Netflix has debuted the first teaser for Darlings, an upcoming dark comedy starring Alia Bhatt, who makes her debut as a producer with the film. Darlings is co-produced by Indian icon Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, although as per usual, he remains uncredited.
The teaser unfolds with an ominous voiceover by Bhatt’s character, playing in the background throughout its one-and-a-half minute length. She narrates a fable about a frog and a scorpion, and essentially summarizes the central theme of the film — that people will revert to their true nature even if it is against their best interests. Or, more specifically, how evil people tend to harm others even if it means that they’ll suffer as well.
The teaser opens with a shot of Bhatt’s character in a movie theater, alone, possibly having been stood up. Later, she’s met outside the movie house by Vijay Varma’s character, who appears to be her boyfriend. He tries to apologize to her, but she isn’t having it. A few moments later, he seems visibly concerned after spotting another man (played by Roshan Mathew) hanging around her. His suspicions are stoked when he notices a lone strand of hair on the man’s shoulder.
The teaser then cuts to the inside of a police station, where Bhatt’s character is being questioned about a crime along with her mother (played by Shefali Shah). The policeman asks the two women why he should believe them over someone else — we don’t know who — as we see shots of Varma’s character returning home from work, possibly in for a shock, and of Bhatt’s character, dressing up like some sort of femme fatale in front of a mirror. We return to the police station, where she tells the cop that they only killed the person — we still don’t know who — in their imagination.
Bhatt, one of Hindi cinema’s brightest young stars, previously worked with Varma in director Zoya Akhtar’s rap drama Gully Boy, which was selected as India’s official entry at the 2019 Oscars. She last starred in the period drama Gangubai Kathiawadi, which premiered at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival and went on to become a hit, and in the Telugu blockbuster RRR, which has proven to be popular among American audiences as well. She will next be seen in the big-budget fantasy drama Brahmastra, opposite her husband Ranbir Kapoor. Darlings is both Varma and Mathew’s second Netflix project, after Ghost Stories and Choked, respectively. Shah broke out with a starring role in director Mira Nair’s Golden Lion-winning drama Monsoon Wedding over two decades ago, and witnessed a career resurgence more recently with Netflix’s International Emmy-winning series Delhi Crime.
Directed by Jasmeet K. Reen, Darlings will debut on Netflix on August 5. You can watch the teaser here are read the film’s (rather vague) synopsis down below:
Darlings is a dark-comedy which explores the lives of a mother-daughter duo trying to find their place in Mumbai, seeking courage and love in exceptional circumstances while fighting against all odds.