I love you (like I hate you) … Welcome to Delhi Belly, the latest cinematic offering from Aamir Khan Productions. It advertises its tagline – ‘Shit Happens’. Shit indeed happens, that’s why it is! But what if it happens throughout the movie? Nobody would have been prepared, however well-informed, for the volley of cuss words – more pronounced if you watched the movie in Hindi version- coming nonchalantly out of the screen. It is indeed sad that most of the discussion about the movie after its release has, in-a-fit-of-shock, zoomed on its irreverent dialogue-delivery only. The comic capers, story, songs etc are side-shows for a first.
But this is what puts Delhi Belly as an inflection point in Indian cinema. Has it become real? It is dangerous to act either a puritan or a maverick, if he hasn’t attained a strong viewpoint of either theory. I lie in the middle now; hence the movie has reasoned me more than any other in recent times.
I am not a hypocrite, to repeat a self-styled uber-dude’s statement. I myself have been a big giver of slurs-more during college times, and still mouth expletives when reunited with old charmers. I am a watcher of more unmentionables-sexually oriented movies to put in the mildest terms- as every male adult of my age normally happens to be. I am a go-gaga fan of Hollywood equivalents – Wedding Crashers, The Hangover, American Pie etc, where the words and scenes know no bounds. So, why this reservation about Delhi Belly then? Why not speak the reality in cinema too, if it happens around us? Why the cloak of denial?
The answer-reality is best exhibited when hidden. Otherwise there would not been clothes on our bodies and curtains in our bedrooms. The realism plays more relevantly when seen through the context too, here the Indian context. I still believe our current Indian scenario, however Westernized it might be professed by a few believers, is not ready yet to accept these concepts. An antagonistic thought-it might seem, but the fact is we still don’t swear in front of our parents however unabashed our friend-circle is; we still attach importance to non-alcoholism as a virtue however big drinkers we ourselves might be; we still regard girls clad in non-body showing dress as marriageable than ones clothed in miniskirts; we still consider down-to-earth boys more suave than the dandy Casanovas. And now don’t give me the examples of metropolitan cities, girls, boys and families. They don’t represent the whole India, but this mainstream movie does play in the length and breadth of the country-the country which is still illiterate, poor and not emancipated on economic, social and political counts.
It might seem a bit far-fetched to link an adult comedy with Indian deprived social dimensions. But the moot point is will the movie spawn a series of such uninhibited renditions now? Will there be future mainstream movies where the Ranbir Kappors, Kangana Ranauts, Imran Khans, Sonal Chauhans won’t dare a dime explicitly mentioning each others acts and organs, where their topless bodies become the normal movie reels as prevalent in Hollywood, where the debate would be how much and not why this. How real but uncomfortable that would be for the rest of the people of India where movie-watching during dinners or social gatherings is an act of familiar bonding and not only an entertainment? That day has to come; Delhi Belly is just the start. But the day should come when it is destined to be. Delhi Belly is still ahead of its times. But who am I to decide? Take your pick- love it or like it, lap it or thrash it, it’s your choice and vision. But do reason it.
To that point, indeed a big Kudos to the movie for inciting such invigorating opinions from all quarters. Hey! Did I talk anything about the movie though :)
