Saturday, February 21, 2009

Delhi 6

There's something about these Dilliwaala film-makers - Dipankar Banerjee, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra etc. that is so very irritating. They are so full of Dilli that their films become stand alone advertisements for Delhi tourism than an integral part of the story.

Delhi 6 is one such "This-is-the-city-I-grew-up-in-It-has-winters-it-has-shawls-it-has-happy -gaajar ka halwa families-and-red fort-and-jamma masjid-and-I-want-to-showcase-MY CITY-to you" film.

Spot anyone from Delhi in Mumbai particularly the media peoples and they are likely to say "Mumbai has nothing... Dilli main.. dilli haat.. paratha gully.. connaught place haijeee.. Dilli winters ka jawab nahin" for anything and everything . If they are sooo in awe of their city I wonder what they do in Mumbai wasting their time.

Back to Delhi 6 and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's senseless attempt to make a film out of nothing.

Story
Abhishek Bachchan along with an accent and a Wahidaadima visits India 'coz Waheedadi's last wish is to get her ashes dissolved in Bhaaarat... in Delhi 6 to be precise. At Delhi 6, there's this huge haveli with bhabhis, bhaiyyas, motus, chotus, chintu, pintu, mamas, macchans and masakkali.
Abhishek dances , sings, flirts with Sonam , mu-meetha-karos and becomes a monkey in the climax. Yes , you read it right.
Cast
Abhishek 'accent' Bachchan, Waheeda Rahman, Om puri, Pawan Malhotra, Supriya Pathak, Atul Kulkarni, Rishi Kapoor, Tanvi Azmi, Divya dutta, Prem Chopra,Vijay Raaz, Sonam Kapoor , Masakkali, the usual theatre guys from Nukkad serial, Lagaan , Swades etc. and a Kaala bandar (black monkey) in an important role.
Gaali 6

From the very first frame, you kind of feel that something is really not right about the film... The guy who plays Abhishek Bachchan's father looking like his younger brother , Waheeda Rahman's plastic face, Abhishek's clueless expression... bizarre!

The film moves to India with almost half an hour of Ram leela performances spilled all over. The Ram leela sequences have no relevance in the film whatsoever. If its not Ram leela, its the songs. A no-story film with Rahman's songs wasted and how.

Oho... R Rahman
Masakkali is a super duper hit, so is Dilli hai, Kaala bandhar...But what's the point ? They just appear at random . Wish Rahman had come up with a separate album titled Delhi 6 with the same songs and videos exclusively for the album. What an utter waste of beautiful songs in this film!

Sets and SFX

Delhi 6 has been very well recreated in Rajasthan with a Jama Masjid and Red fort in the background thanks to Samir Chanda, the production designer. Uggh! Those tacky SFX of Abhishek and gang travelling a car with moving shots in the background, Abhishek and Sonam in NY - Paartha Mudal naale was better man!

Sogam Kapoor

First glance - impressive. The moment she opens her mouth - eeks-essive. One Juvenile kid paired opposite a guy who looks and is, ten years older than her.

Silly 6

Well, there is no story in the first place. On top of this, there are side stories - Cyrus Sahukar's secret affair, Divya dutta as the kuppa kaari , Sogam Kapoor's sister, Ompuri - Pawan Malhotra's rivalry, Prem Chopra as the bad old man and many many others which do not contribute anything anywhere.

Motorola and miscellaneous

Sony entertainment's Indian Idol, Television Eighteen and Motorola get infilm publicity - Poor guys! Come to our medium guys, we give better VFM for such deals.
Rajat Dholakia a.k.a Jukku is one of the most versatile music directors in the ad film world . He has been made to act like a Fakir in a stupid role. Jukku Sir, Ungalluku idu tevaya?
And..

To bring some senti to the story - add a Riots, violence, bhai-bhai and bore bore. Suddenly Asatthu Daddi Abhishek turns into an angry dude in the climax. What flower sutthal I say?

Teri Mo..n..key

The supposedly funny part of a black monkey on the rounds in Delhi, is funny in the beginning, but when it starts eating 60% into the film's footage you start saying something that rhymes to the title above. The climax is one talaya-pichaxing scene. Horrible!

And last but not the least...

How I can forget my dear dear dear....

....One and only Amitabh Bachchan-ji sahab doing a white and white in white - half-a-minute scene in the end with his son-ji Abhishek Songi-ji.. Amma Bachchan and Aishwarya Bachchan were missing. Just when you think everything is over and you can run out of the theatre , the great Jambajaar Jaggu from Juhu does a guest appearance. Podumda saami!

