Delhi 6 : Bad Deja Vu by Kala Bandar
Delhi 6 Movie Review
Many years ago we all might have heard about the “Monkey man” who was creating panic.We all were hearing and reading about the monkey man in “Doordarshan” and Daily Newspapers.Now we have a film on the character ‘Monkey man’ as ‘Delhi 6′.
The film tries to exploit the Unity in Diversity with the help of the cultural background of Delhi. “Abhisekh Bachchan” is the grandson of “Waheeda Rehman” who’s last wish is to die in her homeland who are currently living in America.Abhisekh Bachchan takes back her grand mother to Delhi there he gets a warm welcome.The rest of the film is about the unity and hatred between religions over some consequences which take place in the city of Delhi.
‘Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’ uses different themes to project his idea on the screen,he uses the ‘Ramayana’,unity and diversity concept, and of course the ‘Kala Bandar’ which is the heart of this film.The love factor also plays an important part in the film which is filmed between ‘Abhisekh Bachchan’ and ‘Sonam Kapoor’.The cast of the film is filled with big names like Waheeda Rehman , Rishi Kappor,Om Puri,Prem Chopra,Atul Kulkarni etc.,.The first half of the film is dedicated to the introduction of the culture,traditions,brotherhood between Hindu’s and Muslim’s in Delhi.The ending of the first half is infused with a scene in which ‘Abhisekh Bachchan’ jumps on the roofs of houses.(Very much inspired from District B 13 )
The second half of the film is used to disturb the equilibrium of the first part and make it look like a plot which we have never heard before.The second half tries very hard to come out the of the first half.At the end we will be witnessing the win of love,unity of Hindu’s and Muslim’s and a cameo.
For me ‘Delhi 6′ is a very poor film.’Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’ tries to present a different story of unity and diversity of India but eventually fails as the story telling has severe loop holes.
The Screenplay leaves us just thinking of the ending scene without allowing us to concentrate on the present ones. Kamlesh Pandey and Prasoon Joshi make you feel disappointed.The entire first half of the film leaves us in very deep contemplation about the plot which eventually turns out nothing.The one thing which i liked most is that the shit shown in Indian TV Channels which is true.
The character ‘Kala Bandar’ looks good in the initial stages of the film but it does not create any good foundation for such a story.
I felt confused with the story and the ‘Kala Bandar’ as they hardly have any kind of attachment with each other.We watch ‘Abhisekh Bachchan’ getting slapped three times,we see Sonam Kapoor dancing with a pigeon,the Ramleelas,the mosque’s,the temples, and the ‘Kala Bandar’ concept but none of them works.There are also some cameo appearances by Anu Malik and Javed Akthar.The music in the film is very good but the songs in the films say to us that these are the only moments which you will enjoy.
Amitabh Bachchan makes a special appearance but that doesn’t make the film look good.I felt like i was watching an Iranian film in which the best part is revealed in the end but ‘Delhi 6′ does not come in that category too.The concept of ‘Kala Bandar’ and ‘Mirror’ looks good but they really don’t fit into ‘Delhi 6′.
Rakesh Omprakash Mehra tries to tell a old story in an innovative way but it lack’s soul which is very crucial for such films.The ‘Kala Bandar’ in us fails to ignite the passion.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
i know ppl who felt exactly as disconnected & aloof from this monkey business.
I am getting increasingly disappointed with all that I read.. I really hope I enjoy and like the film!
At Intermission felt at least 2nd half will make up for the fucked up first half. By end, Bantadhaar. Hugely disappointed. Will watch Dev.D again. or OLLO on DVD.
I thought the monkey man business was just the comedy part of the film. Never thought that the Kaala Bandar would play a role. The movie has taken on more than it can chew and falls really flat. Abhishek should concentrate on his acting and not flaunting various Mototola products! Watch it for A.R.Rahman. Background score is awesome. Dil Gira is the only saving grace for the film, eventhough the songs are a huge hit.
i have only 1 expression for delhi6,simply marvelous!!!!!!.
i don”t think krishan even got a bit of delhi6. he is confused between “kala bandar”, and “ram lila” and has missed the essence of delhi 6.krishna i think u need to re watch it n plz try keeping arundhati n jai chreenjiva out of ur brain .
when the movie got over for around 5 minutes we were speechless n for the next 30mins all we were discussing was delhi6.
this movie had such a profound impact on us that we r again goin for thee night show………
every thing in this movie( let it b the radio,mirror,jaleb-ishop,kalabandar,masabkali,ramlila,amithab bachan,big haveli………etc) were so finely embroidered with the story that we jus can’t find any flaw in it.
all i can say about this review is that either u really have an awkward sense or u r doing a preview writing internship under TARAN ADARSH .
horrible movie…. itz so bad that u might just watch it… laugh at it….is this the same guy who gave us AKS n RDB… such a let down…btwn i would like to know how rakyesh convinced the producers n actors to do sumtin like dis….
