Feb 23, 2009 04:02 PM
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When a person gives something like Rang De Basanti, you naturally expect him to come up with a superior product when he dons the director’s hat again. However, Rakeysh Mehra’s Delhi-6 is unfortunately, far from a film like RDB. Bad editing and a weak screenplay are the main culprits. Therefore, Delhi-6 is interesting only in parts. A wonderful chance terribly wasted!
The story of the movie: Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan), an American of an Indian origin, lives in New York with his family. His grandmother (Waheeda Rahman) is diagnosed with a fatal disease. Her last wish is to go back to her roots-Purani Delhi and die there. Roshan agrees to take her back to India. For Roshan, this was the first trip to India. As soon as he sets foot in his destination-Chandni Chowk, he is greeted with interesting and colourful characters who welcome him with open arms. He gets smitten by Bittu (Sonam Kapoor), a beautiful young girl who wants to stand on her own feet rather than get married. At this point of time, a mysterious ‘Kala Bandar’ (Monkey Man) wrecks havoc in Old Delhi. Little did anyone realize that this infamous event will lead to far bigger problems in the lives of all these people.
Delhi-6 at times reminds of Swades, wherein an American Indian comes back to India, gets familiar with his roots and brings a transformation. Also, Swades had loads of characters, just like Delhi-6. However, the former had a simple execution, while Delhi-6’s complicated narrative harms the film to some extent. Also, one doesn’t understand till the intermission point as to what the crux of the film is.
Alongwith direction and screenply, the editing is what made the film a weak product. There was no proper co-ordination between the scenes. Many scenes end abruptly and gave way to another one. Songs start playing at any time. Surely, one of the worst editing I’ve seen in recent times. Director Mehra said in an interview that the editor (P S Bharathi-Rakeysh Mehra’s wife) didn’t even allow him into the editing room after he surrendered the footage to her. And Mehra didn’t even resist!
The climax of the film, again, could have been better. The sudden movement that takes place in the story in the pre-climax and climax seemed too unbelievable. The director wanted to give a good message but unfortunately, faled! On the flipside, the movie has some great scenes, performances, cinematography and music.
The film has lots of actors and everyone played their part thoroughly well. Abhishek Bachchan was excellent, even though he doesn’t have many dialogues. His American accent suited him. Sonam Kapoor plays her part very well. Her best scene, of course, would be her dance with the dove balanced on her heard! However, her character didn’t have much to do in the film. In fact, the love story between Abhishek and Sonam was little weaker track.
Waheeda Rahman was too good-no doubts about that! Rishi Kapoor had a very small role, but he did complete justice to it! Om Puri (as Madan Gopal), Pawan Malhotra (as Jai Gopal), Atul Kulkarni (as Gobar), Vijay Raaz (as Inspector Ranvijay), Deepak Dobriyal (as Mamdu), Daya ShankarPandey (as the reporter), Cyrus Sahukar (as Suresh) and Rajat Dholakia (as Pagal Fakir) were quite funny! Supriya Pathak gives a sweet performance! K K Raina and Akhilendra Mishra played their part well.
So who’s the best performer in the film? Surprisingly none other than Divya Dutta! She didn’t have much scope but managed to shine the most in the film! She went completely into the skin of her character and came up with a fine performance! And there’s also a cool guest appearance of Amitabh Bachchan in the film!
A R Rahman’s music was soulful. The music and Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics made each song a gem, esp ‘Masakali’, ‘Arziyaan’, ‘Delhi-6’, ‘Genda Phool’, ‘Rehna Tu’, ‘Kala Bandar’ and ‘Tumhre Bhavan Mein’. The background score (also by A R Rahman) was as good as the music!
Binod Pradhan’s cinematography was outstanding! The scenes of bylanes of old Delhi and that of Jama Masjid is wonderfully captured by the lensman. And not to forget the scenes of Kala Bandar were just fabulous! Binod Pradhan has always come up with the best work in his previous films (RDB, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Heroes, Kismat Konnection, Devdas etc). Hats off to this amazing person!
Now to the ‘culprits’! Rakeysh Mehra, Kamlesh Pandey and Prasoon Joshi have written the story and screenplay of the film. It’s so shocking (and shameful as well) that three highly talented and creative persons failed to come up with a good script.
I’ve already mentioned about the bad editing. Even the sound was imperfect, esp that of the actors. At some points, it was difficult to decipher what the actors were trying to say.
Lastly, Rakeysh Mehra’s direction was not perfect, like last time. He has handled some of the portions effectively. Bittu’s dreams of becoming Indian Idol, Roshan’s interaction with the cop and Bittu’s dad were well shot! In fact, the basic plot of the film was excellent. With a great screenplay and direction, the film would have been a classic! Better luck next time, Mr Mehra!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
The first scene
The first Ramlila sequence
Roshan slapped by Inspector Ranvijay and Madan Gopal
Roshan’s scenes with Rishi Kapoor (Rishi’s haveli dialogue was excellent!
Waheeda Rahman taken to hospital
The songs ‘Masakali’, ‘Arziyan’ and ‘Genda Phool
Amitabh Bachchan’s appearance in the climax
On the whole, Delhi-6 could have been a better film, had the direction (to some extent), script and editing had not messed up! Worth watching only once and it’s ok if one misses it. Get back with something better, Mr Mehra!
My rating-** ½
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