I watched Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra’s Delhi-6, while I was in Bangalore. The streets, the people, havelis, the rickshaw pullers, food all made me nostalgic about Delhi and I longed to go back (though I am not a Delhite but have spent 6 yrs in Delhi), no doubt Purani Delhi rocks. But the film oh!!!!!!!!!! again a tragedy.
Our director ROM who has given us films like Rang De Basanti in the recent times has failed to recreate the magic and charm that the audience expected from him. What a sheer disappointment!
Mr Mehra, seems to be vary fascinated by the use of media channels in his films, his last film had the entire country’s response towards the death of five young men who had killed the defiance minister and now in his latest movie Delhi-6 the response of the people over Kaala Bandar (Monkey Man), who had made into the news few years back. (I don’t recall it my self when the Monkey Man had left his fear among the Delhites). Also, he seems very fond of bringing a foreign element in his films, in RDB he had a British girl who taught a bunch of young and reckless youths a lesson on patriotism, now in Delhi-6 a grandson brought up in New York travels to his native land with his dieing grandmother.
Instead of the plot of the film (as most of you must have watched it by now) lets get into the film (leaving behind the plot). The movie is more of a kind of episode of a television serial. The initial half of the film seems to be a story or rather pages narrated from Rohan’s (Abishek Bachan) diary. Where he meets his own native family members and experiences of the time spent among them. The chemistry between Om Puri and Pawan Malhotra is well established and executed. Atual Kulkarni has done a fine work but I think Divya Dutt has performed well and done justice to her role. Well Sonam Kapoor would have to work a little hard to impress the audience as she seems more passionate towards being an Indian Idol rather than her role in the film. Rishi Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman were fine in their part but could have been better. Junior AB’s performance was also fine and his frequent conversion from Hindi ascent to English and vise-versa seems to be too much for the audience to handle.
Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra had been so busy with his locations and the sets that he simply forgot about the script of the film, and also the Ramayan performance by the Ram Leela mandali was also the disturbing element in the flow of the film. The music provided by AR Rehman (the man who brought back 2 Oscars, to India after a gap of 100 years) has done his homework well and the music is simply loved by all, but the linking of the songs to the loose links of the films simply ruins the charm of the music, Masakali is such an example.
The second half of the film is too racing for the audience to understand what really happened. Why are the directors in a hurry to end the film all of a sudden? The Hindu- Muslim fight over their religion is nothing new for any Indian we have seen it happen. But the person who has taken advantage and stolen the entire show is the Kaala Bandar/ Monkey Man.
Overall the film Delhi-6 is just another disappointment from the film industry and the much hyped director Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra. Whether this movie will leave its impact or not but the Kaala Bandar/ Monkey Man will definitely leave his mark onto the film industy.
