ज़र्रे ज़र्रे में उसे का नूर हैं
झांक खुदमे वह न तुझसे दूर हैं
इश्क़ हैं उससे तोह सबसे इश्क़ कर
इश्क़ हैं उससे तोह सबसे इश्क़ कर
इस इबादत में यही दस्तूर हैं
इस में उस में और उस में हैं वही
इस में उस में और उस में हैं वही
यार मेरा हर तरफ भरपूर हैं
~~ Prasooon Joshi
~ Delhi 6
A delightful change from the usual Bollywood flicks, Delhi 6 is an interesting musical based on the Old Delhi area of the national capital. 110006 is the pincode for OdlDelhi and that's where the movie gets it's name from. However, I am sure a lot of the flks who watched the movie would have rather titled it "Kaala Bandar" instead. The story revolves around the culture shock that the protagonist Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) goes through when he travels from the US to India to leave his terminally ill grandmother (Waheeda Rahman), who wants to spend her last days in the city she has spent her life in. the movie takes you through the day to day lives of the residents of Delhi-6 and also shows the slow and therefore believable romance between Roshan and Bittu (Sonam Kapoor), an aspiring Indian Idol. Like all his movies Mehra has an underlying theme running through this one as well. In RDB, he has the Indian Independence Movement in the background and here we have the Ram Leela. However, you might have to watch the movie more than once to understand the connection with the Ramayan that Mehra tries to form- and that is something very few of us would want to do!
Talking about performances, Abhishek and Sonam have done an amazing job. Sonam dose a lot more than just look pretty and giggle - which is sadly all she did in Saawariya. Everyone loved AB, he looked adorable, acted well, and did complete justice to the character. The only slip was the over anglicized American accent that bordered on sounding fake. I am sorry Abhishek, but it totally did not work for a lot of us. What was refreshing about the movie was the way every character was given equal importance and were not overshadowed by the main leads. The dialogues were awesome, and typical Dilli. Be it 'mother cow giving birth to baby cow' or the way Delhiites say 'Uncil' for 'Uncle', and of course ' Yeh Dilli hai mere baap, yahaan bhagwaan bhi kursi ki keemat janta hai'!!
A delightful change from the usual Bollywood flicks, Delhi 6 is an interesting musical based on the Old Delhi area of the national capital. 110006 is the pincode for OdlDelhi and that's where the movie gets it's name from. However, I am sure a lot of the flks who watched the movie would have rather titled it "Kaala Bandar" instead. The story revolves around the culture shock that the protagonist Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) goes through when he travels from the US to India to leave his terminally ill grandmother (Waheeda Rahman), who wants to spend her last days in the city she has spent her life in. the movie takes you through the day to day lives of the residents of Delhi-6 and also shows the slow and therefore believable romance between Roshan and Bittu (Sonam Kapoor), an aspiring Indian Idol. Like all his movies Mehra has an underlying theme running through this one as well. In RDB, he has the Indian Independence Movement in the background and here we have the Ram Leela. However, you might have to watch the movie more than once to understand the connection with the Ramayan that Mehra tries to form- and that is something very few of us would want to do!
Talking about performances, Abhishek and Sonam have done an amazing job. Sonam dose a lot more than just look pretty and giggle - which is sadly all she did in Saawariya. Everyone loved AB, he looked adorable, acted well, and did complete justice to the character. The only slip was the over anglicized American accent that bordered on sounding fake. I am sorry Abhishek, but it totally did not work for a lot of us. What was refreshing about the movie was the way every character was given equal importance and were not overshadowed by the main leads. The dialogues were awesome, and typical Dilli. Be it 'mother cow giving birth to baby cow' or the way Delhiites say 'Uncil' for 'Uncle', and of course ' Yeh Dilli hai mere baap, yahaan bhagwaan bhi kursi ki keemat janta hai'!!
