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.

Jaane Tu... and the New Khan on the Block

So after much efforts I did manage to see Amir Khan productions' much awaited 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na'. I expected it to be a good film and sure it was. One of the main reason for its success is the talented scriptwriter Abbas Tyrewala who both wrote and directed the movie. It could have been the usual affair had it not been the the script and some fine performances.

The movie looks fresh with some new faces. I liked the idea of the flash backs as part of a long friendly chat. Nothing goes overboard in the movie, not even the characters with gray shades. In fact Ayaz Khan as Sushant Modi (Genelia's fiance in the movie) looks cool and does an impressive act. So does Genelia Dsouza as Aditi. Although I wonder if she is really a star material. Naseeruddin Shah shows his class even though he was limited to a picture frame. The chemistry between the main characters strikes you. Ratna Pathak as Imran's mother is in familiar territory. It's a pity that Bollywood could never tap her acting potential as much as the television did.

Music by Rehman gives that extra pep. I loved the Rashid Ali rendered "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi" and "Kahin to Hogi woh duniya." Like most Rehman songs these two also grow on you gradually. The musician has a knack for discovering young talent. First Naresh Iyer, brought through Channel V's 'Super Singer' reality show, mesmerised the nation with his "Roobaroo", and now Rashid Ali. Watch out for this kid!

And finally the new Khan! Imran Khan has surely arrived. There's a certain vulnerability about him which adds to his character in the movie. He gives an effortless yet strong performance, which reminds me of his illustrious uncle in QSQT. His expressive eyes communicates a lot more. Imran Khan may not raise the noise levels in theatres like what a Shahrukh or Salman Khan did more than a decade back, but, he has made his mark on Bollywood.

The only weak link was the climax and the character of Aditi's brother, played rather well by Smita Patil's son Prateik Babbar. I felt he could have been given some more screen space instead of the cameos by Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan.

Overall a nice fun movie which is fortunately not your run-of-the-mill kind of college romance. Go for it just for old times sake!