We wake up every morning. Walk in half dreams to the mirror and look what lies on our skin. Oily hair, Uhh! Watch Delhi 6, for what lies within. You might experience the other side of the mirror looking inside out.
Hush Hush...Let us not discuss what we discover!!! 'Whispering’ - I know it's a 'kala bander', but since you confide in me, I won't tell others that I saw the 'kala bander' till you wish to confess yourself. Hide your 'kala bander'. There are risks if you let it out, but you will be fearless if you do.Your 'kala bander', your choice. If you have watched the movie already, you know what I mean, right? 'Wink’.
I am enjoying the trend that Indian Cinema is popular for creating. When we make romance, we have a series of romantic flicks (Yash Rajs + KaranJohars + Bhansalis), Priyadarshan pounces us with comedies, thriller (Ramu + Bhatts).
And then we have Kashyaps, Mehras with some refined methods of cinema scratching our grey cells. While many of us don't like to scratch, so we sniff. Anyhow, the message is put across; today or later it does make an impact and most of the times- at a very subconscious level.
Delhi six/che is yet another moment to celebrate the new-age cinema. Isn’t it interesting to pick up the most archaic topic of 'human behavior' as the subject of the movie and painting it in fresh colors? Well, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra does that with some fine strokes.
(Till now I have refrained myself from making technical judgments, but this time I shall chalk out some comments, judgment lies in you, as always...:))
Stroke 1: Story/Screenplay:The one who may not have given birth to the idea but certainly nourished it with heart. A subtle story line with much of 'mockery' and 'sarcasm'. Off course, a very Dilli-type language (so you will find the next door characters, except Abhishek Bacchan.
I will come to it later and will explain what I got of his character, its important to understand his view, yah). The romanticism of the *purani dilli, Dilli dilwalon *ki plot and a every-day life story. A story that we certainly never discuss but we all play our role daily.
Stroke 2: Experimental Cinema: You see it as a bridge between theatre andcinema.Cinema (in India) is more direct, commercial and on face. (Am excluding the genre of “parallel cinema” here.
Many of you who have witnessed Bengali cinema know what is it). In Bollywood, there have been many movies with message but feeding people as messages. In theatre, we have metaphors, allegories, perpetual sets, unsaid moments, lights defining mood, etc. Delhi 6 is somewhere in between, deliberate and bang on.
Stroke 3 i): Characters: Kala Banders with different faces.
Stroke 3 ii): Idea:We are decedents of Monkey!! Hey am kidding. That’s not true.Truth is we haven’t evolved much.
If you find the movie still very metaphorical and layered, believe me, had this not been India or for Indian audience, many scenes and dialogues would have been ripped off. But I can see Mehra making all efforts to make the idea a clear as possible without losing on the essence. But then, we are maturing as an audience right?
White Kabootar (Masakali) = Symbol of peace. Kala Bander= Fear +Superstition + Justification for all we do wrong. Belief in Almighty= Saada Bander = eternal faith and earning belief that what we do is right. Eg, riots.
Stroke 4: Sets:The undying beauty of the Old Delhi architecture, narrow lanes ofChandni Chowk- *the natural set. And then they have several stages, rememberRamleela *scenes. Part of Delhi 6 is literally on stage. Homemade America in one of the songs!
Stroke 5: Photography:Treat to your eyes. Just notice when several scenes are played under low angle shots. Meaning we all look up and whatever are there, many people can see together, ummm, something like when you fly a kite. Closeup shots at the same time, well, as if you can feel the character. Colours- you will see the most real colours been used, I mean, no unrealistic shades as many cinema portray.
Stroke 6: Editing:Don’t miss out on that, one scene overlapping the other, switch from real to stage, ie, bridging the real happening with the idea itself so that audience do not feel as if its just an incident but a universal idea.
Stroke 7: Music:Much has already been said about the music so that’s very pleasant. So I shall talk about the timings of songs. Again, the romanticism ofpurani dilli is best captured when you think of something and a song comes to your mind. Bingo! Here is it. Music creates the exact ambiance that the Delhi 6 (in real) asks for.
Stroke 8: Performance:Vijay Raj, the law, Sonam Kapoor – the beauty and Masakali with clipped wings, trying to fly, Om Puri- beholder of the patriarchal society, Waheeda Rehman- the minus3G generation, Rishi Kapoor- the selfless romance, Atul Kulkarni- the ambiguous youth, Prem Chopra- the feudalist, Divya Dutta- oppressed low caste figure, wives- suppressed and tied, Kids- the smart next generation.
Abhishek Bacchan- He has the most important role; he plays the audience, who can’t have biased opinions. Initially, he is just looking at things, confused. And when he starts understanding the politics of the society, he jumps into conclusion of being kala bander himself, coz kala bander as a concept is more lethal. If it appears for real, perhaps nothing will be assumed and hence, no blame, no curtains, no hiding coz coz coz KALA BANDER is the drape that everyone of us wear to hide our darker shades.
So here is the painting ready. So what did Mehra painted?
*You. Me. Us.
P.S.: Style of the cinema is "Farce". Comedy played in suggestive and satirical manner that starts getting serious. Unlikely scenes, characters, situations, extravagant portrayal.So for those who think Delhi 6 sucks and are flooding MS with ignorant reviews, my request - we can do better if we start negating the kala bander in us who is holding a pen.
