Delhi 6: I want my money back…
iView Author: Anand (Chennai, India)
Email: With held
Delhi 6: I want my money back….
For those of you who think that this a review which bashes the film…you are bound to be disappointed. It is not. For the others, here we go.
I have had a couple of drinks and I am angry. The laptop is in front of me and I want to type furiously venting out my anger. I was in Pune on Thursday and Delhi-6 was playing in the nearby multiplex..It was a paid preview but it wasn’t Inox and so I did not want to take a chance. You see, I had already booked my tickets at Satyam Chennai for today. You see, the film is important to me, but so is the entire experience of movie watching.
I went with a lot of expectations and the movie did not let me down, but the experience of watching the film was dreadful. Mostly it was a college going crowd, but in terms of behaviour, I suspect they were illiterate. They were booing, did not understand one bit of the film, they were restless and they spoiled the day for me.
I want to ask a few questions to them. Why is a plot so necessary for a film? Did you not understand that this film is about characters? To start with, let us take the character of Ali. When Roshan leaves his mobile phone in the car when he enters the house for the first time, and his mother, Fatima calls him and Ali picks up the phone(to hand it over to Roshan) and he sees the photo of Fatima, did you notice the change in his expression? Later on, when he confides to Roshan that he was in love with Fatima, did you notice that he was uncomfortable and quickly changed the topic to how Roshan’s father loved Fatima against all odds and won her over? The character of Dadi! Why, she is so sure of what she wants. She knows she is dying, she wants to die in Delhi 6. She knows she is dying, she goes shopping for it. And she knows exactly what product she wants. And no, she does not believe in bargaining. “Khush Raho, Lala” is what she says, paying what she thinks is right for the product. And in the beautiful scene where Roshan questions ‘Uparwalah’s haath’ in the scheme of things, she just makes him speechless with her words ” Yeh hamara vishwas hai, beta”. Did you even notice the consistency in her character?
Madan Gopal and Jai Gopal..we do not know why they have fought. We know they have built a wall in between their homes! And what a love-hate relationship they share. When Madan donates Rs.20/-, Jai donates Rs.50/-! When Jai talks about water entry creating a short circuit in a circuit, Madan simply admonishes the logic (His grandson says that the logic is right, even his teacher told him the same thing)Yet in the last scene when Kala Bander makes an appearance, he tells people to carry water to make the beast powerless! And the puja scene where they compete in praising the Lord! Did you not like it?
Bittoo….I know you loved her, you welcomed her entry on screen with Taalis. But I know that those taalis are for Sonam and not for Bittoo. And I know you got disappointed with the amount of screen time she has. But can’t you understand that the Director wanted to treat her character like any other in the film? That the Director did not see her as a heroine? And the remarkable scene inside the Taj Mahal, when Roshan wants to call out her name, but is surrounded by the kids, so he says” Guys, Check this out!” and he shouts “Echo” and then he shouts her name and she laughs!! Have you seen a more romantic scene in the last few months? Or, “Raj..Naam to suna hoga” kind of romantic scenes have made you numb towards real romance?
Kala Bandhar..! Listen, you guys go to college, study lot more complicated stuff..Can you not understand a simple metaphor? There are so many clues throughout the film. Did you not see them?.
Fine..you did not get the film..so you did not enjoy it. May be you like your Silambattams and Villus and Aegans and Padikathavans. Good for you. You like what you like and I do not want to get judgemental about it. But what right do you have to spoil MY show? I loved the film and I have paid money to watch it and I am entitled to watch it in total silence. Why do you have to boo if you are dumb enough not to get a scene? Why do you have to boo when you are dumb enough to think that all good films have a plot? Why do you have to boo when you are dumb enough only to appreciate three act structures?
I hope you grow up and not create a nuisance for others.
I only hope that
‘Baba sab theek kardega, okay?’
