Jasmeet K Reen: What is art for if not to trigger conversation?

Updated On: 08 August, 2022 02:44 PM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu

As men’s rights activists allege that Darlings promotes violence against men, director on depicting women’s inherent fear and why a dialogue is overdue

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A still from the film

Darlings is a product of many things new – a new producer in Alia Bhatt, a new directorial voice in Jasmeet K Reen, and most importantly, a new lens through which the horrors of domestic abuse are captured. Beneath all the humour, the Bhatt, Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma-starrer hides the sensitive subject of domestic abuse in marriages. When we connect with Reen, who has also co-written the film with Parveez Sheikh, we start our chat with how she brought authenticity to the subject at hand. “When I wrote the story, I knew I wanted to do something different with the subject. I played with structure, mixed a couple of genres. I am happy that it has landed and people have connected with my voice. As artistes, whatever we create comes from our own experiences. When I started writing this film, I stopped watching anything. I didn’t want this to be referenced from anything at all. This story comes from life - one has grown up seeing violence of varied forms in Indian families,” says the first-time director.

Before she told the story of Bhatt’s Badrunissa and her mother, essayed by Shah, Reen understood it was important to reflect the fear that women inherently carry. She elaborates, “We have a scene where Badru says, ‘Sab ladko ko line mein khada karke goli maar deni chahiye.’ That line comes from everyone we know who has faced helpless anger. But the character is so innocent that she gets scared when the cop calls [soon after], because as women, we are not even allowed to think bad things, let alone execute them. I wanted it to be a funny scene, but the after-feeling had to be of sadness that people live in such fear.”

Jasmeet K Reen