Debutant director Sam Anton chose to make his foray in the film industry with a remake of Prema Katha Chitram, a Telugu horror comedy that went on to become a huge blockbuster.
The film also marks the acting debut of music composer G V Prakash and Nikki Galrani, who is a popular name in Malayalam cinema. G V also composes the music for the film.
Bala Saravanan and Karunas have significant roles, supported by Naan Kadavul Rajendran and Srushti Dange.
Darling is a joint venture by K E Gnanavel Raja of Studio Green and Telugu film producer Allu Aravind.
The film revolves around a suicide pact by a bunch of youngsters that goes horribly wrong.
Kathir (G V Prakash), his friend Kumaran (Bala Saravanan) and Nisha (Nikki Galrani) are just out of college. Depressed and angry with life, they feel suicide is the only solution.
They have their individual problems -- Kathir, a musician and singer, is disgusted with his girlfriend of four years, who has been unfaithful to him, Kumaran aspires to be another James Cameron, but has lost all hopes of ever succeeding and Nisha is an orphan, who is being tortured by her employer for sexual favours.
They decide to die together at their friend's beach house.
En route, they are joined by Athisayaraj (Karunas), who is also determined to end his life.
But something is just not right from the moment they enter the house. They are warned by the caretakers that the house is haunted; they are flippant about it, believing they are going to die anyway.
Nothing goes according to plan. Kumaran and Nisha seem to have a hidden agenda.
Kathir begins to have feelings for Nisha and she for him, yet every time he tries to get close to her, she gets violent.
They soon realise that she is possessed by an evil spirit. Will they all be killed even before they get an opportunity to successfully commit suicide?
The film lacks bone-chilling horror, but scores big time with the comic portions.
Bala and Karunas easily steal the limelight from the gentle G V Prakash and his less than enthusiastic performance.
Complementing each other perfectly, they bring the roof down with their hilarious antics and brilliant comic timing.
Though Naan Kadavul Rajendran appears only briefly, he has the audience screaming with laughter.
Nikki Galrani is well cast and gives a good performance.
The film is technically sound and the background music adequate, but none of the songs make an impression.
The ordinary looking ghost and some cliché-ridden overly dramatic moments are a letdown.
A decent pace, some excellent comedy and an engaging screenplay make debutant director Sam Anton's Darling worth a watch.
Rediff Rating: