Jio MAMI 2023 | Dilli Dark director Dibakar Das Roy: ‘The city can appear very crude & harsh but it accepts people from all walks of life’

A still from Dilli Dark, which premiered at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023.

Dibakar Das Roy’s debut feature, a dark comedy titled Dilli Dark, premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival 2023. The Hindi, English, Yoruba language and pidgin film follows the story of a Nigerian MBA student in New Delhi who wants to settle in India. He works a dubious part-time job and battles stereotypes and prejudice in a city that is reputedly difficult for outsiders. Slated to have its international premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Festival in November 2023, Dilli Dark stars Samuel Abiola Robinson (from the Malayalam film Sudani from Nigeria), Geetika Vidya Ohlyan (of Ivan Ayr's Soni fame) and Shantanu Anam.

Roy’s narrative draws parallels between contemporary Delhi and the ancient city which has seen many rulers and settlers over the centuries. The insider-outsider friction is palpable in the capital city. Robinson plays Michael Okeke, an outsider living in Delhi, contending with prejudices that follow the larger African diaspora (of being criminals and cannibals). He peddles drugs to survive in the big city till his attempts to land an office job somehow bring him in contact with a sketchy but colour-blind godwoman. Roy uses Michael’s adventures in Delhi, and everything that is thrown at him by Delhi, to satirically spotlight Indian society’s problematic approach to race, colour and identity. Edited excerpts from an interview:

What was the genesis for this story? Have you drawn from personal experience or observations from having spent time in Delhi?

It's a mix of both. Even though the protagonist is Nigerian, a lot of the perspectives are inherently Indian and inherently personal, which I've tried to work in through the various characteristics and milieu of the film overall. There's history and current events. But I think the perspective is more third person — the perspective of a city and a milieu, rather than a central character. Things are happening to the central character. There are lots of personal experiences in there too which are based on a particular bias around skin colour that is very prevalent in India, and I have faced that myself, in India and in my time living abroad. On a lot of counts, you're expected to take it as a joke. But over time it gets subconsciously ingrained in a person’s head. We do have some amount of colonial baggage. We have some muddled identities, and that's where it really started. I'm looking at Samuel’s character as representative of anyone who's an outsider in society. I think the kind of problems one faces are pretty universal.

Is the friendly neighbour Debu, played by Shantanu Anam, somewhat based on you?

Yes, to a certain extent, in that, you hype clichés and I think clichés are very interesting, because they're the tools that help us also understand each other. They also create a lot of misunderstandings, but it's basically us trying to get an understanding of the world around us. When I was at a bus stop in the US once, and there were these two black dudes who were sitting next to me. They were talking among themselves and after some time, one of them tapped me on the shoulder and asked me where I am from. They seemed very interested. When I said I'm from India they started laughing and then one of them turned to me and, in the sweetest possible way, he said, brother, you're blacker than I am. It's such an interesting experience but also such a complex anecdote and I kind of refer to it in the film also — like what it means to be black.

Samuel Abiola Robinson (right) and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in a still from Dilli Dark.

Talk about the character of Maansi, a godwoman played by Geetika Ohlyan. Why did you bring in that track?

I feel there’s a lot of acceptance in Indian spirituality and I wanted to bring in a character who does not represent any religious faith. In terms of spirituality, I think there’s a lot of acceptance in India, whether it's regarding complexion, or your belief systems, or anything else. That's where the inspiration for Maansi came from. But, at the same time, she’s also a person who's operating on the edge of society and is accepting of everything. She does not judge Michael for who he is and nor is she worried about whether what she's doing is good or bad. There's an embodiment of that in Delhi. The city can appear to be very crude and harsh but the soul of the city is such that it does accept a lot of people from all walks of life, from everywhere. I love the city for what it is, and over time, my main relationship with the city has changed, where I see a lot of depth and spirituality in it. Yet it’s cruel, so that's where the inspiration for the universe comes from and from the universe come the characters.

How did you put together this cast?

My first decision, as a writer and a director, is just get the right people in terms of who would be able to do the role, who were skilled actors. A lot of my time went in getting the right people on board. Some of the casting may be invisible, for example in the opening scene, there's a lady who comes on a scooter, who has one dialogue. We cast for that part intensely. I feel characters are an intensely important part of production design. So instead of having a beautiful house, or a background, I am a great believer in having the right faces, having the right people, even if someone is occupying one corner of the frame. I auditioned for each and every person, so basically then it becomes an ensemble cast of 50 to 60 people where I can confidently say there are no extras. If you want a certain flavour to your world, the right faces, the people create that. Geetika is a fabulous actress. I knew that if anyone could do this, she could do it because she brings such a natural power, and there's no drama. So while certain parts of the film are somewhat dramatic, I made sure that the people who do them are performers who can hold the realism of it. I didn't want any of it to look unbelievable. Casting Michael was a challenge. I auditioned a few African actors who are based in Delhi. Samuel moved around a lot at that time and we had a lot of conversations. I shared the initial drafts of the script, we spoke, even the singing scenes, and did a lot of readings because of the multilingual nature of the film and Samuel’s limited Hindi. Samuel’s work in Sudani... was obviously very different and he’s great in Dilli Dark.

Dilli Dark director Dibakar Das Roy.

What do you see as the journey of Dilli Dark and what are your future plans?

After the world premiere at MAMI, we're going to Tallinn, Estonia for the international premiere. We want to see what is on the cards as far as festivals are concerned. We are looking at a small theatrical release in India, and definitely want it to land up on an OTT platform so the people can watch it. I feel anyone could watch this movie and just be entertained for a little bit and take back a little something to think about. I'm also working on more scripts. I think many of my films will have a similar slightly satirical or darkly comic core. I just want to make films that are accessible, but meaningful.