Movie Review: Delhi Belly–hate it or love it?

This one’s hard. Its a decent movie, but its definitely not what all the hype is making it out to be. Yes, it is outrageous. Yes, it is ground-breaking and outrightly bold. Yes, it seems more like Hollywood than Bollywood. But is it that much fun? Well, yes and no…maybe in parts.

The movie is a good situational comedy, a dark comic caper but its not your rib-tickling stuff. The movie, interestingly, shows some shades of Kaminey (and before you get excited, only some shades…), but lacks the directorial brilliance and tight plot that Kaminey had. Rather, it relies on language that today’s youth uses and a dose, rather over-dose, of potty humor to woo its audience which succeeds to some extent. In terms of boldness, some of the scenes even seem to be purposefully put, some dialogues deliberately written – to justify the ‘A’ certificate this movie has, as well as generate the current hype. To the plot, script etc. they add absolutely nothing and could have been easily omitted. So is the case with the absolutely useless last number with ‘Aamir Khan’ as ‘Disco Fighter’!! Aamir can pull off practically anything, any role..but I think we just figured what he ‘shouldn’t’ attempt

However, on the bright side the movie has an original script, is well presented. There are a few hilarious scenes (mostly because of the acting) and some really good one-liners which won’t be forgotten easily. Imran, Vir Das and Kunal Roy Kapoor all do a good job though the best act is by Vijay Raaz. While the character of the villain himself is not that well etched out, Raaz delivers it to a T. The plot build up is good and there is a definite flow to the movie right up to the climax, along with the racy soundtrack running in the background.

All that said, once you’ve seen Delhi Belly, I’ve got a feeling that you’ll not be able to hate it or love it, but rather something in the middle. Something just seems amiss from making it a must-watch and I can’t really pinpoint what it is…

So go watch and find out for yourself. A word to the wise, though – this movie has been released in both Hinglish and Hindi. Please catch the Hinglish version – the Hindi version is a dubbed one and most of the offensive language has been translated quite faithfully, making for a rather crude viewing, am told. So make sure you book the right tickets!

That’ s the verdict then – Delhi Belly, in Hinglish..bhaag..dk bose bhaag!!