Huma Qureshi, Rajkummar Rao, Radhika Apte, Vasan Bala on Netflix Film ‘Monica, O My Darling’

Naman Ramachandran
·4 min read
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After debuting at Cannes with his debut feature “Peddlers” and Toronto with his sophomore film “The Man Who Feels No Pain,” director Vasan Bala’s third feature “Monica, O My Darling” is one of the marquee titles of the year for Netflix India.

The film is produced by Matchbox Shots (“Andhadhun”) for Netflix.

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Prior to “Monica, O My Darling,” Bala directed episodes of Netflix series “Ray” and was one of the writers on cricket epic “’83.” “Andhadhun” writer Yogesh Chandekar adapted “Monica, O My Darling” from the novel “Burutasu No Shinzou” (“Brutus’ Heart”) by Higashino Keigo, whose “The Devotion of Suspect X” is also getting a Netflix adaptation by Sujoy Ghosh (“Kahaani”).

The neo-noir film follows a slick robotics expert (Rajkummar Rao, “The White Tiger”), who becomes embroiled in a series of murders during an affair with fellow employee, the titular Monica (Huma Qureshi, “Army of the Dead”). Radhika Apte (“Raat Akeli Hai”) plays the police officer in charge of investigating the case.

“The genre that we are dealing with, the quintessential character that Raj plays in this film, it could be Gregory Peck, or it could be Humphrey Bogart or it could be Rajkummar Rao – once shit hits the ceiling, one does have to do whatever he has to do to survive,” said Bala.

Survival is a running theme for all the characters in the film, which is replete with twists and turns. “Survival is across the human race, across genders, anyone in his position or her position would just do whatever it takes. And then because you’re continuously on a roller coaster, you just have to keep thinking and after a point you stop thinking, because you never know what is coming your way,” Bala said. “The only thing is, you can just keep dodging and hope and pray that you’re alive. So, the fun is in that spontaneity.”

The title is a pop culture reference to the iconic tag line from the cabaret song “Piya Tu Ab To Aja” in the film “Caravan” (1971), one of the all-time great Bollywood songs. Like the femme fatale portrayed in that song, or indeed, in many noir films, the Monica in this film aims to be a survivor.

“We are very harsh with women who use their looks or their body to get what they want. But in this case, there is no value judgment,” said Qureshi of her character. “Nobody’s holier than thou – everybody’s using what they have to get what they want, because everybody wants the best for themselves. She’s a desirable woman, but she doesn’t wear that on her sleeve. It’s not something that she makes a big deal out of.”

Rao said of his character: “I wanted to keep him very sincere – you might root for him, you might feel bad for him, you might actually hate him as well. But that’s what we wanted out of the character, we wanted people to be really invested in these characters and to be involved in this world and to make it believable. So, my whole thing was to make the story very believable. It’s very stylized. It’s very cool, very quirky. But for me, just to make him human, that this can happen to anyone overnight.”

Apte says that she was “quite nervous” when she signed on for the film because her cop character is everything she is not. “I was a bit nervous also because it had – I wouldn’t say comedy necessarily – but there’s something about it that was supposed to be comic and funny and strange,” said Apte. “It was very interesting for me because I’m somebody who would feel guilty even if it rains on set and it’s not my fault. But this character has no remorse whatsoever, for absolutely anything that she does – to enjoy that and still be at peace.”

Next up for Apte is spy thriller “Mrs. Undercover.” Qureshi has a biopic of food writer Tarla Dalal and thriller “Pooja Meri Jaan” coming up while Rao has social drama “Bheed,” Netflix 1990s retro series “Guns & Gulabs” and sports-based film “Mr. & Mrs. Mahi” lined up.

“Monica, O My Darling” is streaming now.

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