Darling 2 (2016)

Not a sequel in any way to last year's Darling, Darling 2 is a rather sombre horror film that leaves you unimpressed despite some commendable camera work (Vijay Kartik Kannan) and sound design (M Ravi and Arun-Seenu). It begins promisingly with a young woman possessed by the unknown being branded schizophrenic. The action then cuts to Arvind (Kalaiyarasan) and his friends. Their friend Ram (Rameez Raja), whose look-alike brother Krishna is also part of the gang, had committed suicide a year ago, and the group decides to go on a trip to Valparai for a change of scenery. There, they discover that Arvind has been possessed by the spirit of Ram, who wants to kill him for his betrayal that resulted in Ram getting separated from his lover Ayesha (Maya). The problem with Darling 2 is the matter-of-fact narration of the plot, which, we are told in the end, is inspired by true events, and director Sathish Chandrasekaran forgets to make it fun for the viewer. Neither does the film boast of any noteworthy scares nor does it have any memorable laughs (Ramdas's one-liners hardly make us smile). Even if the intention was to give us a horror film unadulterated by comedy, the film is emotionally empty, despite some half-hearted attempts at milking the friendship angle. The reason why the ghost(s) want to take revenge on Arvind, too, lacks emotional heft. Interestingly, like in this week's other horror release, Hello Naan Pei Pesuren, the ghost(s) take over the body of a living person just for the sake of being with its lover! Some of the scenes involving the ghost are scary but the filler portions (mostly involving the friends hanging out together) are quite uninteresting. Repeatedly, the director sets up an intense scene (say, the scene involving Balaji's encounter with the ghost for the first time) only to end it on a downbeat note. In the end, the film starts to resemble a sound and light show that promises a lot but doesn't stay engaging for long.