Delhi 6: A Directorial misdaventure

After reading good reviews about the movie Delhi 6, finally yesterday evening I took out some time to go and watch it at a multiplex near by, and when I was going with my friends I nearly missed the bus, but the desire to see the movie made me run for the bus. I would have been lucky had I missed the bus, because the movie didn't live upto my expectations. One doesn't expect a movie of this kind from the director of Rang De Basanti and the lyricist of Taare Zameen Par, Mr. Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra and Adman Mr. Prasoon Joshi. Even I didn't liked the end of RDB, but it had all the ingredients for a good movie with a gripping screenplay which made the audience stick to the chair. Delhi 6 on the contrary doesn't seem to grip the attention of the viewers.

Delhi 6 excelled in only one thing that it brought the best from each of the actors involved. There were some fine performances by Abishek, Sonam, Om Puri, Rishi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Prem Chopra and others. The inspector, the Jalebi wala, the Imam sahib, the whole family of Om Puri, each individual excelled in their role. But the direction and screenplay missed to create the sparks and it looked like small documentaries joined together without any coherence as it moved from Ram leela to household dramas to the monkey man episode and finally to the Hindu-Muslim tensions. 

Abishek Bacchhan is the dil of Delhi 6 and the story revolves around him. He brings his grandmother from Newyork to Delhi as her last wish was to die where she was born. and the story starts from here and ends in a communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.  At one point, Abhishek decided to return back to America when the situation was getting out of control, but Delhi as a city never ceases to mesmerise you with its mysticism and he decides not to leave Delhi. I love Delhi and it was good to see the lanes of Delhi, the autorickshaws, and its crowded street after a long time. He plays his part with great finesse and he proved that he has matured as an actor tremendously. He now doesn't even need to mince any words as his eyes, his emotions and his body language can speak for him.

Even though there was less scope for Sonam Kapoor but she played her part with ease. Sonam looked like a princess in her portrayal  of girl next door who is full of life. You will just fall in love with her at the very first sight. The scenes between Abhisek and Sonam were very little but the chemistry was awesome. My favourite scenes from the movie are the scenes between Abhishek and Sonam,  be it the scene between them when they were returning from Agra and Sonam was looking at Abhiskek's mobile, or be it the scene when Sonam gifted a sovenier from Agra to Abhishek, or when she came to thank him for telling Ompuri that she doesn't want to marry. Every scene between them are shot with perfection.

The music is also not that good as compared to Rahman's previous works. The song masakali is a hummable number, Arziyan is good and title track is trendy, apart from them the other songs are not upto the standards. The background music is good though. 

Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra has some fascination with social issues and has again tried to send a message for communal harmony. He also has fascination for making the end bloody, the end was a bit unrealistic also as Abhishek came back to life after shot by a pistol and after the severe thrashing he received by the local mob, but this is cinema. The movie is a directorial misadventure and could have been made better. I will give one star out of five and that too because of individual performances by its actors. Let me give half star more just for Abhi and Sonam. All in all, a complete waste of time, but if you do want to watch it, go for Abhishek and Sonam.