Delhi-6: Ambitious Follow Up to RDB review
There is a sequence in the middle of Delhi 6 where the hero, US-returned Roshan, daydreams on the rooftop at his ancestral home in Chandni Chowk that he is back in TimesSquare. Only this time TimesSquare is peopled with Dilliwallas selling jalebis, riding cycle rickshaws and arguing loudly with each other. Yeh hai Dilli mere yaar!
It would have been absurd had it not been presented so convincingly. Director Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra (of Rang De Basanti fame) populates his film with quirky characters, infuses it with an energy reminiscent of his previous work and like that film, goes for social relevance at the end in dramatic fashion. He is helped by some cutting edge editing and AR Rahman's heavenly music.
Delhi 6 at first appears to be the oft-repeated tale of an outsider viewing India for the first time. In this case the outsider happens to be an NRI Rohit (Abhishek Bachchan) who brings his ailing grandmother back to her haveli in the colony Delhi 6 where Hindus and Muslims lead a seemingly smooth existence and where a mysterious "monkeyman" has terrified the residents.
The monkeyman (based on supposedly real life occurrences) is glimpsed only once and becomes the spiritual centre of the film. He is talked about, feared, rumored to be "invisible" and soon horrifies the entire city and becomes a media sensation, all without ever being captured on tape.
Running parallel to this episode is the tale of Ram Leela where the benevolent Vanar Sena tries to rescue Sita from the clutches of demon king Ravana.
Delhi 6 is not about plot so much as it is about the characters populating the plot. So you get Roshan who looks at the inhabitants of downtown Delhi 6 with amusement, bewilderment and eventually affection. You have Bittu (Sonam Kapoor) a regular middle class girl caught between her middle class upbringing, a foul tempered father and dreams of becoming an Indian idol star. Then there is uncle Ali , Roshans friend and Mentor who has never got over his first love, Roshan's Muslim mother. And a host of quixotic characters including a corrupt but hilarious cop, "Jalebi" a fiery, radical sweeper (Divya Dutta) belonging to a lower caste, a mad "fakir" who views everybody through a looking glass (the significance is explained rather simplistically later on), and a sleazy photographer.
It is also full of witty, inventive scenes which ring true. Like the opportunistic politician who disrupts a energetic Ram-Leela drama to make a donation, or a cow in labour in the middle of a crowded street which onlookers regard as a highly auspicious occasion. Delhi 6 is full of colourful, vibrant instances and an eye for detail that make the movie an engaging, entertaining watch.
Like in RDB, Mehra takes his time getting to the point. The first half flies by in establishing the characters, their eccentricities and most importantly developing the cult of the monkeyman.
The "kala Bandar" is an enigma. He may or may not exist. But he is firmly embedded in the minds of everyone as a sinister force, an enigma. How Mehra develops this legend is one of the movie's strongest aspects. He is discussed and debated in TV clips and soon comes to dominate the minds of the lay people. When a shopkeeper's goat disappears, when jalebis get stolen, it is attributed to this apparition. And when in an unexpected turn, the unseen monkeyman becomes the source of communal tension in the little hamlet of Delhi 6 and becomes branded as an "Islamic terrorist" it is as much amusing as it is cautionary. This subplot works brilliantly. And the director cleverly uses the metaphor to solve things at the end.
Also well developed is the growing intimacy and understanding between Roshan and Bittu. Their chemistry is natural and spontaneous and is propelled by a script which sidesteps clichés and explores their mutual need for each other along with the cultural gap between the two. Matters are helped immeasurably by A R Rehman's composition which is haunting, varied and experimental. Rehman tops his own achievement in Slumdog Millionaire with this one. The "Masakali" track is a treat.
Where Mehra stumbles is in his last act dramatic "message". Unlike RDB, where he shocked and inspired audiences with a novel take on revolution, Mehra's theme of communal harmony here seems almost pat. Also, he does not entirely succeed in capturing apni Dilli. Delhi here seems to be a microcosm of India with its communal neighbours residing in an uneasy truce, its superstitious janata, its strict adherence to tradition and ritual. One misses the bustling metropolitan air of a Connaught Place, the elegance of Chankya Puri, the sheer beauty of India Gate, but then Delhi here is only a backdrop for Mehra to take off , it perhaps was never intended to be a character.
Ultimately, like the residents of Delhi 6 you got to admire the movie for what it is. Engaging, colorful, real, if somewhat flawed.
[rating:3.5]
Comments( 18 )
godd review Anirudha but as yet I
godd review Anirudha but as yet I haven't seen the film and have only seen a lot of the promos. I remember hearing about monkeyman and am wondering if it is really true.
Anirudha I meant "good" and not
Anirudha I meant "good" and not "godd."
Thanks Pratik. I would suggest you
Thanks Pratik. I would suggest you watch the movie this weekend itself if you have time. Its a film worth discussing abt and would like to get ur comments on this one.
Somewhere I felt that director was
Somewhere I felt that director was losing the premise. Also the songs were a lil misfit. Overall, nice.
Read the review @
Read the review @ www.alihassanlive.com/totallybollywood
wonderfully written anirudha. I also
wonderfully written anirudha.
I also enjoyed the movie.Superficial simplicity and chastity covering this huge, deep thinking is probably the USP of the movie.
