Delhi-6 – “Why and Why not”
( Spoiler alert- beware those who are yet to watch the movie)
Initially I did not have any idea to review or write anything on Delhi-6. After all I had seen the movie on the day of release, found it to have some interesting moments, great music and excellent camera work- but that was all to it. Also with so many others writing about it I did not really feel I would write anything new on the movie. But I write this now for a special reason- I’ve just finished seeing the movie once again & what’s prompted me to do it is my fellow PFC author Amanda’s write- up on the movie
(Check out- http://passionforcinema.com/a-collection-of-thoughts-on-delhi-6/ )
So impressed was I with the write-up that I felt the movie deserved a re-visit from my side & so I did exactly that.
So now that I’ve done it, has my opinion changed? Do I think the movie works or do I still feel the same? Well to be honest rather than blindly answering these questions I would say that I’ve been able to understand the movie & ROM’s thought process much better now after seeing it again.
Here’s why I think the movie needs to be seen-
• Music by ARR is simply brilliant- each song speaks for itself
• Binod Pradhan’s camera work stands out- excellent
• Level of detailing done by ROM is amazing- check out the scene when
Abhishek after landing in India reaches home & wants to go the loo. Just when he is about to go in with a bucket in his hand, he gets a call from his mom. Check out the way Abhishek shows his discomfort by bending his legs repeatedly 
• Deepak Dobriyal, Atul Kulkarni and Vijay Raaz stand out impressively in their
portrayals of their characters among the phenomenally impressive supporting
star cast.
• Lots of brilliant moments- though Om Puri & Pawan Malhotra are not in good terms, when Waheeda Rehman is being taken to the hospital, Pawan says Lodhi
Hospital & Om Puri in turn asks people to move to Lodhi Hospital.
• Both brothers are seen to be having their daily quota of drinks in the same manner at the same time with just a wall separating them- amazing
• Amidst all the drama when Abhishek’s heart stops while the ambulance gets stuck and the doctor is trying to revive him- watch out for Vijay Raaz & Deepak Dobriyal. Deepak is handcuffed and slowly Vijay Raaz lets him go – nice gesture and very well shown
• The scene towards the end when Prem Chopra and K.K.Raina both attend to a nature’s call in a gali & then become friendly again putting the blame on ‘kaala bandar’ was interesting
• The way Atul Kulkarni keeps imitating the baba ( Akhilendra Mishra) by saying-baba sab theek kar dega- ok was simply hilarious
Here’s why I think the movie somehow doesn’t deliver what it promised-
• The character of Roshan played by Abhishek takes a long time for the audience to take a liking to. Initially he plays the typical NRI who finds everything interesting around him. It’s only when he stops fooling around with his Motorola phone that he begins to look serious enough.
• Bittu (Sonam Kapoor) comes across as an unconvincing character. Fine she wants to be an Indian Idol, but why would she be so dumb to want to run away with a nukkad wala, especially when she has some feelings for Roshan?
• The ending looked very forced and very clich'©d
• From the very beginning the movie was projected more as a revisiting of one’s roots based on ROM’s experiences during his childhood/youth in childhood, but the movie is much more than that and is full of metaphors and has a larger story to tell- but something that the people at large cannot decipher so easily.
• While the movie has plenty of interesting moments like the one’s mentioned above, overall the film does look disjointed and the message seems to be conveyed in a very convenient way and hence doesn’t look very convincing.
• I was lucky enough to be able to see someone’s passion and thus get passionate myself and go watch the movie again. How many such people would want to do the same? ROM & UTV believe that there are many who would do that- it’s a point that I would vehemently debate.
All in all I would say ROM has his heart in the right place as far as Delhi-6 is concerned, but the way he has executed the same leaves a lot to be desired. A collage of interesting moments, great music and excellent camera work, it falls short of making me satisfied with the overall product.
Tags: A.R.Rahman, Abhishek Bachchan, Atul Kulkarni, Binod Pradhan, deepak dobriyal, K..KRaina, Pawan Malhotra, Prem Chopra, Raykesh Om Prakash Mehra, Sethumadhavan, Sonam Kapoor
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Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
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Onir
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Sam Langoria
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Bang on! I echoed pretty much the same sentiments on my blog too.
