Being a Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra film is the enough reason for a film to be a master piece. How can we forget the glorious “Rang De Basanti” that not only encouraged the public into organizing candle-light marches and public protests on various issues of public interest but also motivated the youth to participate in politics?
We were full of yearning, dying of anticipation for the next from Mr. Mehra. But this time Mehra’s cinematic vision is diluted in perplexity of various subplots and we are left with a terrible story, wherein a Kaala Bandar is trying to fix communal discord. Still I would not like to believe that “Delhi 6” is really a Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra film. It’s the perfect example of this apparent disaster, which guaranteed to turn off fans with its monotonous and boring story. The preview trailers imply that the film has got real essence of Old Delhi. It’s an interesting concept, but the screenwriters (Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey) soon turn the script from a light heartening romantic tale into an often heavy-handed, sentimental drama.
Set in old Delhi, the first half of the movie sets up the drama with an emphasis on the various characters in choked gullies of Old Delhi. The second half puts the “Kaala Bandar” as the central point of the story. And at the end, the wacky climax makes you laugh at the futility of the screenplay.
DELHI 6 unfolds the story of Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) a young American boy of Indian origin, who brings his ailing grandmother (Waheeda Rehman) back from the US to her home in Chandni Chowk, as she wants to spend the last days of her life in her soil. Roshan and his grandmother are welcomed back home with great warmth. For Roshan, who has led American lifestyle, everything is strange in India. So he is busy exploring India in the obstructed gullies of Old Delhi. And there he meets his neighbor, beautiful Bittu (Sonam Kapoor). Bittu is a vivacious girl with big dream in her eyes and a desire to live life on her own term. Started out as a feeling, Roshan can’t help falling in love with Bittu. But then the story takes a twist and suddenly Kaala Bandar becomes the highlight of the film.
Various characters and subplots in the film make the main plot loosing it sight. There are two warring brothers (Om Puri, Pawan Malhotra) and their families staying in the neighborhood. Bittu is the daughter of the brother played by Om Puri. There is also a garbage collector Jalebi(Divya Dutta), who is untouchable for the society but is everyone’s lust. A friend of the family (Rishi Kapoor), who was once deeply in love with Roshan's mother (Tanvi Aaazmi). A moneylender (Prem Chopra) and her young wife who's having an affair with the neighborhood photographer(Cyrus Sahukar). The worthless policeman Choudhary (Vijay Raaz).
Actually, despite its faults the film has many good moments. Some of the film’s best portions are those with Sonam Kapoor, but Abhishek’s presence doesn’t create magic. One might like to see more of Sonam Kapoor.
The supporting cast is very strong, especially Waheeda Rahman, Divya Dutta and Om Puri.
The directing is so-so and the writing is uneven, both attempting to force a weedy story into a visual delight.
The directing is so-so and the writing is uneven, both attempting to force a weedy story into a visual delight.
Thanks to A.R. Rahman’s music, this gives much needed pace to the lousy story of the film. Music is already popular and topping the chart everywhere.
Overall, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.
Abhishek Bachchan...... Roshan Mehra
Sonam Kapoor...... Bittu
Atul Kulkarni...... Gobar
Divya Dutta...... Jalebi
Om Puri...... Madan Gopal
Rishi Kapoor...... Ali
Waheeda Rehman...... Dadi
Pawan Malhotra...... Jai Gopal
Supriya Pathak...... Vimla
Tanvi Azmi...... Fatima
Vijay Raaz...... Inspector Ranvijay
Cyrus Sahukar...... Suresh
Prem Chopra...... Lala Bhairam
Amitabh Bachchan...... Roshan Mehra (Grand Father)
Crew:
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Producer: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Ronnie Screwvala
Cinematography: Binod Pradhan
Editing: P S Bharathi
Editing: P S Bharathi
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