Film Review: DELHI BELLY

Delhi Belly

Cast: Imran Khan, Shenaz Treasury, Vir Das, Kunal Roy Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Poona Jagannathan

Director: Abhinay Deo

I went to see Delhi Belly along with my family on the day of the film’s release. We went for the 8.45 pm show wading through heavy rains. We avoided taking the car as Cinemax Sion is pretty close to our home and finding parking on a Saturday at the theatre is ‘no go’.

It rained so badly that I wondered why I was bothering to go at all as I was kind of worried that I might find the movie heavy-going on swear-words and obscene language. Well, we did go and see the film and it was not just the language that was obscene. Read on for more…

THE STORY: Tashi (Imran Khan), Nitin (Kunal Roy Kapoor) and Arup (Vir Das) are three bachelors who stay in a dilapidated apartment in Delhi’s belly. Tashi is a journalist whose girlfriend is airhostess Sonia (Shenaz Treasury – yeah, you read right, that’s what the credits said). Nitin is a photographer who accompanies Tashi on his stories while Arup is a cartoonist who works for a horrible boss. To help a friend, Sonia agrees to smuggle a parcel for a foreigner not knowing that she is actually helping him bring diamonds out through customs. Not realizing the value of the parcel that she is carrying, she hands it over to Tashi to deliver. He in turn passes it on to Nitin who falls sick. Nitin requests Arup to deliver the parcel along with a sample of his stools that he is to give at the testing centre. You can guess the line of events that follow when Arup delivers the diamonds at the medical centre and the stools to Somayajulu (Vijay Raaz) who would kill at the least provocation and these are diamonds, after all. I am not saying any more here to avoid spoilers. 

MY PERCEPTION: Well, I have to mention that every single sentence uttered in the film carries at least one four-letter word. The script-writer has made sure that even one dialogue is not left out in his write-up. You need to be some kind of genius to achieve this, I suppose. I have to mention here that the gen-next just gobbled it up and enjoyed it thoroughly. This includes my own children - they were completely enamoured.

That apart, the film has a tight script and keeps you glued to the screen throughout the 96 minutes run without an interval. There were a couple of songs in the background that do not distract you from the film. The item number by Aamir Khan happens at the end when the credits roll.

The sequence that really got to me was the dilapidated flat where our heroes live. If you are from a secure and clean home, you might not be blamed for thinking that the three guys are living in alien territory. Then, of course, you realize that the bachelor pad is very much a part of Delhi’s belly. 

You are on a roll from beginning to end with a load of laughs keeping you thoroughly hooked. There were a couple of times when I covered my face with my dupatta and there were a few times when I felt a strong urge to cover my nose as I thought I might smell a fart or shit – WTF, if you can’t beat them, join them.

Imran Khan can act. I never thought otherwise, but it looks like he needs the right director to get him to work well. Well, Abhinay Deo succeeded as against Danish Aslam of Break ke Baad fame.  

There could have been more of Vir Das, I felt. He is good at comedy. What was there was done very well.

Kunal Roy Kapoor was excellent in his role as Nitin. Kudos!

Poorna Jagannathan as reporter Menaka was simply amazing. Considering that it was her debut, the actress has simply sailed through her part. Way to go!  

A special congratulations to Huzefa Lokhandwala for the superb way he has handled his scissors - not one little bit of excess!

VERDICT: How can you miss this one?

RATING: ****Snazzy

* Silly

** Shaky

*** Smart

**** Snazzy

***** Super