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
Anand- I saw it myself on friday night @ Sathyam main screen.Luckily for me I didnt have the kind of experience that you had.The movie did not work in totality for me, I found it a bit too disjointed & the ending was just too much.But yes it had its individual moments & ARR & Binod Pradhan’s work shone very well.But all said & done I empathise with you very well.Its irritating to see such behaviour from people.Ok a joke or funny comment once in a while is still fine, but anything beyond that is too much.Sometime ago I had a similar experience with a group of people while watching Heroes in Woodlands, Chennai.After a while I literally asked the people to shut their trap !!! just treat it as a bad day dude, hope it doesnt happen again.
LOL..nice review!..and all my sympathies are with you! I missed the romantic scene that you describe-the part where he says Bittoo..But I do agree that the scenes between Roshan and Bittoo were subtle yet effective..I have to watch this film again to make sure I didn’t miss more such moments..
‘Baba sab theek kardega, okay?’
OKAY!
Sethu: It was a bad day. I guess I was upset because it was Satyam, my favourite!
Lavanya: Thanks!
“Khush Raho, Salik!” :-)
Very rarely do we see badly behaved crowds in satyam. As you said it should have been a bad day..
The worst audience that I have come across is in Delhi…they talk on the phone , talk with ech other and if that’s not enough sometimes they talk to themselves…Across all the metro’s I think this is one city which desperatley needs some movie viewing etiquette. Recently saw LUCK BY CHANCE at PVR Priya..and it was a hellish experince…be it SATYAM, PVR, BIG CINEMAS or single screen halls …movie going most of the times is not a very pleasant experince in saddi dilli.
Well do not you think you are trying to generalise by saying that college students do not like metaphorical movies or they want only run of kind stories and you are some Intellectual whose job is tell college going mortals like us how to enjoy movie.
@Tridipm,
I agree with mobile phone terror in cinema halls.But i guess it is kind of okay if you are watching movie like kidnap, where conversations of other people on mobile are interesting.
But when it is a good movie, then it just spoils the fun.
Height of this terror is when you are watching English Movie, there some hindi tone starts to ring .
Talk about annoying film crowds dude…
Change in expression makes a movie great… I have seen the change in expression by so many in so many movies.. De-Taali, Tashan, U Me aur Hum… They all are great U say??
wonderfully written piece, anand. i personally loved the two kids too and the whole cigarette and jalebi scenes, the falling brick kickstarting the ancient radio… too many such moments. Cheers Shridhar
KPV Balaji: It is not the whole crowd, a group of about 30 – 40 college students – really annoying!
cinemausher: Okay dude(or gal – cant make out your gender from your name)..I may be a moron trying to pose as an intellectual..You tell me, How to enjoy movie? By whistling and booing when you get bored of the film? You have also mentioned in your next comment that if the movie is good, it spoils the fun. Who decides that the movie is good?
Vee: Good logic, I am speechless!!
shridhar raghavan: Loved all the scenes that you mentioned. Mard Banao was a firecracker!!
@Vee-Terrible logic dude, if that’s what you made out after reading the article, then great going!
Anand-Good job dude!liked it
As far as my personal experience goes, the most troubling lot comes when a group of guys and girls turn up and the guys try too hard to impress the girls by shouting some lame stupid one liners :P
Jehan Handa: Thanks Man!
KPV Balaji: Absolutely.It also happens when a group of guys and girls turn up and they are in a great mood, so irrespective of the quality of the film, they keep making comments. It happened with us when we watched Mouna Ragam 20 years back. When Mohan told Revathi that this house is made up of bricks and cement, and it is in her hands too turn it into a home, one of the guys commented,” Boss is a civil Engineer”!!
‘Very rarely do we see badly behaved crowds in satyam. As you said it should have been a bad day..’
Maybe they were bored and irritated by the film beyond tolerance. I was bored and irritated. Wanted to boo, but did not, because as you rightly said, I had no right to spoil things for others who could be enjoying it.
