A few weeks back I happened to watch Delhi Belly, a film that has supposedly taken the urban country by storm. I happened to laugh away, revere even a few aspects of it in the first count. But after a few days and analyzing it mentally, not all was amusing! Sharing my little disavowal of the ‘humour’ in Delhi Belly (referred as DB henceforth) and my cynicism in accepting it to be ‘outrageous and obnoxious for Indian audience’, left few of my friends sore. They all opined that I have lost it – that sense, what they coin as HUMOUR. Now I have matured enough now to understand that like many things, this sense is also subjective. I have enjoyed Woody Allen in his relentless hovering in the New York streets, reveled in Vinay Pathak’s antics in the original Bheja Fry but somehow got stumped with the new Golmaal or Welcome. I do admit hence, that my friends are not at fault, it’s just a sense of humour somehow that rings differently in the different minds
It becomes imperative on my part hence, to clarify my stance – what went wrong with me in the scope of accepting DB as a comedy and as pioneer amongst its peers. And, possibly few generic musings. I have always believed that there should be an Indian film theory – a theory to understand the different variations within the same genre of Indian films. They are varied based on time, culture and geography. The concept of a pan-Indian audience was cooked, it never was, and the unity in diversity had always been political and less cultural. That is solely the reason I hated the trend that classified Hindi films churned out from Mumbai as “Indian” film. Which India, whose India do they represent? Aamir Khan being a supremely intelligent individual has consciously chosen and supported the subjects of his films that are specific in their charm. DB, for instance is a period film with a difference - it articulates the existence of contemporary times in an upwardly urban city-scape.
That the film is ‘inspired’ by a host of Hollywood films (who cannot but relate the similes with Todd Phillips’ The Hangover), US tv sit-coms is stated in its texture. There is an interesting usage of a Rishi Kapoor dance number in the first scene and the mockery of it by Aamir’s item number in the end. Then there is a small chase scene almost lifted from the classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and so on. Now what started in the first part of the film as funny – the extreme frequent usage of farting and elaboration of human stool and its passing in the second half took the fun out from this grey humour for me. Because, it is still at a level of abstraction where the tendencies have been to make the film ‘realistic’ but the form is almost the same primitive. The scene where the gangman unloads human faeces on the table is hence nonsensical to me – neither humorous nor abhorring the way Pasolini raked up smell from behind the scenes even! Now if someone is not that bold to show the actual things on-screen (which can be fully justifiable) then why just fake it? Just like Aamir’s earlier Dil Chahta Hai, DB also renders within the normal peripheries of Hindi mainstream film – only camouflaging as being radical (and rebellious, this time).
Most of the time, the jokes in DB are cartoonish by any standard and raunchy to be best (or worst!). It such a misfortune that the film is branded as “Adult comedy”. It becomes difficult to appreciate that “adultness” is only in scatology and in squeezing the breasts of a prostitute on screen. Likewise, the whole subplot of one of the characters trying to blackmail his landlord with pictures (taken in a non-digital SLR camera!!) of the latter visiting a prostitute falls flat. Or, take for instance after the other inmate of that crude apartment came to know that his love-interest is already engaged, breaks into a musical number in the typical Hindi cinema isshtyle – the only difference is that the dual-meaning of the lyrics possibly imply that the girl once gave him a blowjob! Even, for the matter, the joke about branding the female journalist as a lesbian in one of the party scenes. If there is a slant at any transgression if at all, that is not understood. On the contrary in hooking up her with the male protagonist in the end (instead of the protagonist’s rich girlfriend), tries to balance the sexual preference of the female journalist.
In his blog Aamir Khan said, "Aamir Khan Productions is known for its inspiring, clean, family entertainment. All that is about to change! Delhi Belly has the potential of, in a single stroke, destroying all the goodwill we have built in the last ten years” (http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Story.aspx?id=ENTEN20110175242 accessed on 27-July-2011). As mentioned, apart from that artificial picturisation of stool being unloaded, almost nothing is too gross – neither visually, nor at an abstract level apart from liberal use of curse words. On one hand the sanctity of familial happiness is restored in the landlord getting a let off and her wife knowing nothing about him visiting the brothel, and on the other, the male protagonist’s rejection of his girl-friend and her over-interfering family was as per the mainstream audience’s latent wish!
The effort in the end is a paced film smartly done which in actual is too concerned not to offend the audience or even try to shock it. There are laugh guff which all probably gets white-washed from the mind after some time. We can however, always hope that the next “adult” comedy gives some respect to the matters inside the head rather than your belly!
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