I’m happy to hear you’ve seen the film again
Nice write-up–you do a good job of expressing your thoughts regarding why D-6 “doesn’t deliver what it promised” without ignoring some of the film’s plus points.
It was pretty awesome how you decided to revisit the movie. Most people are loathe to change their opinions, once made, about anything.
I thought it was a really well-rounded post. And made me actually think about the weaknesses a little more critically. Just, the Bittu thing – Cyrus’ character was going to take her to Mumbai, so she could actually compete in Indian Idol. It would have been more foolish and risky to run off alone. But, I think her obsession with Idol was just about her obsession with escaping the stifling prospects of a domesticated life in Delhi-6. With someone like Roshan who wouldn’t curtail her freedoms, she could explore other possibilities – so she didn’t run away at the end. But because he wasn’t expressing his feelings for her, she had no option but to leave before her parents married her off to some random guy they picked.
very well-explored article. as anushka says, i too felt bittu’s decision was more to do with the ‘getting-away’ from the immediae prospect of getting married to someone of her dad’s choice, andthat wud have been the end of all her dreams. indian idol, IMO, is just a metaphor for her to be someone in the world, as she says,” Indian Idol kisi bhi nobody ko somebody bana sakta hai”.
but the moment roshan professes his love to bittu, she decides to to stay back, and support him in his efforts to ‘become’ kaala bandar and save a decidedly looming communal riot to break.
cyrus’s character also wants to get away from the mundane life of a fringe, small-time photographer, and he keeps finding ways to live his own dreams of a bigger & better life, which he finally vindicates by way of deciding to run away with lala’s wife.
i thought all the characters were well-rounded in the limited scope that ROM had at his disposal. the biggest test to that is that those who have watched the movie can all write a character-sketch of any/all of the characters, be it the two kids with their fascination of growing-up or the angst that dobriyal’s character feels when his shop is gutted by hindus.
Sethu: Quite a gutsy move man.. to admit a shift in POV(though a small shift) :-)
And quite an honest post. Great job. And I think you’ll do a great job writing about a variety of things (like movie marketing, for example – that was a good one!)than stick to only immediate movies. Lesser writers like me have no option, though :-(
SL- gr8, should check your blog soon.
Amanda- thanks for the feedback, glad you liked the write-up
Anushka,Jha- Yes what you say sounds logical
Anand- thanks & what with this lesser writers dude?
Sethu: What I meant was I definitely cannot write something like movie marketing. I stick to reviews, scenes that I enjoyed and “list” posts!!
You have hit the nail on the head…..agree 200% with u…..
Like Sethu I watched the movie after Amandas post.
This time I went alone, so as to not be influenced by comments passed by friends….2300 show at City Centre Deira, Dubai. I managed to get there at the last minute and thght I’d have a hard time getting a “good” ticket, but to my utter surprise, the moviehall was almost deserted, but for a few young couples (who I’d imagine didn’t care much abt wut was goin on on the screen), so I stepped into an empty theatre and sat myself right in the centre.
Watched Delhi6 again, with an eye for details, metaphors, visual excellence, subtlely and for the brilliant acting. Yes I am convinced I did miss a few gems the first time I viewed it…BUT….well here is my scene by scene observations…
1) Roshan and Waheedaji enter the house, the taps running dry….the reliable mother earth pump is sarcastically brought into action, did anyone notice the cobwebs on the handpump? I think the symbolism of the dry municipality tap was lost, how do you justify the “regular” use of the handpump due to the irregular tapwater supply if the handpump itself has cobwebs on it? Attention to detail certainly lost.
2)When Lalaji donated chanda at the ram leela, he actually picked change back from the thali!! Brilliantly done, that for me gave me a far better understanding of lalajis character than the “dhahej” scene.
3)Dadi forcing Roshan to eat the chilly…scene d
didn’t work for me, how on earth does someone trick u into “taking a bite” chillies dont get bitten on their own u know. If it was a laddoo..it works…chillies mein nahin chalta yaar….chewing is not a involuntary response!!
