Dear Aamir Khan,
I am part of the educated, urban, movie-going demographic that regard your name as a familiar mark of quality in current Hindi cinema. Your Taare Zameen Par established your creative and intellectual credentials beyond doubt, and has made me look forward to each of your ventures since. Peepli Live was intelligent and sensitive without being boring. (I’m among those who’ve forgiven you for Ghajini, I think I see what made you do it)
So when I heard about your foray into the ‘ashleel’ and ‘behuda’ genre, I was intrigued and enthusiastic. I eagerly rushed to see Delhi Belly with sky-high expectations, but what I saw disappointed me. DB merely looks like an amateurish attempt to do what Guy Ritchie has done with such finesse in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch or even, closer home, what Sanjay Khanduri has accomplished with 1:40 Ki Last Local.
Which is not to say that the movie is boring or tacky. What it lacks is character. The boldness in the movie is very superficial; it tries so hard to shock and awe the viewer. And while the humour is not bad for the most part, was there a need for over-explicit toilet jokes which are stretched until the viewer is sickened and disgusted? I pitied the poor souls who’d brought popcorn and burgers into the cinema-hall – I wonder how many of them were put off popcorn/burgers for the rest of their lives! The scenes towards the end involving the gangleader and the Russian are half-baked attempts to make the movie look like ‘authentic’ black comedy.
The funniest line that stayed with me was the ‘clothesline vs. clothing line’ dialogue – it was a humourous ‘lightbulb’ moment! Why were there not more of these?
The performances and dialogue were good, but what I think is called characterisation was rather weak – Arup is a caricature just like the cartoons he draws, while Tashi’s motivations are vague and seem flimsy. The music is good and it is used very well – it is in fact one of the saving graces of the movie, along with the slapstick sequences such as those involving the ‘Bhaag’ song.
But the question I asked myself as I left the hall was this: Why must Indian audiences continue to be served a constant dose of slapstick accompanied by an unappetising side-dish of toilet humour? Don’t we deserve better?
Regards,
G
