Abhinay Deo: It is a fresh story in the same mould

A still from `Delhi Belly`

Abhinay Deo's Delhi Belly clocks a decade since its release today, July 1. The Aamir Khan production, starring Imran Khan along with Kunaal Roy Kapur and Vir Das, revolved around three roommates and a mixed-up package. Considering the present scenario, there is no celebration on the cards, nor a virtual get-together of the cast and crew of the adult comedy. Instead, Deo will be celebrating with his parents, veteran actors Ramesh and Seema Deo, as the day also marks their 58th wedding anniversary. "Probably I will then sit and watch Delhi Belly yet again," he says.

To commemorate the occasion, Deo has announced that he has begun work on another quirky film "of a genre similar to that of Delhi Belly". The project is in the writing stage, and he hopes to roll it next year. "It is not a sequel nor is it linked to Delhi Belly [in any way], but a fresh story in the same mould." Delhi Belly, a film in Hinglish, was considered cool, explicit, and an insanely funny film that stepped into a new terrain in Bollywood with its chartbuster track Bhaag DK Bose. "It was ahead of its times," explains Deo, admitting that had the film released today, it would be intensely appreciated in the OTT space.

Abhinay Deo

Delhi Belly was written by Akshat Verma as part of his screenwriting programme at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was titled Say Cheese. After he shared the story with Aamir Khan's production office, it was the superstar's wife, Kiran Rao, who found the script impressive even though it was not a clean family entertainer. During the making, there were reports claiming that Aamir often interfered in the filming. Refuting the claim yet again, the director says, "There is a difference between interference and interest. Aamir did not ask us to re-shoot a single scene. The only time he came on the set was to film his cameo song. He
sat in edits because he likes to go through every minute detail when in post-production."

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