We could all see plot is not the thing, but characters and moments. But the characters here were so contrived and boring, what could one do? I could sense what the scene at Taj Mahal was meant to do. But Abhishek Bachchan didn’t make it happen. And that was true for so many scenes.
Hum Aap Ke Hain Koun..!had no great plot, but the moments were savoured. Hrishikesh Miherjee’s Anand had no plot. But we all savoured the moments. And we did that in Bawarchi. We could relate to the basti characters in Katha, plot or no plot. The fact isa, any which way you have to connect with audience, and Mehra failed to do that big time, this time.
hey Anand It interesting to note that you have watched mouna ragam in a theatre.dude u must be very lucky and old too…..:)……….This is one my favourite movies ,and seeing revathi on big screen with all her innonence is quite a chance.
BTW nice article,quite misleading title……..It happened to me also in Mayajal for jodha akbar,quite irritating to say the least.
Ratna: I was lucky and I was in school then..so there!! :-)
Title was deliberately kept that way to catch eyeballs.
Utkal: I know your POV on the film quite well now, thanks to your comments in PFC and BR’s site. It worked for me big time.
@Utkal: “The fact isa, any which way you have to connect with audience, and Mehra failed to do that big time, this time.”
I believe the fact is that “a movie has to connect with the audience” but it is your opinion that “Mehra failed to do that big time”
I did feel IMHO, like many others, that Mehra’s characters were relatable. I liked how the film was so full of metaphors and except the last 10 mins where I felt Mehra succumbed to the commercial interests, I felt the movie was thoroughly gripping and entertaining.
‘Baba sab theek kardega, okay?’ LOL!
really nice write-up, Anand!
@Utkal Mohanty
I am in complete awe of your perseverance. It’s so hugely inspiring. Gives one courage to go out and fight for justice till one’s last last last breath. This is exactly how India was wrested away from the British, by this single-minded, tough-thinking, Arjuna-like approach to a unique goal.
Mohanty man, you rock!
Amanda: Thanks.
deven: LOL! But seriously, as long as one maintains dignity in his/her arguments, whats wrong? He/she will lose the interest of the reader automatically if he/she fails to bring new POV to the table every time.
Yes, Deven, in spite of the danger of not being popular in intellectual forums and close-knit film communities, I labour on, because I believe a strong critical canon is essential for the growth of quality cinema. And I am passionate about that. I believe that in India there are filmkaers capable of and willing to create god cinema. There is an audience for good cinema. But the critical community is hugely sub-standard. When a film like Delhi 6 or is put on the same platform as Dev D, I think it does singular disservice to the latter. Similarly when Saawariya or Drona are put on the same platform as No Smoking, the cause of experimental cinema sufers. I would like Delhi 6 do reasonably well so that such out-of-the-box themes get a chance to be ytranslated to film, but not so well that people like Mehra get lazy and more rooted efforts like Dev D or Swades gets relegtaed.
The other concern is effusive praise where is is not due does more harm to filmmakers than good. I think undeserved acclaim for Black led to Saawariya. Indulgence of Salaam-e-Ishq le to Chandno Chowk to China.
Se, I believe Delhi 6 has lofty ambitions which are applause worthy…ensemble cast, vignettes of everyday life creating a charming portrait of a city, weaving in social concerns into this background, and using a relatable metaphor to hammer home a strong message. But it is clear to see that it has all been lost in translation..from concept to execution. and I feel it is my duty to point that out.
Utkal: Like any good comment, your comment has compelled me to reply. Is there something really called a good film? I think it is a myth. A good film is nothing but a point of view.
Let us take two examples. Two films and two critics. Rajeev Masand and Baradwaj Rangan. No smoking and Ghajini. While Baradwaj’s comments on NS were positive, Rajeev listed it amongst the worst of 2007. While Baradwaj did not care about Ghajini, Rajeev called it a celebration of dumbness.
