#DilliDark #FilmReview
(⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️3.5 Stars)
#DilliDark is a sharp, satirical take on race, identity, and ambition in contemporary India.
It exposes the flaws, vices of individuals, societies, & institutions.
And Delhi Belly's Black Undercurrent forms the crux of the film. It can be the
darkness of the city directly compared with the external appearance of an individual, a regular occurrence at regular situations in the drama revolving around A Nigerian of the African origin Michael Okeke who left Nigeria six years ago to study and survive in the elusive and overcrowded New Delhi. He dreams of true love and a better job to support his education & wants to get his MBA and settle in India - but his part-time job gives him a dubious double life in a city notoriously difficult for outsiders.
Director Dibakar Das Roy explores with right amount of empathy the dark skinned Michael Okeke (Samuel Abiola Robinson's ) plight as he finds himself grappling with the city’s undercurrents of discrimination, aspiration, and absurdity in trying to seek acceptance.
Samuel Abiola Robinson as Michael Okeke has put in a very spirited and sincere act.
Geetika Vidya Ohlan as Mansi Maa effortlessly goes about blending traditional typical Delhi culture of bravado in the sanctity of petty setup of her 'Ashram'.
Debu (Shantanu Anam), Okeke's neighbour with a natural flair for comedy does lend a relief as and when Okeke gets caught in some unexpected and unwarranted scuffles.
As for the ensemble cast
#KPSingh,
#DimpyMisra,
#UjjwalRaj and
#BhaskarJha
#SaumyaJhakhmaula as Neha and
#StuteeGhosh as Geeta
may have limited screen time but are equally
hilarious and absolutely nail the madness, in the characters they portray that offers racist barbs.
On the flip side the Director could have avoided the sequence where the Professor poses questions and concerns about how he Okeke will manage after graduation in a foreign land. Just to break the morale of a person not a done thing and that to by a responsible teaching faculty. Very stupid & frivolous because any person be him a foreigner or an alien will come to terms with the city and cross-cultural barriers over a period of time and merge with the system quite confidently and conveniently and applies to anyone and everyone everywhere in the world.
And the situation where Okeke is falsely accused of being a human cannibal when an electrician mistakes the meat in his fridge to be that of a human..... and the way it is exaggerated and dramatized.
Such kind of scenes and sequences mar the momentum of the narrative. On the contrary the Director could have put more emphasis on the culture of Delhi that remained and was a key ingredient in the narrative.
Overall music and the background score highlight the crazy goings on in the whirlwind lifestyle of the Delhites which becomes the epic center of a Dilli Dark Black Comedy.