On the surface, Radhika Apte’s character in Monica O My Darling is amusingly unpredictable, eccentric even. But scratch the surface, and you notice that her ACP Vijayashanti Naidu shares similarities with Rajkummar Rao’s protagonist — each stopping at nothing to climb through the ranks in the dog-eat-dog world. In the Netflix film’s morally dubious setting, Apte’s character is deliciously corrupt. The actor may have been initially reluctant about stepping into the role, but director Vasan Bala’s faith and her spontaneity have made her the scene-stealer of the neo-noir thriller.   

A still from the film