Michael Okeke (Samuel Abiola Robinson) left Nigeria six years ago to make a home for himself in Delhi, but it hasn’t been easy. He still has to spell out his name – “It’s not OK OK. It’s Okeke”. That’s the least of his problems.
Racial slurs come his way from adults and children alike. He is even accused of cannibalism. Although he wants to be a marketing manager, he sells drugs to pay his bills – thereby fulfilling one of the stereotypes about his community.
His fortunes change when he meets Maansi (Geetika Vidya Ohlyan), a self-declared spiritual guru. Michael’s survival comes to depend on a woman who claims that she can work miracles on infertile women.
Dibakar Das Roy’s Dilli Dark is ambitious and provocative, a comedy that is consciously in bad taste. Completed in 2023 and out only now, Dilli Dark applies the lack of luminosity contained in the title liberally and literally.
From exploring Michael’s encounters with prejudice to the darkness that is waiting to leap out at every turn, the 101-minute film squeezes its premise dry. A story that starts out by highlighting racism becomes a generalised diatribe about the city’s uglier side.
Das Roy’s screenplay fires over Michael’s shoulder at Delhi’s cruel attitude towards outsiders, the tendency of its residents to stereotype any experience they don’t understand, and the all-round coarseness of life in the capital.
Delhi’s well-recorded instances of treating people from African countries badly suggests that whatever is happening to Michael isn’t fictional.
The plotting holds until Michael joins forces with Maansi. Up until this point, Dilli Dark successfully shows just how thick Delhi’s air is with bias and apathy (and pollutants).
Having no home to return to, Michael tries to make his peace with poor digs, a neighbour (Shantanu Anam) who is clueless about how appalling he sounds and dodgy employment prospects. But how can Michael get a job in a company without possessing a work visa?
Bold in conception, occasionally sharp and even savage, the film loses focus with Maansi’s increasing prominence. The narcotic-fuelled antics at Maansi’s ashram and her dealings with Michael not only decrease his importance but also derail interest in his journey.
Samuel Abiola Robinson, the actor from the charming Malayalam comedy Sudani From Nigeria (2018), does a decent job of playing a punching bag. Michael’s permanent bad mood and naivete cannot diminish the horrors of what is being done to him.
Among the secondary characters, Stutee Ghosh has a hilarious cameo as a child-seeking wealthy woman who consults Maansi. Various actors in bit roles nail the unthinking racism about dark complexions and foreigners for which Delhi, as well as the rest of India, is notorious.
The film boldly holds up a mirror to ugliness, but then assembles too many people in the frame. Although Dilli Dark eventually abandons its grotesque edginess, there are standout moments, including a hilarious dream sequence and a kerfuffle involving meat left over in a fridge.
