Delhi-6 (2009)

If Rang De was his interpretation of Bhagat Singh & his ideas, Delhi -6 is clearly about Gandhiji & like Roshan his fatal quest for brotherhood between various religions.Very often a movie is hated not because of its own merit but its main protagonist,Delhi-6 is one such example of stereotypic image that Indians have about the NRI's as Ghora Chita well mannered person, & in this sense Abhishek Bachchan looks like a miscast ,but I believe that his portrayal of Roshan is better than Farhan Akhtars' portrayal of Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Another factor could be the lack of use of violence by the protagonist unlike DJ in Rang De Basanti or Milkha in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag , Roshan is more close to Gandhian Philosophy of non-violence , religious tolerance & harmony due to the fact that his parents are of different religious communities. Although he returns from US the movie don't depict Indian Values as inferior in any way & that makes this movie a Cult Classic , people will realize its greatness only with passage of time.A feel good movie ,It can act as a therapy when a person is feeling down & to Understand India & its life without Trivialization ,sugarcoating or preaching with amazing cinematography , locations ,beautiful characters having depths & expertly portrayed by the legends like Waheeda Rehman, Prem Chopra, Rishi Kapoor(who reinvented himself brilliantly for this character role) Om Puri, Pawan Malhotra, Vijay Raaj. This is mixed with the young talents like , Deepak Dobriyal along with amazing sound & music makes it a treat to watch every time. Rakeysh Mehra's movie are run not by his protagonists but the characters acting in cohesion to tell a story , In Delhi – 6 his story telling abilities become really clear due to his familiarity with the life in old Delhi & no bounds that were there in RDB due to the Revolutionary Reference & BMB being a Biopic. Plot(spoiler alert) Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) accompanies his dying grandmother Annapurna (Waheeda Rahman) to their ancestral property in crowded Delhi. Roshan is initially stunned by the mad rush of neighbors: Ali Baig (Rishi Kapoor) the renaissance man, feuding brothers Madangopal (Om Puri) and Jaigopal (Pavan Malhotra), their wives and families, Mamdu (Deepak Dobriyal) , Gobar (Atul Kulkarni) the simpleton, Sethji and many others. Roshan eventually warms to the place and wholeheartedly embraces the sense of community. He accompanies his grandmother to the Ramleelas, hangs out at Mamdu's sweet stall, plays with the children, and gradually becomes steeped in the culture. Roshan is also slowly exposed to some sobering realities. the religious intolerance even though on surface a harmony is seen, prevalent superstitious beliefs, the unaccountable & powerful public servants ,caste system, patriarchy. When he is experiencing all this the problem of Kala Bandar gets a communal turn leading to communal violence. Amid this roshan struggles with his dilemma whether to return , is he in love with Bittu & how to reestablish the communal harmony in Delhi – 6?Love for ones homeland /watan /gaav , the sentimental value of our roots, these are values & hence it don't mean that they come only when one live in a physical space. Our homeland has sentimental Value just because of its people & their values which are seen in the love & affection Roshan & his Dadi are showered upon when they return to Delhi – 6 . But this heaven quickly becomes a hell when they are overwhelmed by their fear of Kala Bandar, which leads to decline in rationalism which is exploited by religious Baba & selfish politicians to create a communal rift between them. The Hindu sees Kala Bandar/Evil as Muslim out to harm Hindus & their religion & vice versa , The hysteria continues ,while his Dadi wants to return Roshan has become a part of Delhi – 6.Roshan offers himself as a Kala Bandar who is representative of both the communities i.e. Hindu & Muslim due to his parents, on the surface it seems that he is giving them a super ordinate goal a common enemy, but symbolically it means the presence of Evil within both the communities & after critically wounding him the residents of Delhi – 6 realize that they were in their attempt for finding lasting peace in Delhi – 6 by killing the Kala Bandar/source of evil,fear,danger, have instead created 100's of it inside themselves.A very relevant film in a country where like roshan the greatest advocate of religious tolerance was shot dead in the name of religion. A country where the violence & hatred is still propagated & accepted by masses in the name of religion.It took Roshans sacrifice for the residents of Delhi – 6 to wake , what sacrifice will we need ?Sub plots- Bittu played by Sonam Kapoor is a girl who represent the continuing social change in India, where her ambitions are resisted by the patriarchal mindset. Her courage to do the right is what attracts Roshan towards her. Another interesting theme is every rational person is called as mad by the people of Delhi 6 , be it Gobar,Roshan or the Mirror man who asks everyone to look inside their souls to find god. Further the Indian social problems like cast ism ,patriarchy,breaking joint family system,Role of media , god men,etc. are tightly knit in the plot line making multiple viewing enjoyable.PS I like the original ending in which Roshan dies in the end which was changed later & was not part of released film.