4)The cow scene when dadi needs to be taken to the hospital was ridiculously projected. Can someone explain why a manual rickshaw was called to take dadi to the hospital in a rush? Some might argue its delhi6, the lanes r not big enough…fast fwd to last scene, a beaten to death roshan needs to be taken to hospital…and a freakin ambulance arrives right on time…waahhh…how convenient.
5) Rehna tu…absolutely no doubt..brilliant!! I wish they focused a bit more on the visuals of delhi and less on the game of pool. but then..mediocrity is what we r settling for anyway.
6) The motherboard joke by pawan malhotra..hmmm, maybe finding humour in the intellectual incapacity of the commoner is someone elses cup of tea, for me it doesn’t work. Silly jokes r best left to Govinda…atleast he doesn’t preach.
7) Roshan has total access to everyones house, even bittu’s bathroom. The scene where she walks out of the bath…wouldn’t a middle class, supposedly dumb (she did wanna run away with the sleazy photographer for her indian idol dream) girl react to that. it was way too cool of her to not scream and yell and create a tamasha. but then….hmmmm…i guess she doesn’t have the acting chops for it..cut..baby we’ll cut it here…writer..thoda adjust karle
8) Which brings me to sonam kapoor (Bittu),. the character was put together haphazardly. I wont go thru the same rhetoric that everyone else has posted here…but here r a few scenes where she had plenty of scope to showcase her talent (and ROM had a super chance to extract some emotion and get the audience to empathise with her)
Masakalli song…when shes dancing with the dove on her head, her steps r too “rehearsed”, she didn’t come across carefree…..i dnt suggest anyone go back to the movie just for this scene, just watch the trailor…u’ll know what I mean
also…When Rama tells her how selfish she is and she snaps back about how rama was wasting her life, I think there was a good splitsecond change of expression needed before she went…sorry sorry sorry. There is no emotion on her face, just dialogue delivery. The scene cud have been alot more impactful if she used expression instead…I’d say its the directors failure, or maybe the lack of talent. Bittu comes across more irritated than frustrated in most of the scenes. The howler of a yell after Last Kala Bandar gets beaten up scene…god..someone send her to acting school…pronto!!
9) Lack of talent is evident in Abhisheks potrayal of an NRI returning home. His english is so strangely accented, yet his Hindi is perfect. An accent is not language specific, infact its far more pronounced in a non native language, in this case hindi. This guy really needs to work hard, too much has been handed on a platter to him. Amitach Bachchan needs to stop defending his movies (on his blog he compares D6 to SMD, now even all you biased UTV employees would find it hard to justify that!!).
The rapping was overdone.
Why is an foreign return “cultured” guy jumping buildings like spiderman? Notice it starts right on the dot of interval, almost put in as a second thought to justify the last “kala bandar” scene.
The argument with dadi was enacted exactly the way his argument with rani mukherjee in KANK was enacted, just a loud scream..nothing in the eyes but rage…hmmm…frustration is the emotion here, not rage.
10) The Baba scene was funny, till Atul Kulkarni started overdoing the OKAY thing. it was funny, but scene badalne se pehle usne joke puraana kar diya, saying the same thing over and over again…is dat humour? From my 2 visits to this movie, what I gathered is that people were laughing in relief from the boredom rather than wit or humour, and even this was far and in between.
11) I absolutely hate the way the movie trivialised the Babri Masjid Controversy! Indian Film makers need to be more sensitive or atleast project it well…ridiculing the peoples motive is just not called for!
12) The “Fakir” was very badly casted.
13) Atul Kulkarni being sent to fetch “kale bandar ka baal”..did anyone notice the superman tshirt? Hehehe…I liked it alot…hes a complete wimp in a superman tshirt. Good sense of humour this. Now dats subtlety!! Finally!
14) Bittu and Roshans romance was…half baked. It specially didn’t make any sense when roshan blurts, “mein tumhare bin aadha adhura hoon”…really? Kyon? One minute shes running away with the photographer, next minute shes madly in love with roshan…
I dont want to elaborate on the Kala Bandar bit…enough of that already. Does not work
I think my best moment on the movie came after the movie got over…endcredits…watch Pawan Malhotras “Mirror” scene, its absolute magic! Change of expressions, change of body language…the connect with himself!! Superb! I think it just goes to show how great such talent was wasted in this movie.