So you think that Delhi 6 has lost something in translation. And I think that it is a great film which lost way only towards the end. So who is right? Nobody. Your POV is yours and mine is mine.
But where I disagree is here. I would put my efforts in singing praise about a film which worked for me; and I would not put efforts in trashing a film which did not work for me. And to me that is passion for cinema. But obviously you think otherwise. Leave Delhi 6 for a while and let me know why it is necessary to spend so much of efforts in thrashing a film. (especially a film which, according to you, has lofty ambitions that are applause worthy).
For me Delhi6 was an average movie.But I would like to compare audience reaction of Ghajini and Delhi6.In case of Ghajini the kind of boos and laughter author mentioned here were not there.Audience were stunned by the movie and were really enjoying it where as in case of Delhi6 that was not the case.Personally Ghajini remains one of worst movies I have seen in my life,but u also have to take into consideration the reality.Delhi6 may be full of metaphors and stuff like that but it couldn’t connect to average audience and the result is there to see.I don’t know whether I am only person who experienced it ,but sound recording was not proper and I couldn’t catch many of the dialogues.
Anand, I agree with you only partly. I think, both, singing praise of a film one works for you and thrashing one that doesn’t, are part of being passionate about films. Though I agree one should be a little more temperate in thrashing a film, considering how tough it is to make one.
But if you notice, I have spent more energy in pointing out anomalies in critical standards than about the films themselves. I think Rajeev Masand did a bad job in his review of No Smoking and Ranga in his reviews of Drona, Saawariya and Chandni Chowk and Delhi 6. Having subjective preferences is one thing, but as a critic you have a responsibility. Filmmakers and critics have to learn from audience reactions. When Sharath says the audience sat with rapt attention during Ghajini, thee must have been something in the narrative technique that worked. So instead of being stuck in our pre-conceived notion abiut what is god cinema one should leave one’s mind open, willing to learn from anywhere. I personally have learnt from Hum Aapke Hain Koun! about how one can hold an audience for more than 3 and half hour without a plot ( Fortunately there are people like Mira Nair who learnt that lesson as well and managed to turn out Monsoon wedding. And what is more remarkable, she was honest and brave enough to admit the debt.)
Anand,
Where do I send a blank cheque for your # 28?
No sarcasm dude, I am so glad you said what you said.
Santosh Kumar T K: Thanks! Try funding PFC :-)
Utkal: Again two examples – All critics slammed a small film called Hulla. Result -whatever chances the movie had went for a toss. It was a small film which depended only good reviews and good word of mouth.
All critics loved Luck By Chance – did it even marginally increase the chance of the film?
So I would say critics need to be responsible, only while trashing a film (especially small ones).
All part of a movie going experience IMO. The college going guys and girls (we all were at some point in time) have every right to enjoy a movie as they see fit. This thing isn’t anything new, happens all over the world and has been for generations. Generally if I don’t like the hooting, I just take it in my stride, shut my ears to it and watch the damned movie. I don’t hesitate to troll a film if I find it ridiculous either. All part of the game. I think we tend to take our movies too seriously and don’t have any sense of humour about these things.
And yeah, I thought Delhi-6 was a lousy movie. It was terribly obvious for most part and incredibly campy and hilarious in others. If you liked it, great. But I see a lot of Delhi-6 fans unable to get over the fact that people could actually dislike it and worse still, make fun of it. The fact is, your opinion is just as good as anyone else’s. Get over it and move on.
utkal, even after deven’s hilarious post – if u cant take the hint, i think your views reeks of arrogance, that only ur view about a certain film is right and everybody else is wrong.
Frankly, it is not about being intellectually courageous (which i presume that u think are), but more akin to simple bullying.
I will put ur statement on the same podium as fundamentalists arguing that their view of art is right – that all “modern art” denigrates religion. That’s because they can’t see the other side, or just dont want to – blissfully happy in the rightness of their own views.
