REVIEW: Delhi Belly (2)

HOT OR COOL

If anyone was mystified about why characters in Bollywood films, who probably grew up in cities went to English medium schools and worked at jobs where Hindi would not normally be spoken, never spoke in English, the best part of Abhinay Deo’s Aamir Khan-produced film Delhi Belly, is that people speak English or Hindi as required by the scenes.

The three leading men cuss and swear as young people do, and awful as it sounds, in a film for adults, maybe beeping out words that pop in normal conversations is strange. The raunchy stuff should not be reaching kids, but the DK Bose song is and all over, so it’s not as if the filmmakers are particularly sensitive.

Quentin Tarantino would be pleased to know that somewhere in the world filmmakers are still following the style book he abandoned a while ago,  Deo just adds some spicy Delhi tadka to make the violence go down better (in one scene, a hapless Russian has a stick of dynamite… well, never mind, no way to put this politely).

The trigger of the wild ride the three guys Tashi (Imran Khan), Arup (Vir Das) and Nitin (Kunal Roy Kapoor) go through is literally because of Delhi Belly—a stool sample and a pack of diamonds are interchanged by a careless, hungover or sleep-deprived guy, and the next thing they know, a gangster (Vijay Raaz) is on their backs, and the roof of their decrepit tenement, is threatening to collapse any minute.  The female side includes a snobbish stewardess (Shenaz Treasury) and a brassy journalist (Poorna Jagannathan). Guess who gets the guy!

Delhi Belly is funny, fast-paced and well-shot, also derivative and vulgar (does anyone remember a hard-on scene in Indian cinema?). It is aimed at the urban teenager, struggling to define ‘cool’ and from all accounts has hit the spot. On the one hand Aamir Khan lectures the country on compassion for dyslexic kids and starving farmers, on the other he unleashes a loutish Delhi Belly on the country and turns up to shake his pelvis in the end. Well, if money is made at the end of the day, social responsibility can be chucked into the bin.

Comments

[Deepa Deosthalee]

Sumitra, I'm sorry to butt into this exchange. My only quarrel with a person like Aamir Khan is his duplicity. He wants to appear to be a 'conscientious' artist, but his choice of work doesn't always bear out his noble intentions. He proclaimed that his own daughter wouldn't watch 'Delhi Belly'. Was he being naive, or just plain careless?

Frankly, I don't object to this film as strongly as Deepa does -- I object more to '3 Idiots' than I do to 'Delhi Belly'. Because for some reason, people actually took that film seriously. I thought it was highly questionable, apart from not being great cinema by any stretch...

[Sumitra Nandan]

Making films with dubious funding is relatively a new phenomena that started somewhere in the late 80s which I agree is condemnable. But what’s worse is making films with dubious intentions. These makers are not always true to their craft/art and they don't just explore cinema as a medium but exploit specific situations/events. From the names that you've mentioned I think Ritwick Ghatak should be the only filmmaker who never compromised with his ideals and made cinema for cinema's sake without eyeing in any kind of reward.

[Deepa Gahlot]

Sumitra I can name several...anyone who makes films without dubious funding, who believes in the art of cinema and does not compromise on his ideals... right from Satyajit Ray, Ritwick Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aravindan, Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani to name just a few.

[Sumitra Nandan]

Totally agree with you that there's nothing wrong with making money. But can you name one person in bollywood, actor or filmmaker, who has made money through ethical means.

[Deepa]

There is nothing wrong with making money...but it can be done ethically too.

[Sumitra Nandan]

Irrespective of the topics Taare... and Peepli.. were based on, the purpose of these films was ofcourse to generate critical acclaim and money. The point I want to make is that no filmmaker in India has any social responsibility, they all make films to make money including the likes of Shyam Benegal, etc.

[Sumitra Nandan]

Well Amitabh may have said 'beep beep' in Bbuddah but what about the scores of other films where there have been no beeps. The beeps in Bbuddah is a well thought gimmick. There have also been films where he has been shown smoking and drinking?

[Deepa]

Sumitra, they may not actually make a film for a cause, but in the film they make, they can keep social responsibility in mind. Like, however small or silly it may be Amitabh Bachchan does not swear in Bbuddah, but says "beep beep." That said, Aamir himself has made Taare.. and Peepli Live to draw attention to a cause.. that thay also made money is his luck and business savvy.
Deepa

[Sumitra Nandan]

Deepa, how many Indian filmmakers can you name who you think believe in social responsibility and make films not to make money but to make a social statement.