Delhi Belly! What a ridiculously funny and thoroughly enjoyable movie! Another feather in the cap of AK Productions! Its difficult to make a movie of the genre that boasts of classics like Pulp Fiction, Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. After all, trying to emulate Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino is not a mean task! There's every chance of falling flat on your face. But director Abhinay Deo and writer Akshat Verma perform a fine job of not only sketching a loony story but also fleshing it out on screen with aplomb! Delhi Belly is pathbreaking for Hindi cinema for rarely have you heard such irreverent dialogue delivered so nonchalantly by mainstream actors in a supposedly indie film produced by a leading production house and released in all major centres across India and the world.Technically, the movie is fine with some razor-sharp editing, stupendous background score, great art direction and a deadly mix of subtle as well as in-your-face dialogue which basically elevates the movie several notches above regular comedies dished out by Bollywood. The music by Ram Sampath is creative and top-notch to say the least with almost all tracks including D K Bose, Jaa Chudail, Switty, Nakkadwaley Disco and the egregiously named I Hate You (Like I Love You) scoring on the ears as well as the eyes. Direction is spot on and although the movie starts off slow, it picks up pace pretty soon and doesnt slow down till the very end.
Of the cast, almost everyone does a near-perfect job. Imran Khan is excellent in the main protagonist's role. Vir Das is brilliant as the poker-faced sidekick while Kunal Roy Kapoor gets a crucial role which he plays with a lot of character. Aamir Khan was interested in playing this role when he read the script and although its a pity he couldnt, since it would have taken a lot of time to put on weight for the film, Kunal makes sure that doesnt have any negative impact. Poorna Jagannathan is hawt in an unconventional female lead while Shenaz is competent. The real scene-stealer though is Vijay Raaz with his wonderfully nuanced and understated act. There are plenty of actors who perform bit roles and have their 15 seconds of fame on screen viz. the "loondry" guy and the pervert landlord. Aamir Khan makes a "Look-I-made-an-insane-movie-and-still-made-you-enjoy-it" appearance in the end in the delightfully choreographed number with the zazzy Anusha Dandekar, which is like a tight slap in the face for the audience - a gift from AK Productions to you - which hurts and still feels good!
Delhi Belly is a fun, well-made movie, and while it may not be the best we have seen this year - Dhobi Ghaat, 7 Khoon Maaf and Yeh Saali Zindagi were probably better products - it is for sure something new and immensely enjoyable. As long as you dont shy away from a few expletives and some toilet humor, go get your dose of gross!