I can totally relate to you. I had the misfortune of going to see “Lagaan” in Vashi Mumbai with a a group of 10 tamilians. (I am not being anti-tamil or any other regions. Indians are all alike). The main reason they came to see the movie was to hear AR Rahman’s songs. Since the guys couldnt understand much of the scenes, they were talking and booing most of the times. People sitting adjacent to us were quite annoyed. There is a scene where Aamir is upset about losing the ball. These guys started passing comments about all kinds of “balls”. There was a tamilian family sitting in the row behind us and they were feeling so let down. A man from the group asked the guys to keep shut and not shout expletives. But the guys started booing and tried to irritate him. I felt bad at that time but when I look back now I feel terrible about the kind of behaviour.
@cinemausher,
Cinemausherji, you must be one of those ’spoilt’ brats with plenty of Dad’s money to burn. I have come across many like you and they have ended up spoiling MY show, too. I think the only way you guys will ever learn to respect the feelings of other people is when you’re suddenly left to fend for yourselves, without a rupee in your pocket. When we spend a couple of hundereds on a multiplex ticket for 2-3 hrs of entertainment, we’re spending our hard earned money, dude. Learn to respect that before you boo, talk on your mobiles or create any other kind of nuisance.
Anand, i had that experience some time back, when i watched Disclosure in a theater. Looking at the poster, people thought it was a Basic Instinct kinda flick, with lots of sleazy scenes and all. They were quite disappointed when the movie turned out to be a legal drama, more dialogue based. And soon off they started hooting so much that i missed the dialogues. Fortunately after couple of days, the theater was not too full, and i watched the movie in peace, getting all the dialogues. I was also fortunate to watch Forrest Gump in a near empty theater, else wud have missed out on most of the Gumpisms.
I saw Delhi 6, in a single screen theater, here in my home town of Vizag, and audience response was pretty good actually. Not much hooting, and they thoroughly enjoyed the jokes and all. For me it was not too great a movie, it had some good moments, and great performances, but appeared far too disjointed.
I think Delhi -6 is a fantastic & Brilliant movie. in the line of Rang De….absolutely thought provoking. The pace of the movie cant be compared with rang de.. as the plots were different . . .
Delhi6 is for a mature audience, with a eye for detail & lots of Metaphors not just the “Kala Bunder” Its a well crafted piece of Art….I would say to go ahead & watch the movie.
Its worth 4****
@Mohanlal,
Read my post carefully i have spoken about nusiance of mobile phones.
Regarding Multiplex, sir i am not not from Rich India, infact i come from Darkness, i watch movie at single screen Like Anand ,Jai ganesh or New Shrin.
@ Kiku – “All part of a movie going experience IMO. The college going guys and girls (we all were at some point in time) have every right to enjoy a movie as they see fit.”
Sorry, Kiku, but I don’t buy that. As a college-goer, I have never ‘enjoyed a movie’ this way. If I have found any movie crappy, that has never made me behave like a hooligan. People who don’t like a movie can just walk out, can’t they? I have done so, many times. Whoever gave college students the right to enjoy a movie as they seem fit? They do so because they’re usually in a big group, and that gives them ‘confidence’. Have you ever seen a lone college student behave this way? He knows he would be booted out, so he will keep his trap shut.
Actually, this ‘being bold in a group’ thing can be witnessed just about anywhere, not just in a cinema hall. I have seen such nincompoops in many places, like for instance, at the zoo. Screaming, making faces, taunting, even throwing pebbles… you’d think the cages should be around them and not around the animals.
So Kiku, please don’t tell us that college-goers have the right to have their fun any which way they can. Being very young doesn’t give you the license to behave obnoxiously.
@Anand,
Hulla was a bad movie, it had an interesting concept but the execution was wrong.
See we can not discriminate films based on budget, but we can surely on good and bad film.
See every fimmakers intention may be to make a good film, but it is not necessary that intention translates into execution.
Delhi-6 fails at execution level.
