Delhi Belly

AAMIR Khan showed a new side to the world with his sensitive film 'Taare Zameen Par'. Like most movies, he lately acted in, his directorial venture was also a class act. Production seemed a natural progression.

Aamir backed an entirely new genre in his latest offering Delhi Belly. The film takes the spirit of art cinema and effortlessly combines in elements of commercial movie making to produce an unapologetic bold cinema. Delhi Belly shocks and entertains at the same time.

The story revolves around the lives of three bachelors. How one small incident dramatically affects their lives is what the fun all about. There are no beeps and edits in this journey.

The opening few scenes do make you feel a little confused and uncomfortable, but gradually you get involved with the characters. The much talked about profanity is purely situational. You may feel offended if you risk watching with kids. But then, the film carries an adult certificate. There is hardly an extra character in the plot. Songs are played in bits and that keeps the movie time to less than two hours.

Imran Khan as Tashi is impressive, as always, but gets that extra footage courtesy  'mamu'. Kunaal Roy Kapur as Nitin and Vir Das as Arup come up with two restrained yet highly enjoyable acts. Together they provide the movie with its most funny moments.

Tashi's girlfriend Sonia played by Shenaz Treasurywala is in familiar territory. She looks cute. Period.

Poorna Jagannathan as Tashi's co-journalist Menaka is quite natural and plays her name in the movie rather well.

Vijay Raaz with his sheer talent has become a regular in off-beat movies. He plays the gangster quite effortlessly, especially the way he switches between ruthlessness and a dry sense of humour.

Aamir Khan being the perfectionist that he is, takes extra care with the technical side. Music by Ram Sampath may not be melodious but complements the theme well. The crisp editing by Huzefa Lokhandwala deserves special merit. Story by Akshat Verma is interesting with its numerous twists and turns. As for the lyrics, "I hate you like I Iove you" says it all.

Abhinay Deo may have missed the mark with Game but has turn it around with Delhi Belly. The movie has only characters, not heroes, and the credit goes to the director.

Delhi Belly has its share of lows. The curse words are a trifle too many for a family audience (of adults, yes). Some of the scenes are too suggestive for the regular Indian sensibilities. The joke about Santro, if it was a dig at Shahrukh (who endorses the brand), was in poor taste and so was the use of Orange juice to clean up the bowel movement.

In all fairness Delhi Belly is an entertaining roller-coaster ride, provided you understand the movie rating well. I am sure it will spawn a host of imitations.