Bachelor (Tamil, SonyLIV)
Starring G. V. Prakash Kumar , Divyabharathi
Directed by Sathish Selvakumar
Rating: ***
This film is special in its own kinky way. It is the first anti-romantic ‘love story’ I have seen in Indian cinema. The hero, named Darling(you read that right) ,a young horny man from Coimbatore, the typical smalltowner whose eyes automatically fall to a woman’s shoulder-level when saying hello, in Bengaluru staying as a roomie with a bunch of seemingly aimless friends.
Significantly the writers(Sathish Selvakumar, K M Rasheduzzaman Rafi) make a big deal of Darling’s arrogant self-regard. He is the kind of loiterer who wants his food a particular way on the plate, his juice chilled in a particular corner of the refrigerator which his flatmates have indulgently reserved for dear Darling.
Straightaway we get a clear enough picture of the kind of guy our ‘hero’ is. Scumbag would be a fair description. When scumbag Darling meets Subu(Divyabharathi) the sweet sensible girl from Chennai, sparks fly, mainly in Darling’s underwear. He is soon angling for her sexual attentions, which she eventually gives after he looks after her through what looks like a Covid attack.
Sex done, Darling tells Subu to abort their unborn twin children. I knew this was coming. This is just what one would expect from the trashy ou- of-towner who probably thinks getting women into bed is the libidinous equivalent of conquering the Himalaya.
Subu and Darling’s conflicts are cannily constructed with the camera trailing through no fixed patterns, lensing the doomed relationship through a zizzaggy lane,replicating Darling’s moral disorder.
For a first-time director Sathish Selvakumar’s command over the language of emotional chaos is applaudable. He deep-dives into Darling’s anarchic morals. But doesn’t disregard Subu’s bruised battered and abused feelings as she watches the father of her unborn children(sonography shows twins) turn into an Arjun Reddy high on something far more dangerous than alcohol.
Darling is high on testosterone. This may crude, but there no other way to out it: Darling thinks with his dick.Musician-turned-actor G V Prakash Kumar plays Darling with an assured arrogance, a soul-piercing smugness that comes naturally to young men who dream big and watch po*n on their friend’s laptop when everyone is asleep.
Divyabharathi as the wronged impregnated live-in,is wonderfully expressive without overdoing the emotional eruptions. The supporting cast specially the rowdies who rally around Darling to rid him of his responsibilities as a future father, is also suitable competent.
The second-half of the film where Darling must prove himself medically impotent to escape the paternity suit spreads itself all over the place, diminishing the impact of the otherwise original and damning indictment of male toxicity.The court proceedings between Darling and Subu end with Subu literally showing Darling her middlelass and walking off into an uncertain future as an unmarried mother.
Better a life alone then one with a partner who is vexingly self-important but , in truth, impotent in every sense.