A lot of us would criticize the focus shifting to Kaala bandar in the second half, but the issue
was actually of that magnitude in Delhi and since I lived there at the time of the "menace" -
I can say for sure that every news channel was broadcasting the issue, so much so that there was an monetary incentive announced for capturing it (he/she) dead or alive!One of the high points of the story is the way Mehra has subtly yet beautifully shown the underlying and ever-present volatile religious tension that seems to exist in Delhi 6. Mumdu (Deepak Dobriyal), the Muslim sweet shop owner , who is also a Hanuman Bhakt, doesn't hesitate before picking up the gun during the riots. Jai Gopal ( Pawan Malhotra) who is always shown as sitting in Mumdu's shop savoring Jaleebis doesn't bat an eyelid before smashing the same shop to pieces! Another one of the society's evils that Mehra shows in the movie is how Indians are divided on religious basis for petty political benefit by our own so-called Samaj Sewaks (This is on the lines of the British 'Divide and Rule' policy in RDB). He also points at the Caste system that still exists in the Indian society through an untouchable, Jalebi ( Divya Dutta), who excels in her role as a Haryanvi. The fact that the two kids approach her saying- “Jalebi humme MARD banado” , shows the hypocrisy that exists within the system.
was actually of that magnitude in Delhi and since I lived there at the time of the "menace" -
I can say for sure that every news channel was broadcasting the issue, so much so that there was an monetary incentive announced for capturing it (he/she) dead or alive!One of the high points of the story is the way Mehra has subtly yet beautifully shown the underlying and ever-present volatile religious tension that seems to exist in Delhi 6. Mumdu (Deepak Dobriyal), the Muslim sweet shop owner , who is also a Hanuman Bhakt, doesn't hesitate before picking up the gun during the riots. Jai Gopal ( Pawan Malhotra) who is always shown as sitting in Mumdu's shop savoring Jaleebis doesn't bat an eyelid before smashing the same shop to pieces! Another one of the society's evils that Mehra shows in the movie is how Indians are divided on religious basis for petty political benefit by our own so-called Samaj Sewaks (This is on the lines of the British 'Divide and Rule' policy in RDB). He also points at the Caste system that still exists in the Indian society through an untouchable, Jalebi ( Divya Dutta), who excels in her role as a Haryanvi. The fact that the two kids approach her saying- “Jalebi humme MARD banado” , shows the hypocrisy that exists within the system.
Very aptly portrayed is the typical Delhi Policeman or rather in Abhishek's words "public servant" who does everything but serve the public, thus upholding the slogan "Delhi Police - For you, With you, Always". All Pun completed intended .The music by AR Rahman is undoubtedly brilliant. It is an amazing mix of fast and slow numbers! Genda Phool was an instant hit among those who understood it (I have heard of people thinking the song was about a “ Hippo”) . What was funny though was how Rama Bua (Aditi Rao Hydari) an unmarried lady was singing about married life! The songs could have been picturized in a much more suitable way, this includes the romantic number Rehna Tu which actually showed Roshan and Ali Uncle (Rishi Kapoor) a game of billiards.
Arziyaan, however was a beautiful number and in feel very similar to Rahman's Khwaja from Jodha-Akhbar, but even more beautiful since it had the very special Jama masjid in the background. Overall it is definitely worth a watch for the outstanding performances by some of the most acclaimed actors in the industry and of course for Rahman's soulful music. It is a combination of a lot of small stories that manage to engage you but are unfortunately not tied together very well in the end. But do go give it a try.
loved the movie... also loved the fact that the kaala bandar lives within each one of us.. n loved the msg that religious differences are created by us kaala bandar....
ReplyDeleteVery well structured writing. Giving a quick synopsis of the story and then talking about each department, shows constructive thinking and definitely a lot of homework before hitting post button.
ReplyDeleteIt is evident that writer seems to have loved the movie and was inspired to seek the connections and messages that may or may not exist at all.
In my opinion, " Dilli -6 is A beautiful music video ruined by action scenes, love affairs and glorified filming of a certain geographic location."
However, after having read this piece, I would like to watch the movie again if the writer is kind enough so as to accompany me.
Dilli 6 is definitely better than ghajini..wot say??
ReplyDeleteawesome job by everyone- mehra, the cast, the music, and you :)
ReplyDelete