Movie Review: DELHI BELLY (2011) – Bollywood’s Most Contemporary Comedy Yet

I rarely review comedies, because I feel that comedic tastes vary from person to person. Even depending on my mood, I can find one kind of humor funny, while the same could be idiotic to be at another time. So it’s not fair for me to judge what is funny or not, and objectively, it’s not even possible. However, DELHI BELLY is a fuckin’ fantastic film, that deserves to be reviewed.

Rating: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

From the Aamir Khan stable of films, comes this awesome story about misadventure and misunderstanding that the best dark comedies are made of. DELHI BELLY’s formula is a pure throwback to films from back in the day that featured wild goose chases and multiple storylines converging into one explosive finale full of displaced characters and simple miscommunications being blown out of proportion. It’s almost reminiscent of another great film of the same genre from back in the day… ANDAZ APNA APNA!

DELHI BELLY is about one man and his 2 roommates, who are given the responsibility of making a simple delivery. Unbeknownst to them, the delivery involves criminals and illegal activities… and due to a mix up, they’re caught smack dab in the middle of gun toting gangsters, stolen diamonds, Russian criminals and the whole shebang. Nothing original… but a great approach.

It’s a simple formula, but the execution is done amazingly. Nothing is left to coincidence or stupid plot devices where the audience has to suspend their disbelief with ‘OK, that COULD happen’. The sequence of events all follows a reasonable and have a logical flow to it.

Imran Khan as the man entrusted to make the delivery in the first place, who just hands it off to his friends, is great. Probably his best movie to date. I’ve been bitching at him to stop making moronic cotton candy films, (I mean at the screen, we’re not friends or anything) and he delivers with this BIG TIME!

seriously… he kicks ass in this… despite how he looks. 😐

DELHI BELLY is by no means a family film. This is by far the crudest, most graphic and the most vulgar Indian film I’ve seen, ever. And that just enhances the film that much more. This is the first and only mainstream Bollywood film I’ve seen featuring, mainstream stars (somewhat) that have such graphic content and my oh my the language is to die for!!

Through out the movie, the amount of Hindi/English swearing that it features, made be scribble some of them down myself, to be included in my own repertoire. The film is shot like a typical Bollywood film. The cinematography is a little more real than what we’re used to, street level shots mostly, not a lot of sweeping aerials. No songs! Other than montage sequences or background music, DELHI BELLY has no in-film songs and dances. However, the music videos created for the promotion are AMAZINGLY funny and NEED to be watched.

The performances are break out. Considering the entire film is in English, there is little to nothing lost in translation. I was particularly impressed at how easily the slang and phrases were done naturally by the actors. I might have underestimated this new generation of Bollywood actors, but they do it as naturally as I expect the crew of JACKASS to spout inappropriate words and phrases.

DELHI BELLY is a madcap misadventure of epic proportions. It must be watched by all, but only if your delicate sensibilities aren’t bruised by mind bogglingly creative swearing and graphic toilet humor. Which I usually hate! But worked with this, as it wasn’t used in a cheap way for cheap laughs. DELHI BELLY is a horribly funny movie, almost like a modern day ANDAZ APNA APNA!! Yea, I said it.

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