Delhi Belly

I had liked Abhinav Deo's GAME too for its style and had not known at that time that he was directing DELHI BELLY or was from the advertising world. I mention this fact about being from the world of advertising because this would factor into the director's understanding of urban realities, most of all the language of real life.

Language is the MAIN character of this movie. The plot, the actors, the music, the songs, the chases-- all lean heavily on language and that's the most unique feature of this film. The language of the by now infamous lyrics, the "heroes" and the "villains" alike reflects the grim, gritty, sometimes squalid reality of urban India and translates it into images that are at once shocking, disgusting, entertaining and creatively ingenious.

Once the director has decided that he is going to use this language (both literally as well as metaphorically) he has complete freedom to depict urban realities-- sexual, emotional, physical, financial, marital, professional et al. The film is funny because beneath all the crudities and cuss words lies the recognition of ourselves in our day to day life, its frustrations, the curve balls that it throws us from time to time and our desperate attempts to keep our sanity in a completely insane world.

In a recent interview, Abhinav Deo thanked Amir Khan for his vision. This vision is possible only in a man who has the creative genius to shed the hypocrisy and double entrendres of Bollywood cinema and move on to a cinematic form that is so completely in tune with the 21st century India, the metamorphosis of our youth, the blurring lines that divide morality (as we knew it) from immorality, even amorality, cynicism from romanticism and so on.

The movie from start to finish is tightly held together. The cast is well chosen and so are the locales. Nothing jars in the movie. People look as much at home in a five star hotel as they do in the clogged by lanes and streets of Old Delhi. The screenplay is tautly held together by an equally taut editing. I loved Vijay Raaz who is able to depict the malevolence of a sleepy looking but deadly reptile with such finesse, the two young men who share Imran's filthy apartment and the young woman who tempts Imran to break his engagement. The contrast between the old Maruti and the red new (Santro?) car that can zip through the flyovers of Delhi is as meaningful as the black eye that Imran sports through most of the film.

I am sure some reviewers and certain sections of the audience will slam the movie for various reasons. But that is because the movie is ahead of its time and will make people uncomfortable because of its iconoclastic nature. I salute Amir and his team for this and wish them many many years of great film making.

Its BOLD Bollywood. Gone are the days of double meaning David Dhavan's dialogs. There is only one meaning and that's always of other side of boundary. Its straight A movie with no gimmick to fool Censor board. That's kind of openness I always admire. Delhi Belly is roller coaster ride of one and half hours where you get exactly the kind of entertainment, what movie promises to deliver. It seems Abhinay Deo has very clear picture of targeted viewers and he didn't compromise a bit to deliver them. If the trend continues we can hope to see desi version of Pulp Fiction some day (is it still too much to wish for?).

Delhi Belly is Imran's best performance till date. Having Aamir as mamu is best thing happened to him, and he is also making sure not to squander this fact. He imbibed his character till throat. You just don't see a bollywood hero Imran Khan, its always Tashi with lots of s*** around him engross you. One good thing that stood out about movie is to making sure that each character has enough camera space. And to encouraging surprise, every one of them: Kunal, Vir, Vijay gave top notch performance. For sure, these guys are going to stay in bollywood for long time.

8/10.

They had to break some day. Those rope of morality, sanctimony and congeniality which had tied down so many of India's almost-awesome films have been cut open and the authentic urban Indian (who does hurl a few abuses here and there every day due to the misfortune happening to him) is now free thanks to Aamir Khan and Abhinay Deo. Still, Delhi Belly is fine filmmaking mostly due to the makers' unabashed vision and the decision to let no stone unturned in making this comedy.

To start off, Ram Sampath's mind-blowing music in the promos is what brought the first batch of audience to this movie and it has some really wacky numbers (Bhaag DK Bose, Nakkadwale Disco and Bedardi Raja to name a few). On the actors' front, Vir Das portrays his pitiable character perfectly. Imran is in a dream role and this could be his best act ever if he continues to do movies like the ones before he did Delhi Belly. Kunal Roy Kapoor's problems with gastric motions (after which the movie is named) bring down the house more than once. But it's Vijay Raaz to whom most of the misfortune happens and he, therefore reacts like a truly enraged gangster would and gives us a lesson or on how swear words are meant to be really pronounced. Purna Jagganath is the find of the film and could be Bollywood's first really non-traditional looking heroine. But still, am I the only one who found her cute?

Once Mr DK Bose (the story) begins to 'bhaag' (run) in the beginning, it hardly stops even after the end. Such is the flow of the movie that even when you're laughing your ass off to any one of your preferred situational jokes, you hardly miss the link to the next scene because the story is simple enough to be a 96 minute movie. Great storytelling by Abhinay Deo. As a bonus we're treated to a never-before item number by Aamir Khan in the end, along with some food for our ingenuity-hungry mind throughout the film.

Like all of Aamir Khan's house productions, Delhi Belly is an important film in Indian cinema history because the success of this film will directly measure the immeasurable: how much have our minds really adapted to the next generation mentality. And what all comedy filmmakers should learn from Delhi Belly is that Indians have brains not just while doing math but while watching movies too.

