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Saturday, April 20, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD DELHI BELLY
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ****
It is a cliche as old as this nation - of the many Indias that breathe under one
India, Indian cinema has hardly been representative of even a few of these. Yet,
one would have expected, after globalization and the emergence of a new bold,
urban India, that at least this class would get representation in commercial
cinema.
Though there have been successful attempts in the past, it is with Delhi
Belly that the urban, money-is-everything, foul-mouthed India has been
captured with aplomb. And that, depending upon your morality, is good or bad.
Tashi (Imran Khan), a Delhi-based journalist living filthily with two roommates,
winds up with a bunch of `desi` goons chasing him and his mates after a mix-up.
The three are forced to navigate the dark underbelly to survive, while
encountering one situation after another and one idiosyncratic Indian after
another.
The beauty of Abhinav Deo`s film is not its smooth story, loosely inspired by
the type of films made famous by Guy Ritchie, `Lock Stock..` and `Snatch` among
others, neither is it Ram Sampath`s catchy music that beats to the rhythm of the
film, or the slick, seamless direction, or its immaculate casting and
performance or even its wickedly witty dialogues. The true beauty of the film is
in all these elements together creating a madcap image of a new, unabashed, even
shameless section of India.
Though Delhi is referred to in its title, it is not the real Delhi that Dibakar
Banerjee captures with satirical reality in his films. Instead, it is the image
of a Delhi populated by young, educated, newly `liberated` urbanites. In that it
is the splitting image of that young urban India anywhere perpetually churning
like the stomach of a character in the film, a showcasing of this nations new
neo-liberal underbelly.
However, the other Indias might not take kindly to the film. Hypocritical
Indians okay with female infanticide and dowry would be aghast at how almost
every `bad` word that they know is spoken everywhere on the streets and in
homes, finds a place in the usually moralistic Bollywood. Cinema purists too may
cry foul that the film does not really have a soul and is not really trying to
say anything. Though a legitimate accusation, in not having a soul and not
really being concerned or serious about anything, the film holds a mirror to a
large section of the country. And that is a big statement in itself.
For decades Indian cinema has been shackled with a morality that has not kept
pace with the changing morality of life around. Though the morality of the film
is strictly of urban, young, middle-class India, and isn`t representative, it is
welcome as this is the farthest Bollywood has gone to truly representing urban
life. And just for that, hats off to Aamir Khan for yet again, after Peepli
Live and Dhobi Ghat, believing in a different kind of cinema,
even while he doles out a Ghajini in the same breath.
The last scene of Delly Belly is bound to become as iconic as the
one in Mahesh Bhatt`s 1990 musical `Aashiqui`. If there the lovers were so
embarrassed of their surroundings that they had to kiss under a coat, here the
lovers who are not even girlfriend-boyfriend are so brazen and caught in the
heat of the moment that the guy kisses the girl in full view, half his body
hanging out a slowly moving Maruti car symbolic of old India, unconcerned
whether others are looking (which they are not). If that isn`t the urban, chic,
and unconcerned-about-others India that has moved away from the morality of an
un-liberalized India in `Aashiqui` then what is?
Actress Shenaz Treasury, whose last major Bollywood outing was "Delhi Belly" in 2011, says she would love to do more Indian films.Read More
'Delhi Belly' toned down in Hindi"Delhi Belly", possibly Aamir Khan's most irreverent film to date, got less flamboyant in language and content.Read More
Tashi, Arun and Nitin - flatmates, buddies and partners in crime. Tashi is to get married in a month but still doesn`t know if his fiancé is THE ONE! Arun can`t make up his mind who he wants to kill first - his girlfriend who has just dumped him or his stupid, annoying boss whose idea of creativity is sketching a smiling banana! And Nitin is about to discover that eating delicious tandoori chicken off a street vendor is going to give him the worst case of Delhi Belly he`s ever known! Three regular blokes, living the regular life EXCEPT for one small detail - they are on the hit list of one of the world`s deadliest crime syndicates. Will they be able to get away before the shit hits the roof and it comes crashing down? Delhi Belly - the meanest comedy you`re ever likely to see.