@ Anirudh Dubey
–I cant figure out how arundhati n jai chreenjiva came here. (I did not watch Jai chiranjeeva)
–All the best for the night show
–May be i have an awkward sense,may be you can lend me some of your sense
–I am not doing any type of preview writing internship under TARAN ADARSH and i am not interested doing in the future. I may not be good critic,but i have the confidence that i am a not a bad critic.
HAVE A NICE DAY.
A beautiful film.
Hadn’t liked RDB, and as this one started it looked like the disappointment would be repeated. But slowly, without even realising it, one started to fall into the movie.
The weakness of the narrative, unpardonable in any other film, seemed to matter less and less as the movie progressed. The filmmaker was trying to say something and it was getting through. This notion about how we are so mixed with each other. How the idea of India, the idea of making such a hugely diverse and equally touchy people into one complete working whole, is so madcap and noble. Something like a modern Noah’s Ark.
We are living in a time of hate. Everyday we get newer and newer opportunities to hate. So much variety, so much to choose from. In such a time, we are handed a movie clumsily asking us to look in a mirror. Literally. That’s silly, yes, absolutely. But in this silliness there is truth hiding somewhere. A truth about what kind of a people we want to be. What kind of a people we will allow ourselves to be.
Hating is child’s play, loving needs a lot of work. A movie that speaks about this hard work, that’s a rare bird.
The protagonist here has the task of doing the hard work, and by the time the movie ends he has managed to do it. On everybody’s behalf — the people inside the movie and those outside.
Many things stand out in the movie. One is Deepak Dobriyal’s performance.
Dobriyal’s is what I would call a felt performance. He feels it, and the audience feels it with him. (Something similar had been achieved by Atul Kulkarni in RDB. And Kalki Koechlin in Dev D. And Prateik Babbar and Manjari Phadnis in Jaane Tu. And Luke Kenny in Rock On. And Pawan Malhotra and Aditya Shrivastav in Black Friday.)
…Now the best thing about Delhi6. It’s a song by AR Rahman sung by someone called Ash King who doesn’t know Hindi: Dil Gira Dafatan. Seeing it on screen seems like witnessing a cinematic event. It’s unbelievable. The greatest picturised song in the history of Hindi cinema.
Do not miss.
i would like to beg to disagree with the reviewer.the screenplay is pretty similar to rdb.build up fun frolic in the 1st half and then using the resources created for the 2nd half.lol.talking of halves makes me laugh.movie is effective because of the characters.the only thing that doesnt work is probably the ending which seems to be in a hurry and the love angle of roshan which is not very powerful.the song dil mera is easily one of the most well executed songs in terms of concept.hope film makers try to indulge in more concepts like these and not frivilous love stories.
narrative can be of any style.poor exposure to good cinema and lack of awareness of different story telling style make us intolerant to movies” we cant understand”.rakesh omprakash mehra’s story telling takes into consideration that the viewer is smart,aware,intelligent.maybe this is his mistake.wait i think his biggest mistake is that he wants to supplement his idea with great visuals.
its getting tough to call Delhi6 a hit/flop/watchable….Most of the reviews that I have read by viewers and professional reviewers are negative with few praises…..I was eagerly waiting for it and thought all the reviews will be fantastic and will go to theater with enthusiasm to see something great and different type of movie making(something different from AK style!)
But Reviews made me disappointed!….but certain things that I have read is telling me that may be it went beyond some people’s head and people don’t got to see what they expected!
one from TA review “the ending is so abstract that an average moviegoer would find it difficult to comprehend what the actual culmination is”…its really making it interesting!……and why everyone is trying to compare it with RDB?
@vee yes i prefer OLLO instead which shows Delhi without any gimmiks of kala bandhar
I agree with Anirudh and rocky. Probably the timing of the film release is not good that it gets bad reviews ( in PFC and elsewhere ) ;) samajhdaaron ko ishaara kaafi hai :-D
Anyways Rocky, I agre with Deepak’s performance. But what abour Rishi Kapoor ? Nobody is talking about him and verybody is praising his artificial acting in LBC. I think that whatever scenes he has got iN Dilli6, he has turned them into gold. One of his career best performances, IMHO
sorry for many typo errors above.
the screenplay is patchy.. the scenes are abruptly cut, the kala bandar starts getting on your nerves after a while, the story movement is slow, the love story is haphazardly weaved in ,the love story lacks moments , and good dialogues to back it, the culmination is too literal, to direct, and thrown in your face… too preachy… sonam kapur has potential.. but doesnt get to show it.. abhishek b tries too hard with the accent..
either my expectations were too high, am such a huge fan of rakeysh mehra. am very disappointed..
Just saw Delhi 6 last night. It is the most boring film I have seen in my life, as long as I can remember. Saawariya was close. We were 11 of us and all of us were equlally bored. We had to go back to one of the friend’s home and have a drink to take the feeling of irritation away. I even sent 4 or 5 smses to friends that i care about, warning them to avoid the film, for their own good.
