‘Dilli Dark’ review: An occasionally sharp, scattershot comedy about prejudice

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...

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