Darling - Review

Director Karunakaran who had given hit films like Tholi Prema and Ullasamga Utsahamga, opted Prabhas and Kajal Aggarwal to play the lead for Darling. Director has unveiled a new artiste in Prabhas. Kajal who gained a new image with the blockbuster like Magadheera has paired Prabhas for the first time. BVSN Prasad had earlier produced Prabhas starrer Chatrapati.

Story:
Prabhas" (Prabhas) father (Prabhu) has a group of friends, who decide to meet once in five years. They settle in different places across the world and in India and could not meet again. Prabhas is a little poor in studies and somehow completes his degree. He is in love with Nandini (Kajal) his childhood friend and the daughter of one of his father"s friends (Ahuti Prasad). Though they do not meet each other, Prabhas develops his love in his heart.

Once another friend of Prabhas" dad visits their house to announce that all the friends are visiting his village to spend a week"s time there. Prabhas is so delighted to learn this and eagerly awaits Nandini. Meanwhile, one of the juniors among girls (Shraddha Das) of Prabhas, who is the daughter of a factionist proposes to him, but the latter negates it as he is already in love with Nandini. So, she attempts suicide. Her father (Mukhesh Rushi) who loves his daughter very much threatens to kill Prabhas" friends if he doesn"t marry his daughter. But Prabhas somehow convinces him by narrating a fictitious love story to him.

Later, all the old friends meet in a village and Prabhas comes across the grown up Nandini. He tries to impress her in so many ways, but she does not respond to any of his tricks. How, Prabhas impresses Nandini? Does Nandini really not love Prabhas or just pretended to tease him? What happened to the fate of the girl who loved Prabhas? Why Prabhas" father wanted to marry her to another person instead of his son? Does Prabhas and Nandini unite or not? Answers to all these questions form part of the climax.

PLUS:
The performance of Prabhas is the highlight of the film. He is soft and looks very handsome in the movie. Thanks to the cinematographer and make-up man, who perfectly followed the instructions of the director in giving the hero a new look. Another highlight of the film is the stylish action scenes. Peter Haynes needs to be complimented for choreographing the action scenes with good precision. He used very less thread work and avoided cinematic thrills while shooting the action scenes. Above all, it is the directorial ability and perfect screenplay that could be said as the highlight of the movie as the director ran a delicate story with good precision and the movement of the film, which is basically a love story, with different action scenes at different intervals. As a whole he made the film very interesting and lovable.

MINUS:
Music by GV Prakash Kumar is a big let down in the film. Had the tunes were impressive worth foot-tapping and the lyrics were catchy, the film would have been a bigger hit than now. Even he spoiled the re-recording too and the music failed to elevate the depth of the subject in any given point of time. However, the choreography of songs is good in some songs. But for the technique used in the screenplay, the film would have been very boring. The abrupt ending of Shraddha Das" character could also be called as one of the minus points in the movie.

REMARKS:
The flashback episode shot in Switzerland impresses the audiences and the audiences are in for a surprise when the truth is revealed that it is nothing but a fiction. Such trick was never played by any director earlier. The film had the traces of some earlier films, reunion of friends, trials to impress the heroine and using a child in the love thread etc. Prabhas" performance and Kajal"s glamour would be a visual treat, while comedy by Srinivasa Reddy and Dhamavarapu would tickle the funny bones of audiences. Director Karunakaran succeeded in highlighting a new artiste in Prabhas. The production values of Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra India Pvt Ltd are laudable and once again BVSN Prasad has given another big hit to Prabhas.

Cast: Prabhas, Kajal, Shraddha Das, Mukhesh Rushi, Prabhu, Chandramohan, Ahuti Prasad, MS Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Sivannarayana, Chatrapati Sreenu, Raja Sridhar, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Srinivas Reddy, Tulasi, and others.

Credits: Music: Dialogues – Swamy, Camera – Andrew, Editing – Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, Lyrics – Ananta Sriram, Music – GV Prakash, Art – Ashok, Action – Peter Haynes, Producer: BVSN Prasad, Story, screenplay and direction – Karunakaran

Banner: Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra India Pvt Ltd

Released on: April 23, 2010