@Utkal,
You rock
@Mohanlal,
If people can clap if they like a movie or scene, then it is there fundamental right to boo if they do not like.
I do not like wailing babies in cinema hall, they are meant to stay at home or schools
@ cinemausher,
“If people can clap if they like a movie or scene, then it is there fundamental right to boo if they do not like.”
No way, Cinemausherji, I don’t agree. While I’m not the kind who claps even if a scene is tremendously thrilling, I must say that clapping, cheering, laughing out loud are all reactions from an audience that’s hooked to a film. Everyone’s enjoying it and as long as nobody overdoes it(like fans of Rajnikant who throw coins or dance on seats), that’s fine with me.
But if you don’t like a movie which others may be liking, you have no right to disturb. I agree with you on the ‘wailing babies’. People have no right to bring babies into cinema halls and spoil everybody’s show.
That reminds me, while watching a movie, there was this entire joint family who wouldn’t stop talking. It got to a point where they were discussing things like “Paneer Palak kidhar rakha tha?” “Woh toh fridge mein rakha diya”. That’s when some of us lost our cool and asked them to keep quiet. They shouted back at us, but had to quieten when the whole auditorium screamed at them.
Imagine, the film was Chak De! But that didn’t stop these stupid jerks from ‘exercising their rights’!
lol. . Wait for the dvd. . .
The point I am making is that people who don’t have fun with a movie will try to anyway. More often than not, it’s because they can’t enjoy it for what it is. Paying 150 bucks rules out the option of a walk out. I don’t think people come specifically to troll a film (unless it’s a new Dev Anand film or Jimmy). I don’t see why you should allow them to spoil the experience for yourself.
Just an observation. Not condoning the act. As for big groups spoiling a party, you don’t need more than 2 people to make a noise. When I was watching Delhi 6, most noise was being made by the couple sitting beside me. Really snide remarks and some, I dare say, were really spot on.
I also think it stinks of double standards to say that the people here are not ready for Delhi 6 when something like DevD or Oye Lucky (I know it wasn’t a hit but most people I know enjoyed it and it was very unlucky to have released in a terror week) released just recently and found some acceptance. DevD ofcourse had its hooters too, mostly during the sex scenes, but they were laughing with the film. I think Delhi 6 failed because it simply couldn’t connect with its audience.
kiku: Guruji! Thanks for the gyan!
Ratnakar: I am sure everyone must have had this experience. What we expect from fellow movie goers is a simple civil etiquette actually ! I have now become quite particular about the choice of theatre.
cinemausher: “it is there fundamental right to boo if they do not like” – Great, is it also THEIR fundamental right to destroy furniture? May be people who burn Government buses will also find your approval.
@Anand,
I have never mentioned destruction, i am just saying a piece of art , which if people appreciate it, in our country to see a movie, where people skip meals to watch a movie.If they can not express emotion in cinema hall it does matter.Ask any director, which audiences he like the one who whistles the kind which you find in single screen or gaiety galaxy or one in multiplex who would over analyse every part and try to find out metaphors insead of enjoying the story.
@Mohanlal,
I am glad you my pov, yes i agree wholeheartdely with you, that some times the audience do not have basic civic responsibilities, but we as country lack it.
cinema is great as a whole ……you can’t cut 30 scenes from Godfather ,30 from shawshank and 30 from city of god, paste them together and get a good movie ,yea the cinematography was good ,this was good that was good but as a whole it sucked ….
I am tired of this finding meaning thing in movie ,either you like the movie or you don’t what’s this about honest effort ,meaning ,metaphor and other crap.
What most intellectuals lack is honesty and it shows up on this forum most glaringly.
Vineet: Well said man, what shit!! Let us destroy all works of art, something like Leonardo Da Vinci, or may be something like MF Hussain. What do they try and convey? A painting is a good painting only if it looks good! Why try and find meaning in it? Dishonest people!! I am with you. Thanks for opeing my eyes.