So this movie has an average rating of 6.2, which is quite disappointing for a film like this. It falls along the lines of Rang De Basanti. It is not a masala flick where you have drama, love, sex, music, thrills, laughs, tragedy, etc. This movie doesn't have much entertainment value, it is more about real life and how people behave (just like Rang De Basanti).Now about the movie. It is directed well and the story is simple. The pace was slow a couple times but it picked up during the climax. Although Abhishek and Sonam aren't great actors in my view, they have my respect for working in this film. You can read the plot to know about the general story.I would watch this movie again with friends and family. It is definitely a keeper and it's available on Blu-Ray!

Too many big names associated with this project. Apart from the mammoth star-cast, please pay attention to the three "intellectual pool" of writers contributing to the ahem... broth. The answer lies somewhere in between "Brainstorming exercise gone haywire" or "paradigm shift went overboard". Juxtaposing is a tried and tested method for Mr. RO Mehra. The autobiographical attempt is presented with the narrative concept from Malgudi Days and juxtaposing the socio-economic Mini-India. Noble intentions indeed, sadly attempted too early considering his single-digit film-making career. There are shades of great directors in the attempt however the plot fails to connect. I will refrain to comment on performances and this is because the character seems "small" and the actor for the part "big". Practically, everybody seems grossly under-utilised. There is hardly any actor that stays on your mind after you walkout of the cinema. Just a second, it just struck me that Rishi Kapoor was in the movie as well. Music is innovative and loaded with good tracks. However owing to the pot-hole the Malgudi Days drops everybody into, the songs are truncated big time and lose their very purpose. Well under-utilised there again.The last 15-minutes takes a complete mickey out of the audience. Whoever came up with it let me assure you it was a monkeys idea. Not removing the mask at the very least saved further damage. And yo - from where did the flat-liner bit seep in? With "Aks" Mr. RO Mehra learnt a valuable lesson about the importance of screenplay. The debacle of D-6 would have contributed to the learning curve I am sure. PS:: Jr B's accent - nay!!! Should have let him be... or watch Siddharth Makkar in "Straight" from as a reference point.

First thing that captured my attention towards Delhi 6 during its promotional days. Writer-director Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, second A R Rehman in top form and third Sonam Kapoor dancing on rooftop with pigeon Masakkali on her head. Hype and hopes were already surrounding around the venture as director's last maverick outing was Rang De Basanti. A young NRI (Abhishek) from New York takes his dying grandmother (Wahida Rehman) back to her own land to spend last days where our hero with faux, annoying American accent meets all other caricatures which populates this misfire. A mythical creature is born in Ramleela festive days called kala-bandar who supposedly beats, robs people. How NRI is drawn into circus resulted which eventually turns ugly in communal riots is what Delhi 6 is all about. Mehra's conceit of using kaala-bandar to tell his story as a satirical drama (at least initially it gave me that impression) works a little in beginning. How minor accidents and coincidences are blown out of proportion by locals and fueled by media junket does its bit. And it has Rehman's some of the best works and Prasoon Joshi's fresh lyrics (Dil Gira Daffatan, Rehna Tu). But director fails to control the tone of the film and couldn't resists turning his material into a message movie. Communal riots, superstitions, castism, Indian living united in diversity? Are we still on that? It's becoming quite a drag frankly.