Latest Indian Movie Delhi Belly (2011) Review
Three struggling room-mates unknowingly become potential prey of a ruthless gangster.
Director: Abhinay Deo
Writer: Akshat Verma
Stars: Imran Khan, Vir Das and Kunaal Roy Kapur
The opening title credits settle on a frame of a hairy bum crack. The setting is a filthy, dirty and ‘messy to the brim’ flat, waiting to collapse, being shared by the lead trio – Tashi Dorjee Lhatoo (Imran Khan playing a Bhutani? Doesn’t seem right!), Nitin Berry (Kunal Roy Kapoor) and Arup(Vir Das). Tashi is a Times of India journo and Nitin is his accompanying photographer on a rusty scooter and Arup is a cartoonist. Tashi is caught between a relationship with a marriage notice, his boss at work Menaka(Poorna Jagarnnathan), and somehow the trio find themselves caught in between a smuggler web because of diamonds that they are unknowingly supposed to deliver. There is the expected chase to survive, making money on the way, and of course enough boom, bam, kisses and slams to keep you engrossed. And as they say, what matters is the journey, not the destination. With an appetite for munching down all possibilities of toilet humour that can be thrown at the audience, DELHI BELLY rolls from corner to corner with desi versions of the F-bombs.
DELHI BELLY is all about Tashi, Arun and Nitin – flat mates, buddies and partners in crime. Tashi is to get married in a month but still doesn’t know if his fiancee 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 is the meanest comedy you’re ever likely to see.
Delhi Belly, India’s first mainstream foray into Western-style gross-out comedy, comes as a relief because the filmmakers realize that a little goes a long way. By emphasizing quality over volume when it comes to scatological humor, Delhi Belly showcases the genre at its best.
Freelance reporter Tashi (Imran Khan) lives in a filthy apartment with his two pals, photographer Nitin (Kunaal Roy Kapur) and cartoonist Arup (Vir Das). Tashi’s gorgeous but ditzy girlfriend, Sonia (Shenaz Treasurywala), takes a package from a suspicious Russian man in the airport where she works as a flight attendant. Without realizing that the package is full of contraband, Sonia asks Tashi to deliver the package for her so that she can run errands.
Tashi hands the package off to Nitin, who promptly contracts a case of “Delhi belly” (diarrhea) from some unsanitary street food. Nitin asks Arup to deliver the package on his way to the doctor, who’s requested a stool sample from the ailing Nitin. You can guess what happens when Arup makes his deliveries.
Delhi Belly is not a typical Indian film, and not just because of its genre. The dialog is primarily in English, and the plot structure is also more like a Hollywood film. Bucking the standard formula for a two-hour-plus masala picture — split the story into two halves, separated by an intermission — Delhi Belly‘s plot has three acts that run continuously for 100 minutes, sans intermission.
What results from these breaks with Indian cinematic tradition? A damned funny movie. The writing is hilarious, and the dialog generates as many laughs as the physical gags and fart jokes do. Fair warning: even by much looser American ratings standards, this would be an R-rated film. Copious use of the f-word, violence, reference to sex acts and scatological humor make this adults-only fare.
Director Abhinay Deo — who failed to impress with his debut earlier this year, Game — shows a real flair for comedy. The story is well-paced, and Deo uses the camera deftly to exaggerate the ridiculous situations Tashi and his pals find themselves in. The movie’s two musical numbers are hysterical and fit seamlessly into the production.
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