, but not packed with suitable content.
A reddish tone is frequently used to create an eerie ambience and indicate the presence of a supernatural force. But after a time it becomes jarring to the eye.
The scripting seems juvenile and treatment amateurish. The friends many a time talk in hushed tones and express fear of an unknown presence. But we remain alienated, both from them and their plight. And when the target of the spirit is revealed and the back story to it, it’s hardly convincing. The cast is a bunch of rising actors- Kalaiarasan, Kali,Arjunan- who have proved their credentials in supporting roles in various films. But in the absence of a coherent script and their roles too not fleshed out, they hardly manage to leave an impact.
Debutant Maya in the female lead is a promising find. The end could have been thought out better.
The ghosts, who were on a kill-or-possess vendetta mode, seemed convinced by the explanation given by their intended target. So the ending wasn’t warranted.Darling-2, is at the most a stepping stone for a debutant maker.
