Alia Bhatt's 'Darlings' is a dark comedy hinting at love, deception and revenge

Alia Bhatt is back once again with her infamous Gully Boy sweet girl-turned-street wolf look for her maiden production, except this time as she undergoes a deceptive betrayal, her mother (Shefali Shah) has her back. Darlings, a dark comedy centered on an unorthodox mother-daughter duo, hints at multiple suspense sub plots relating to murder, romance, revenge and investigation.

"It’s just a tease Darlings. Arriving August 5 #DarlingsOnNetflix,” wrote Bhatt as she shared the teaser on her social media. Costar Shah also shared the same with the caption, “Kya ek meindak aur bichhoo dost ho sakte hain? (Can a frog and scorpion be friends?)” referring to the fable told in the clip.

A thriller through and through, the over-a-minute teaser begins with Bhatt’s captivating voice narrating the famous frog and scorpion fable. The shots unfold the story of Bhatt’s romantic relationship with Vijay Sharma from their meet-cutes to a marriage blessed by Shah.

As the narration nears to the scorpion revealing its true colours, the teaser shows a hurt and confused Bhatt, a sinister look on Sharma, an envious Roshan Mathew, and the mother-daughter duo at a police station for a murder investigation.

The last shots reveal the Gangubai Kathiawadi actor flaunt a red pout and an off shoulder blood red dress looking in the mirror as if she’s up to something — something revengeful, something rebellious.

Helmed by debutant director Jasmeet K Reen, the music score for the film is composed by filmmaker-composer Vishal Bhardwaj. Darlings, co-produced with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, marks Bhatt’s second collaboration with King Khan after Dear Zindagi.

But this is not all that Bhatt will surprise us with this year. On the work front, she has a girls travelogue, Jee Le Zaraa with Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif, directed by Farhan Akhtar along with Ayan Mukherjee’s Brahmastra featuring her husband Ranbir Kapoor. The Gully Boy actor is also shooting for her Hollywood debut with Gal Gadot in Heart of Stone.