Humor is relative. What's humorous to me might not be funny to you and while you laugh on something, I might not laugh on it. Humor is also circumstantial and gets rusty out of the context. However, there is some humor which is universal and is acceptable to everyone. If we apply the same theory on modern Hindi films, Andaz Apna Apna and Munna Bhai series might be the only films to go in universally accepted humor category. Some other humor examples that worked on the box office but were not universally accepted are Singh is King, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Phir Hera Pheri, Ready, Dhamaal and Golmaal etc. Then there is another kind of humor which does not go well with the masses but has its own cult following like that of Wesa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, Mithya, Bheja Fry etc. Delhi Belly (DB) is somewhere in between the universally accepted form of humor and the subtle cult following kind of humor. Through DB and other such efforts, Hindi cinema is coming out of romantic comedies and running around the trees.

To start with, the film is hilarious. It leaves you with one laugh riot after another and does not give you a chance to fully recover from the previous one before sending you through another piece of joviality. It's mostly tongue in cheek humor but at times goes very physical as well. What works in favor of the film is its dialogues and wonderful acting even though the story does not have ground breaking stuff to offer. DB could very easily go as the best casting of the year 2011, especially with the kind of role given to Vijay Raaz. Another thing that goes in favor of DB is its short duration and fast pace.

Abhinay Deo, in his second directorial outing after a mildly interesting and mildly painful Game, has made sure that he doesn't go wrong anywhere even if he does not create a masterpiece. He has focused on technical side more to make sure that the editing is crisp and background score goes in line with the action despite no songs. Also, with an open ended climax, he seems to have left a door open for a sequel. Nonetheless, it's more of an actors' film rather than a director's film and the actors have handled their responsibility with utmost satisfaction of the director. Nobody goes overboard in humor and specially the sidekicks stick to their jobs and cinematography is as per the need. The biggest compliment that I can give DB is that it has made Shehnaz Treasurywala look bearable.

The lead trio, which has a distant similarity to the trio of The Hangover, has carried the film well on its shoulders. Imran Khan has done a very good job. This is his best performance since his debut. He looks in control and has a much improved dialogue delivery and comic timing after two lowly performances in Break Ke Baad and I Hate Luv Storys. Kunal Roy Kapoor is a welcome addition to the comic brigade. Vir Das is fantastic. A highly underrated actor, I must say. If someone needs more exposure for his talent, that's got to be Vir Das. The debutant Poorna Jagganathan surprises. She might not be the best looking new comer, but she surely is a good performer. The film, however, in my opinion, belongs to Vijay Raaz. He is in terrific form and outdoes himself. We all know what a brilliant actor he is but here he takes charge and delivers an outstanding performance as the villain. His scenes with Vladimir in the hotel and with the trio in their apartment are to die for. It's criminal to see so less of Vijay in recent times. Aamir Khan also appears at the end for an item number but that's after the film has left its mark.

There are two reasons why DB might not work with masses even though it has a release of 1400 prints which is huge. The first barrier is the language. 95% of the film is in English. The last film with such high level of English in it was Kites and it was a box office disaster, though from a different genre. The other issue is also the language but here I mean the profanity in it. Yes, it's an adult movie and has an A certificate but the explicitness that DB has, I have never seen in Hindi cinema before. In that department, it can actually put Hollywood to shame. It's that openness though, that makes DB worth watching again.

To conclude, DB is worth a watch. Actually a lot more than worth a watch but you have to have an appetite for a certain kind of humor to watch it repeatedly. Also, be careful who you are accompanying when you go to watch it and what's your level of frankness with the people you are watching it with. Definitely, not a movie to watch with your mother-in-law or your 12 year old niece.

I heard what people have said about this movie. People said that how could Amir Khan produce this kind of movie. They also said that after Blockbuster movies like "Ghajini" and "3 idiots", why has he made this kind of movie. But it is one of the finest movies of our bollywood industry. Some people might have problem with the language used in it, but its language is the soul of its movie. While the original version was in "Hinglish", a Hindi dubbed version was also released. The film is about three friends, journalist Tashi (Imran Khan), photographer Nitin Berry (Kunnal Roy Kapur) and cartoonist Arup (Vir Das). The whole story starts with delivery of a package. Tashi's ditzy fiancée, Sonia, is an air hostess who agrees to deliver that package for the villain (Vijay Raj) without realizing its content. Later the bag containing that package is mixed up with other bag and then Vijay Raj tortures people to find his package. The acting of all the actors was splendid. Vir Das and Kunaal Roy Kapur were quite impressive. Although Imran Khan was in lead but the supporting actors were superb. Vijay Raj did amazing comedy although he was in role of villain. His dialogues were astonishing. Abhinay Deo and Akshat Verma were the directors of this movie and they did appreciable job. Akshat Verma is also the writer of this movie. The screenplay was original which knows the difference between physical comedy and slapstick humor. The music of the film was composed by Ram Sampath while the lyrics were penned by Amitabh bhattacharya,Ram Sampath, Akshat Verma and Chetan Shashital. The song "Bhaag D.K. Bose" created controversy upon its release. Whatever media says or people say but this movie amazed everyone. Super fun. Full Respect.