Similarly to sum up Abhisheks Character…Watch his endcredit mirror enactment, can he quit the rapping already, it was cool in bluffmaster, now its just overkill!
Lastly can someone explain why showing backward and poor mumbai is wrong but potraying a whole indian middle class as regressive is alright? Double standards? Hypocracy? Or is the movie just unimportant…even with its message?
I completely agree – the movie has fabulous metaphors which, if watched attentively, is quite a revelation.
I believe that ROMP’s DELHI 6 is an answer to Danny’s Slumdog. To have a common story appealing to most parts of the country without depending on senseless comedies and item numbers needs a great balance.
Vinod Agarwal – recommends FILMARE for SLUMDOG to shoot MUMBAI the way it never was.(26/11 not intended)
@the_other_pov
You hit the nail on the head. Great write up.
I hated the movie for almost the same reasons and more.
Its superficial, disjointed, preachy and more than anything regressive.
I guess ROM still has a RDB hangover.
Though I have seen the movie only once, I am surprised that ROM succeed in packing those 150 mins with visuals without a story ! The film is to be watched only for great supporting characters, detailing and cinematography and music…There is no story only episodes joined together without cohesion.
@the_other_pov
great observation but would like to correct some things:
1) If u remember the scene, the house has been locked for years and is opened by Roshan thus a dry Tulsi plant and cobwebs on the hand pump. Detail up to the mark.
2)When Dadi has to be taken to hospital its daytime with all the hustle and bustle on the roads, but when Roshan is all in blood, its dark and there is no problem in plying an ambulance. (This is when I stretch my imagination and think that ROM must have thought the same otherwise u might b correct)
And one thing that u have not mentioned but struck a chord with me is the character of Jalebi-the sweeperess. Divya Datta did an amazingly brilliant job in the portrayal of this char. All her scenes have been deftly handled.
I think everybody’s expectations were too high from ROM and that too after just one movie. Now 2 out of 3 films he has made have flopped. Next time around, we won’t expect that much and things are always better that way. The same thing happened with Farhan after DCH.
It’s funny when you read some of the interviews he and AB jnr gave before the movie – as to how Mehra always felt AB jnr is the guy for this role and how AB jnr was so floored after reading the script that he begged ROM to cast him…ha ha ha.
The movie is too preachy……..why on earth did ROMP had AB Jr tell us about the mirror thing ,and why the painful monologue in the end ,does ROMP think that the junta are retards and everything that is shown on screen needs a narrative along with it.
Also Sonam was under utilized ,more like not utilized at all. If ROMP had just limited the movie to a simple love story it would have been great ,but no we have to listen to a lecture and that too after paying 200 bucks.
He just took the audience for granted.
[i]but why would she be so dumb to want to run away with a nukkad wala, especially when she has some feelings for Roshan?[/i]
because..
1. She was just a kid(eminent after seeing the movie)
2. She was not sure of Roshan’s feeling towards him..(as she mentioned towards the end”tum bhi to mujhe chhod ke America chale jaoge)
3. She was a GIRL..
I dint get why Roshan had to be dressed up like KAALA BANDAR, (was it his dream beacause of which he bought the dress and..might require a second viewing but even then it was out of place)
Hi Sethu
First congrats on you becoming a PFC author.
And this dilli 6 post is a nice one.
I didnt quite like the movie though it did have its good moments as you mentioned. Guess ROM had too many concepts in hand and couldnt blend them together. but he sure holds promise.
And keep up your good work!
@Prabhu
I somewhat agree with ur observations now. SpotOn about the cobwebs…I was under the impression that this was a chawl kinda setup so usually the handpump and the tulsi is “sarvajanik”. Obviously I’m comfusing Bombay and Delhi here…but the truth is…if there is a running pump with water…it will be utilised in India. I just cant comprehend how it can be left for the spiders.
I didn’t mention Jalebi coz I wanted to focus away from the obvious. Divya Dutta was brilliant, hers was the only character IMHO dat was etched out perfectly.
@ Gayathri-
Thanks a lot.Please do read my write-up on Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu & the one on Malayalam cinema too in case you are interested.