At a recent Delhi Belly fan meet, also attended by Imran Khan and Vir Das, Aamir Khan took a trip down memory lane. He recalled how the final film came together after several rejected cuts and shared a hilarious yet brutally honest anecdote about watching the film’s first cut for the very first time.
Aamir Khan recalls blunt reaction to Delhi Belly’s first cut
Aamir recalled his reaction to the first test screening of the movie and said, “There was me, Kiran, Imran, Ram Sampath (music composer) and some eight to 10 people at the screening. Mumbai Police’s security accompanies me everywhere. So, I asked them to watch the film too. I was also watching the film for the first time. When I was watching, I thought, ‘Bahut buri film banayi hai yaar (laughs). Alag level buri bani hai (When I was watching it, I thought, ‘They’ve made a really bad film, man (laughs). It’s bad on a whole different level).”
He added, “After the screening got over, I asked the cop how he liked the film. He looked at the screen, then he looked at me, and then he looked down. Then he said, ‘Sir, pichhle 25 saalon mein jo aapne naam kamaya hai na, wo aap ye ek film mein gawane wale ho (Sir, in the last 25 years, all the respect you’ve earned – you’re about to lose everything with this one film).’ He actually said it so bluntly. A lot of the time, first cuts don’t work. It’s not an unusual thing. When humour is not working, and there are a lot of abuses, then you feel that’s only for effect. So, that makes it worse. That’s how bad it was.”
Aamir then revealed that they later managed to correct it. He said they sat down with the film after a couple of years and worked on it. Interestingly, the cop’s blunt remark even made it to the film’s teaser. In the first teaser, Imran warns the audience, “Mamu apni saari izzat gawane wale hain (Mamu is about to lose all his respect).”
About Delhi Belly
Backed by Aamir Khan Productions, the action-comedy film was written by Akshat Verma and directed by Abhinay Deo. It starred Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Vir Das, Poorna Jagannathan and Shenaz Treasurywala. The film featured 70% English and 30% Hindi dialogue. It followed the chaotic lives of three flatmates who get entangled in a dangerous crime by sheer accident and went on to gain a cult following over the years.
Aamir Khan’s upcoming movie
Aamir Khan’s production house is awaiting the release of its upcoming film, Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos. Helmed by Vir Das and Kavi Shashtri, the film stars Vir Das, along with Mona Singh, Sharib Hashmi and rapper-turned-actor Srushti Tawade in supporting roles. It also features cameos by Aamir Khan and Imran Khan and is scheduled to hit theatres on January 16.