Rediscovering My Lost Self

A FEW DAYS back I bought the DVD of Delhi-6. As most of my friends had already seen the movie I thought they would urge me to watch it asap. Surprisingly, most of them rebuked me for buying the DVD, calling the film as ‘utter disappointment’!

(If you are wondering why I’m writing a post on Delhi-6 four months after the film has released, well, my hectic schedule didn’t allow me the catch the film at the theatres. So I had to wait for the DVD release.)

However, after watching the film, I can’t help but contradict. I’m not a film critic. Nor do I understand the nitty-gritty of filmmaking. As a movie buff I can only differentiate between outstanding and appalling films. And that’s exactly why I wonder how my friends could discard a cinematic treat like Delhi-6!
Zarre zarre mein usika noor hain, jhank khud mein woh na tujhse door hain, ishq hain usse toh sabse ishq kar, is ibadat ka yehi dastoor hain... As the screen opened to a shot of Delhi skyline with these mellifluous words flowing in, I knew I didn’t make any mistake. A lot of people have said a lot of things about Delhi-6 — the film is too preachy, the story moves at a snail’s pace, the climax is frustrating, enough justice hasn’t been done to the characters, the kala bandar episode is too clichéd... blah, blah, blah. My request to all of them: please watch the film once again. Not through your eyes, but your heart. Feel. Don’t expect another Rang De Basanti, you’ll be disappointed. Go in with an open mind, you’ll come out a lot more enriched.

Honestly, Delhi-6 is one of the most thought-provoking films I’ve watched in a long time. Very rarely comes a film that’s so subtly metaphorical, and every frame of Delhi-6 is a proof to that, right from the kala bandar to Masakali. The way kala bandar has been translated into a representation of the inner demons within us or the interspersing of events of Ramayana in the story through the Ramleela play... man, a lot of thought must have gone in writing the screenplay! Remember the sequence when seeing his son lying unconscious on the floor, a brick from Jaigopal’s hand falls down on his father’s old transistor and suddenly the defunct transistor starts playing the song, Sajan re jhooth mat bolo...? Or the scene where Roshan, beaten up by everyone, lies on the street when his cellphone falls out and in the background starts the song, Darare darare hain maathe pe maula.... Or even the burning of the kala bandar mask with the Ravana effigy at the end. How ironically poetic! Kudos to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra for coming up with such an awe-inspiring script.

Yeh shehar nahin, mehfil hain... that’s Delhi. Basti hain mastanon ki... galli hain deewanon ki... that’s Delhi. Despite the dingy lanes, shabby buildings, maddening crowd, hustle-bustle, chaos, there is something endearing about Purani Dilli that makes you fall in love with it, à la Roshan. It’s not ‘love at first sight’. It evolves with time, until one day you suddenly realize the place means a lot more to you than just being a postal code: Delhi-110006. And that’s exactly what the film conveys. Thanks to Mehra's deft craftsmanship, Delhi is never relegated to a mere prop in the film. On the contrary, it is the protagonist. All the other characters — be it Roshan, Bittu, Dadi, Madangopal, Jaigopal, Vimla, Rama Bua, Ali Baig, Mamdu, Gobar, Jalebi, Suresh, Ranvijay or Lala Bhairam — are the various facets of the city, personifying it’s countless emotions. Everyone has a story to tell, and all their stories run parallel to each other, strung together by a common thread — kala bandar.

The film is a visual treat for Delhites. Boy, the way Mehra and Binod Pradhan (DOP) have shown Delhi deserves a standing ovation! They have amazingly captured the true essence of the city. Mehra once said that Delhi-6 is his tribute to the place he spent his growing up years in. If that’s true, then this is probably the best gift Delhi could ever get from Bollywood, and I regret why Mehra didn’t spent his childhood in Kolkata!
A R Rahman has done it, once again. The music of Delhi-6 is undoubtedly one of his finest works, miles better than the overrated Slumdog Millionaire. There actually lies the magic of Rahman’s music. He creates new benchmarks with every new song he composes. Just when one would wonder how high Rahman can raise the bar, the man raises the bar even higher! Talking about the cast, everyone — Waheeda Rahman, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri, Pavan Malhotra, Supriya Pathak, Divya Dutta, Atul Kulkarni, Deepak Dobriyal, Vijay Raaz, Aditi Rao Hydari — did a fabulous job. But it was Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor who stole the show. The duo was simply outstanding! It’s not easy for an Indian actor to maintain a consistent American accent throughout the film, but Abhishek did it with élan. Sonam as Bittu was a revelation. It seems the roles were tailor-made for both of them.

The picturization of Dil gira dafatan was innovative. It’s wonderful to find a slice of Delhi on the streets of New York! The Rehna tu track was a pleasant surprise. What appeared as a run-of-the-mill romantic track actually turned out to be a beautiful dedication to Delhi (and you thought it was a love song featuring Abhishek-Sonam! Silly!). However, the ‘wow’ moment of the film is the Masakali song. Just before the intro music stops and Mohit Chauhan starts crooning, there’s a shot of the pigeon Masakali taking a stroll on the fountain, and as it flutters its wings a few drops of water falls around. Boy, what a matka! That too with so much poise and attitude! Wow!

Does that mean Delhi-6 is flawless? Certainly not. But the heart of the film is so much in the right place that you don’t take the flaws to heart. Delhi-6 isn’t a Billu Barber or Kambakkht Ishq. It’s much more than mere entertainment. A soul-searching experience in the truest sense of the term. Watch Delhi-6. Rediscover yourself.