New Delhi: Quirky bachelor romp 'Delhi Belly' opens with comedian-turned-actor Vir Das' good-natured threat to cut off Imran Khan's privates and design them into earrings. It sets the tone for a film that intentionally breaks a time-honoured tradition: never upset your paying family audience.
The laugh-a-minute mad caper was carefully packaged and distributed early on by producer Aamir Khan, known for his family-oriented entertainers, as this generation's most profane comedy that is likely to shock the conservatives.
Aamir's foul mouthed masterpiece?
Delhi Belly, that tells the story of three flat mates and their dysfunctional personal lives entangled in an accidental crime, is a continuous rant between Imran Khan, Kunal Roy Kapoor and Vir Das, its three protagonists.
The unapologetic and dirty humour is part of a script that is neither original nor brilliant but captures nicely the lifestyle of a 20-something audience that is supremely unconcerned about anything beyond their convoluted love lives and making the monthly rent on an ill-kept, shared pad.
And clearly the obscene toilet jokes and foul-mouthed ribbing touched a spot with a set of youngsters hooked on F.R.I.E.N.D.S and its brilliant situational comedy. Unlike the last two decades, when a film's main lead was expected to assume serious responsibilities before the age of 25, Delhi Belly is emblematic of an irreverent generation looking for direction.
Is Delhi Belly the Dil Chahta Hai of this generation?
The cussing, especially in the Hindi version of the film, appears contrived. Vir Das, in a wistful thought sequence bursts in to the wedding of his ex-girlfriend and demands that the ceremony be stopped. Pointing south, he exclaims "this girl has given me a blowjob!" The wedding may have been called off countless times in Hindi cinema fond of its drama, but never perhaps for so novel a reason.
For all his protestations, Aamir Khan may just have found a niche amongst India's growing Hinglish audience who enjoy the occasional cuss word to pepper their private conversations. The Hindi-dubbed version of the film mostly falls flat, mainly due to botched translations. 'Blowjobs' clearly lose their appeal on translation.
Delhi Belly is a smartly packaged film by people who know the pulse of a changing India. But it isn't this generation's Dil Chahta Hai, the iconic cult film that redefined how cinema portrayed bonding between friends.
DB is grittier in its usage of swear words, cringe worthy scenes and earthy realism. It may even start a race in Bollywood of hallmarking the urbane profanity. What sex did to plot lines in the last decade, profanity will improve upon in the next.
Profanity, the new sex?
Kissing on screen was unimaginable in the 60s and 70s, a few brave filmmakers tried it in the 80s. The 90s set a pace for quick pecks on the lips that directors in the last few years have perfected into a drawn-out, messy affair that the censor board overlooks as demands of a 'plot.' Similarly the sex scene is now a coveted launch pad of starlets who are delightfully matter-of-fact about dropping the robe on screen if the situation so demands. It simply is no longer a big deal.
Profanity is fast filling the space that sex leaves vacant as it looks to constantly evolve in a competitive industry.
As directors race to bring out the worst in their male leads and the defining lines between the antagonist and the protagonist gets blurred every day, Delhi Belly may just have unleashed a monster that has the potential to gobble up the family entertainment space.
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