After watching Darlings starring Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma, I was thoroughly impressed by performances of the cast and the treatment of the plot. The credit goes to Jasmeet K. Reen, who scored exceptionally well in her debut project as a director. In an exclusive interview with Team MissMalini, Jasmeet opens about finalizing the cast, working with Netflix and having Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt as producers on board.
But before that, here’s a look at the trailer of Darlings:
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
On her debut project being loved by the audience…
Grateful. Happy that my voice resonates with the audience.
On making mother and daughter the central characters of the story…
I wanted to tell the story of a mother and daughter’s relationship which is rooted in reality, and how they showcase their love through arguments and bickering and cooking in the midst of daily struggles. The daughter’s dilemma of her broken marriage is hers. I wanted her to have a home to go back to. So, the mother had to be strong, she is fiercely protective of the daughter and will do anything for her happiness and desperately wants her daughter to come back. So now, we see that Badru is the only one who is in the way of her own happiness.
On choosing Alia Bhatt and Shefali Shah as Badru and Shamshu…
Badru is an optimistic dreamer, a believer in good. She flips when she realizes that she loved the wrong man, she contemplates becoming a scorpion like him but then she lets go and truly finds herself. Her character is tender and heroic and cathartic. Who better than Alia Bhat? I’m so happy I met Alia. And she also produced it, so that was icing on the cake.
Shamshu is a cracker with no filter and a dark past, the pain in her eyes, the madness in her desperation to see her daughter happy again, it had to be Shef. It’s a dream cast.
On picking up Vijay Varma as Hamza…
Hamza is a flawed character; he is a tyrant lover who has so many shades and layers. So from diction to talent to intelligence to nuance, he was my first choice. And one day, Alia asked – What about Vijay Varma? And we went for it.
On advantages of working with the Netflix team…
They were all so giving, having such experienced collaborators was a big advantage.
On adding shades to different characters…
While a director is the keeper of the story and character arc, he/ she is constantly adding shades and nuances to characters. Especially after the casting is done, it is important that the actors make the character their own. Because actors are living the characters and breathing life into them. This way, the actor and the character become one.
On the fabulous reception by the audience…
We are receiving so much love. Darlings had the highest global opening for a non-English language Indian film on Netflix, with audiences spending more than 10 million hours watching it during its opening weekend. It has crossed over 30 million viewing hours. What more can I ask for?
On advantage of having producers like Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt…
Both Shah sir and Alia, are wonderful producers who empowered me as a director and gave me all I asked for, I am eternally grateful.
On the sequel of Darlings…
You asking if there will be a Darlings 2, is a big compliment, so thank you.
On her project Gustakhiyan- the love story based between Sahir Ludhianvi and Amrita Pritam…
It’s a film I wrote before Darlings, it’s a script I have lived with for some time. A film has a life of its own. It will come to life when it is ready to.
It is a great accomplishment for a the first time director to get all the appreciation. It would be interesting what Jasmeet picks up next as her project.