What I find here worth mentioning here is that the Ram Lila sequences that were made to run in parallel with was really great.It was really a great drama.
Classy, innovative, stylish direction is really the bottom line of this movie
Yes Ankush.. the Ram Lile scenes were
Yes Ankush.. the Ram Lile scenes were effective and reminded me of the "documentary within a film" track running parallel in Rang De Basanti!
The ending seemed spatially
The ending seemed spatially restricting. In RDB he had more than one space to play with. The radio station booth with the heroes, the outside, and other parts of the building. More misc-en-scene and intercutting options. In the ending drama of Delhi 6 he has just one space to play with, the area in front of the burning tree. Maybe the drama seems disappointing 'cause the space isn't dynamic enough. All the characters deliver their important dialogs in that same tight space. He can only move out of the space when the story takes him, i.e. when this guy is put in the ambulance. Its Mehra's own doing. In order to establish the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk he has deliberately and throughout the film kept the spaces tight. Even the terrace shots are too low angle for any decent depth. In the end he is unable to bring about a dynamic dramatic climax due to this problem. It would be interesting to analyze what could be done to make such a climax work better.
In establishing Delhi 6 Mehra has completely relied on music montage. He never moves out of that place. But Delhi 6 is not just Chandni chowk and a few shots of Jama Masjid.. Its connection to the rest of Delhi is intricate. And the place itself has much more variety than portrayed. His characters, though fresh and realistic, also seemed too simple and straightforward. But I agree with you, the film is ambitious and brave.
Abhishek's name in the movie was Roshan
Abhishek's name in the movie was Roshan and no Rohit!
Thanks a lot Sidharth for mentioning
Thanks a lot Sidharth for mentioning the correct name of the main protagonist of the film, for the benefit of others. Indeed the character is called Roshan Mehra,Mr. Basu. And i am kinda amused that none of the 7 comments exchanged could spot this error and point it out.
It seems as if all the fellow movie goers got really captivated by the plot of the movie or by the review and could not help but notice that how both Rohit and Roshan are mentioned in one single flow in this same review as his namesakes.
No offences, but i really think that at a website of this stature , if things like these could be avoided.
-N
Hi Siddharth, Thanks for pointing out
Hi Siddharth,
Thanks for pointing out the error, Apologies for that slip. would request my editor to correct that error to avoid any future confusion..
Actually the Ram lila was
Actually the Ram lila was intertextuality of the film...........even we have to understand what "kala bandar" is or who "kala bandar" is............? there are many parts in cinema which we have to discover..........especially remember the starting of the cinema the narration with visuals.............Director was very particular about few things............I find the film better than RDB.............many of you might not agree with this but it's completely my perspective
Anirudha you will not believe this but
Anirudha you will not believe this but I saw the film last night a dn was just thinking of inserting a discussion point in the forum under "Bollywood" section, when I saw the message appear. I rather liked the movie and also Rehman's music and the songs as well. What made me see this movie was also this review - which as I have said is good. So I am now shifting to the forums and inserting a discussion poin there.
Tushar, difficult to say which is
Tushar, difficult to say which is better, thats a matter of personal choice I suppose but I found many similarities in structure and narrative device between the two films, such as the use of a parallel text (Ram Lila in this case, the student film in RDB) and a "passive "outsider forced into action.
Also as said earlier liked the way he attempted to transform the Kala Bandar into a metaphor. Though I think he may not have been 100 percent succesful. As Satyaki said the film became a bit simplistic in the end, perhaps not the best approach for a film so nuanced for the most part.
Pratik- dont know if you would agree but I find this as one of Rehmans best scores in recent times, even better than Slumdog
Aniruddha. I think that Rehman has
Aniruddha. I think that Rehman has produced quite a bit of good music scores from "Rangeela" to this one anf I think it makes it hard to decide which one is his best. I know am American presenter, who was at the Academy Awards in LA and he told me that he felt that the music to "Slumdog," when he watched the movie, made his heart go along with the beats of the music and especially "O Saya" and "Jai Ho."
I liked Rehman's music in "Laagan" and "Swades" and also in "Mangal Pandey - The Rising" as well as in this one and "Slumdog." So I am not really quite sure as to which one I would choose.
Saw the movie today and hated it. What
Saw the movie today and hated it. What a godawful waste of time! Scenes begin abruptly and end even more abruptly. The metaphor of the monkey and the Ram Leela ought to be subtle. Instead Rakesh Mehra does a hack job of inserting them in between scenes. The Hindu-Muslim tension is once again portrayed in a jarring manner.
Mehra seems to have built up his film around a few clever ideas and dialogues. The characters are more caricature-ish than endearing. Songs pop in from nowhere and actors like Om Puri and Rishi Kapoor are wasted.
@ Aniruddha- This of course is one of
@ Aniruddha- This of course is one of the best compositions of Rahman. Honestly i too didn't like Slumdog's scores. He has many worderful songs. Roja.........Taal..........Dil se...........to name a few
@ Devang- You should again go and watch the cinema............Yes, I agree on one thing that songs were not complimentary...........he could've compose different music for backgrounds
Crap movie. Plot was very weak. Now
Crap movie. Plot was very weak. Now they are fighting and now they are not, not convincing enough. And then the stupid twists at the end with the jalebi eating...down right dumb. Can't believe a guy who made the thought provoking RDB made this crap...