What is wrong with the film. Everything. The kala bandar idea is very lame. The so called ‘charcters’ are very cliched and dont arouse any interest. The romance between Abhi and Sonam has no build up, there is no chemistry between them. Abhi is hopeless. His body language, his speech as an NRI is totally unconvincing and uninteresting. AR RAhman’s brilliant soundtrack is wasted, not used to any effect. ( I liked only the Gend Phool sequence and to some extent, the Dil meraa picturization). In RDB too the songs were not lip synced and situational, but what situations! Pathshala, Khalbali, Rubaru, Luka chhupi, Tu bataa, the title song all were brilliantly used.The unending Ramleela sequences were boring and pointless. The whole sequence of Sonam’s rebellion against arranged marriage is outdated, and without nuances of contemporary reality. In a city like Delhi, even in Delhi 6, the scene would be played out much differently. And finally, Kala Bandar. all those scenes of TV coverage, the people’s reaction are a big farce. There is no menace ( a la Signs) or any kind of mood built up. And latly the dilaogues ” Ja. Tujhe tera sapno ka intezar jhai.’ and lines like that, how could Kamlaesh Pandey write these lines with a hangover of Tezaab days? Seeing this a day after Dev D ( my second time) with its crackling lines and insight into contemporary small town behaviour , this was intolerable.
I guess I too will watch Dev D again to get this one out of my system.
KCP,
Yes, Rishi Kapoor was good, as he always has been. Wearing his role with grace. The writers could have given him more to do, put him more inside the conflict instead of leaving him at the margins.
I loved Prem Chopra too, his whole get-up down to the detail of the young bride. The scene at the end where both Chopra and KK Raina are pissing on opposite walls, together, that’s wonderful.
The film has been cast superbly. So many talented people at one place. Even the kids are so natural, especially the younger one. There is no self-consciousness, no sing-song tutored delivery as is usual with child actors in Hindi cinema. ‘Mujhe mard bana do’ sequence is exemplary in this regard.
It’s also very interesting how KK Raina has been used in Mehra’s two back-to-back films. In RDB, he was a chauvinist of a particular persuasion, here in Delhi-6 he transforms into a rabble-rouser of a completely opposite persuasion. Maybe it tells something, possibly without meaning to, that bigotry coming from any source, be it red, green or orange, is the same thing. An equal evil.
Some on who watched this movie without looking too much into metaphors like mirror or Kaala Bandar,it was a disappointing film.As such I knew that it was the story of coming back to roots NRI stuff and expected the usual cliches and I was right,the usual no water in tap,warring relatives,middle class girl who do not want to get married and want to do something in life stuff,Hndu-Musilm brotherhood stuff,inspite of all this oft repeated things I still expected to see something new about Delhi but it was not to be.My main complaint about this movie is that it speaks of a subject which has been handled many times before,but then even if the subject is old wine in new bottle,at least u expect some good writing,something original that was not to be.But some scenes from this film impressed me like those Religious dramas,the way media was going mad about Kaala Bandhar and people’s exaggerated version of their encounter with Bandhar
what is this movie all about?? seeing some of the places on the screen where I used to hang-out as a university student. Still, I don`t understand why Big B don`t advise to his dear son — Beta ,dussra koiye cum-dum kor lieyo ,Acting tumare bossme nahi hai! Anyway ,hamare Hindusthan me hero ka beta hero hi bonta, neta ka beta neta hi bonta.
What a cinematic nonsense! pain in the ass(how to believe RDB was directed by the same dir. or it was ghost directed by Amir Khan)!.
Jai Ho..Slumdog Millionaire!
Delhi-6 is a great, thought-provoking film with a brilliant ensemble of cast and the best technicians the industry has to offer.A great script, real characters who you can relate to…though it’s called Delhi 6, it portrays a generic problem faced by any city…though, North Indians specially Dilliwallahs will surely relate to and love this film.Delhi-6 also has some great music, another masterstroke from AR Rahman, the guy just keeps getting better with every album.Last but not the least, another brilliant film from the ace director, Rakeysh of RDB fame…great cinematic experience.
Everyone’s got so used to being served in a platter that they have lost the mind to go ahead and smell the food cooking. That’s exactly what happened to the people who went to see ‘Delhi 6′. they didn’t get the usual platter of excitement. That’s more of because of your ‘used to’-ness to certain typical typecast ways of unwinding a story.
Rakyesh Omprakah Mehra has told a story with all its intricacies and beauty. Every single character is superb. Even Om puri was remembered as only the character than the person himself.
People.. learn to wake up and smell the coffee than get used to being served on right on your face. Otherwise, soon you would be needing assistants to chew food for you too.
I have only one word to describe the movie, “AWESOME”
Hey guys what do u want in a movie…typical naach gaana around trees….come out of it, this movie clearly depicts the diversity in the life of us Indians…the director really got the message thru. We are talking about some sensible movie here.
I remember that story, nice incorporation of the real story in movie but with other angle.