- Date of Release: 30 May 2025
- Genre: Black Comedy
- Language: Hindi / English
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Dilli Dark
Introduction
In the Hindi film Gumnam (1965), the lines of a famous melodious song had then captured the imagination of a nation – ‘Hum Kaale Hain Toh Kya Hua Dilwale Hain’. In the new Hinglish film, the same line is tweaked to ‘Hum Kaale Hain, Dilli Wale Hain’ in a song that has also switched to a rap. The shift in tide from melody to a rap is one of the symbolisms of the shifting times of the city of Delhi that has grown darker and darker over a period of time. But more importantly, the lines of the song find a place in the house of Michael Okeke (Samuel Abiola Robinson), a dark-skinned African man wanting to find his identity in the city of Delhi. Okeke isn’t any different from a ‘brown-skinned’ Indian who has been subjected to racial slurs at the hands of the British, once upon a time. But his issue remains that of identity, even as most brown locals often look down upon him and accuse him of crimes that he did not commit, just judging by his skin colour. In a sequence of scenes you get a glimpse of his life – Okeke is quietly seen buying a ‘fair and awesome’ talcum powder while being severely judged by the shopkeeper, woefully ignored by the daughter of his landlord, and falsely accused of being a human cannibal when an electrician mistakes the meat in his fridge to be that of a human. Life is hard for Okeke, a phase that quickly doubles up as a searing satire on the identity of foreign nationals to begin with.
Story & Screenplay
One of the key ingredients of Dilli Dark is the characterization of the protagonist, who often sticks out amongst the crowd owing to his dark skin that imply his African origins. Initially, the writing allows you space to empathize with the individual even while presenting his life like a satire of sorts – from applying ‘white powder’ to selling ‘white powder’, the character arc of Okeke is right there. But this arc also tells you a thing or two about Dilli, a city that doubles up as an important character in the drama. Delhi is a city that is shown to judge you while often allowing you to carry out duties according to what it perceives is right for you. For instance, Okeke is an MBA student by the day just wanting to find a job and eventually settle in the city, only to be held up by his teacher in a casual manner in a classroom. In a scene, you see him asking about the 4 Cs of marketing, to which Okeke has a correct answer – but she doesn’t appreciate him while literally creates demons in his head about finding a job and settling in the city! But when Okeke has to take up a side gig of a drugs supplier (an alternate version of the 4 marketing Cs, symbolizing his alternate life too), no one seems to mind it. It is also assumed that ‘all black foreigners’ are drug dealers, a diabolically opposite notion to how the city would perceive a light-skinned foreigner as mentioned by Debu (Shantanu Anam), Okeke’s neighbour. For Okeke, even finding a home in ‘Dilli’ is a big deal, even as you see his landlord exclaiming on how he is suffering after having agreed to give his place to the protagonist on rent!
The parallel ‘darkness’ of the city is directly equated with the external appearance of an individual, something that finds its voice at regular junctures in the drama while lights are off in the city. This little aspect of the drama, while also having political undertones of an irregular supply of electricity as opposed to what the government had promised, often draws its parallel to the state that Okeke finds himself in. The only time the lights are off, is when there is a sense of equality in the people, with Okeke being able to ‘mix’ with the locals. This, while the city doesn’t quite take into account the darkness that is simmering in its underbelly most of the times. The alienation of Okeke is an important metric in the drama that aspires to present itself as a hilarious comedy while never being preachy with its messaging.
The tone of the drama is similar to the Hindi film Fukrey (2013) that had its protagonists in a similar kind of a pickle with respect to the character of Bholi Punjaban (Richa Chadha), who was a drug dealer. Here, you are introduced to a similar kind of a Godwoman called Mansi who likes calling herself as ‘Maa’ (a prolific Geetika Vidya). Maa loves giving podcasts and boasts of a public image of a ‘miracle woman’ who creates an illusion of inflicting pregnancy in women who ‘aren’t fertile’. And like any Godwomen, she has a ‘kingdom’ of her own, even as her world collides with Okeke. You can almost tell that Okeke ‘sniffs’ the ‘darkness’ of Maa to begin with, even while reluctantly agreeing to work in her ‘Ashram’ as a bhakt. The commentary on spirituality is often overpowered by that of identity and survival for Okeke who doubles up as a drugs supplier too for Maa. In exchange, you see Maa taking a stand for him, almost being protective against the idiosyncratic behavior of her ‘Bhakts’ towards Okeke when the latter shares his remarks on ‘noise pollution’ being on the rise during the festival of Diwali. But at the same time, the underlying messaging is slightly buried under the pretentious setup that stretches the drama in the second act. The lags in the screenplay were quite noticeable. Luckily, this doesn’t derail the drama owing to a spectacular final act.
The parallels drawn between the ‘love story’ of Maa and Okeke with Razia Sultan and Jamal-ud-din Yaqut is quite evident here, with its seeds sown throughout the screenplay. The parallels of how Razia Sultan and Yaqut were separated in 1240 AD simply because the latter was of an African origin, a theory that was simply unacceptable to the folks of the kingdom back in the day. Ironically, when Maa decides to make her relationship with Okeke public, the immediate reaction of the folks around is ‘supporting’. But because this is Dilli of 2023, you can almost smell the ‘sensationalism’ as a subtext along with prudent ‘personal’ gains for its characters. Interestingly, it is also a ticket for Okeke with respect to his voice and identity in the city even as he remains conflicted with his inner voice. And here, the revelation also is a cause for conflict that soon takes the turn of a philosophy at the end of the film. The identity crisis that was a key ingredient of a film like Little Jafna (2023), makes its presence felt right at the end, almost like a parting thought with a tingling of hope, that sums up the screenplay that was pretty well written.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are incredibly funny and make a good case of the searing sense of satire that the drama wishes to be. Further, the lines are brimming with the culture of Delhi that remained a key ingredient in the narrative. The music is well thought-out here – the idea of a rap song being used as a commentary was a solid creative decision given that it also symbolized the measured chaos and madness of the city of New Delhi. The BGM offers streaks of madness along with moments of empathy that quite balance the tonality of the drama while highlighting the plight of the protagonist in an alien land. The cinematography effectively captures the ‘dark’ underbelly of the city with respect to its lighting that nicely compliments the narrative with its deliciously dark undertones. The editing is good but I still feel that it did not quite account for the brief periods of lag in the second act, that followed an incredibly exciting premise. Perhaps, a crisper edit would have ensured a tauter watch.
Director Dibakar Das Roy nicely explores his vivid thoughts of the plight of a dark-skinned foreign national in the big bad city of New Delhi. The creative decision of presenting the drama as a black comedy was a pretty interesting one, simply because the drama then transitions into a cleverly written satire that often mocks back in return (from the fourth wall perspective). Dibakar keeps his commentary simple while surrounding it with wacky tropes that add flavour and colour to the narrative. I quite liked how he handled the characterization too, by almost presenting his protagonist as a ‘grey’ character while also being a victim of circumstances. Yes, the little hiccup was in the second act but the ability to recover from that stutter, is a sign that Dibakar knows his job and is here to stay.
Performances
The performances are wonderful by the members of the cast. KP Singh, Dimpy Misra, Ujjwal Raj and Bhaskar Jha may have a limited screen time here but all of them are hilarious and absolutely nail the madness, in characters that ‘suppliers’ of racist slurs! Saumya Jakhmola as Neha and Stutee Ghosh as Geeta have their moments to shine too. Shantanu Anam as Debu is hilarious to the core in an unabashed brand of comedy that lands like a dream for his character. His comic timing is excellent here and he makes his present with a natural flair for comedy, even with respect to his body language or voice modulation. Geetika Vidya Ohlan as Mansi ‘Maa’ gets into the skin of her character rather efficiently. There is an effervescent zing in her voice that reeks of a typical Delhi culture of bravardo, while masking the same in the frivolous setup of her ‘Ashram’. The performance remained wonderfully balanced and well measured, wherein Geetika was treading a fine line of comedy that needed precision. And she delivers a stunning act here! Samuel Abiola Robinson as Michael Okeke is sincere and earnest here, wherein you feel empathy for the character wanting to settle on a foreign land. In a way, his character remains an underdog and an anti-thesis of say a character like Rohan wishing to settle in the States in the film Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999). It is more darker given the underbelly of the city that he has to cater to, while also retaining the innocence and naivety that form important character traits. This remained a complex character and played to perfection by Samuel.
Conclusion
Boasting of solid performances, Dilli Dark is a cleverly penned satire with right amounts of wackiness that makes for a hilarious watch. It is textured, flavourful, funny and poignant, all at the same time! It is not everyday that an Indie film has a theatrical release in India. Hence, make sure that you watch this film in a theatre near you from 30th May’25 onwards!