Verdict
A film that starts from nowhere and runs for 2 hours like a headless chicken... headless monkey to be precise. Avoid at all costs. Watch a DVD of Swades instead.
Dilli che - Dhandam (ada) cha! - 1 out of 5

23 Responses:

Anonymous said...

damage how much??

Review Piri...Kizhichitinga...

SRK said...

I forgot who referred your blog to me, but I am glad they did!

All your film reviews are summa sooper!

buddy said...

i liked the movie but i agree..the first shot was eerily wrong

Anonymous said...

oh man,

you were a riot...i was in splits...by the time I came to Abhishek Songi-ji...was awesome...
Keep up the great work...Do drop by when you have some time, on to my page at http://anubhavati.wordpress.com/

Rgds,

Shobha

Anonymous said...

u outdid urself baboooon!
enjoyed it no end....

Anonymous said...

Amma Blogeswari..

'Teri Mo..n..key'

You are THE WRITER - You are THE BLOGGER - Naan blogger illai.. Naan writer illai... Neer Neerey good writer... (Read it the Thiruvilaiyadal Tharumi shtyle)

I've been following your blog for quite few weeks from now... wow...

I was thinking that your 'NRI Saani Surunai' was the best.. you beat that in Delhi 6.

Hats Off! Namaskaram Thaaye!

Anonymous said...

am adding...

coz.. i know very little Hindi... Can understand "Teri Monkey" stuff ... Andha alavukku hindi puriyum...

Wanted to say hats off to that... but after quoting that line.. i went on writing something else...

The way and the place you gave that sub head ... chumma super...

keep rocking..

Anonymous said...

Great review, as always!!!!

Anonymous said...

kizhi kizhinu kizhichachaa? :)))

//You are THE WRITER - You are THE BLOGGER - Naan blogger illai.. Naan writer illai... Neer Neerey good writer... //

ROTFL on saravanan's comment :))

maxdavinci said...

attagasam!

dont do too much peelingsu it will go away soon...

Slogan Murugan said...

Ur reviews are always spot on. And ur wit makes it more interesting than the movie itself.

Artnavy said...

awwwwww- be fair -it was surely better than billu -no??

and your review too though i have to agree the ram leela was a bit too long/irrelevant
the car shot was dreadful/

the new york song piturisaytion silly

Nautankey said...

Thank god..was planning for weekend, either to dilli 6 OR dev D,now my choice is clearrr :)

Teesu (very very Indian, very very good) said...

Adiyei Blogeswari, I enjoy your reviews more than I could ever enjoy a film I think! Waiting for your next one.

Anonymous said...

Sony entertainment's Indian Idol, Television Eighteen and Motorola get infilm publicity - Poor guys! Come to our medium guys, we give better VFM for such deals.

This has been going on for longer that you suspect and by folks whom you wouldn't suspect.
http://broken-news.blogspot.com/2007/04/pushing-products-in-movies.html

Anonymous said...

POst from Amitabh's Blog...

Big B miffed by critics for bad reviews against Delhi 6

Big B is quite upset these days by the critics who have written Delhi 6 off. The senior Bachchan feels that Delhi-6 is based on a complex subject which needs through honesty and strength to understand.

He writes on his blog, “The system…Needs strength..Needs an honesty… Needs to look within… A philosophy, ironically, portrayed so beautifully in Delhi-6 and an aspect, so mercilessly criticised in the reviews and opinions.”

“These(critics) individuals are the masters of the game. They are trained and knowledged in the job. Their opinion counts and forms the basis of analysis in attracting the customer to the theatre. So how feasible is their report when their observations differ to such an extreme and large extent.”

But… just the other day the same learned critics, had derided those that had expressed negative opinion on ‘SlumDog Millionaire’, vociferously defending the contents of the film, by arguing, that those that opposed it, did so because they were reluctant to accept someone who was showing them a mirror !!

So then, metaphorically speaking, or should it rather be, philosophically speaking, what are we saying -

SlumDog is ok and Delhi 6 not ??”

Well a great question asked Big B. What is your answer to the question folks?

Gradwolf said...

"If they are sooo in awe of their city I wonder what they do in Mumbai wasting their time."

Lol, some bloggers also are in awe of Madras, Tamizh and keep hitting out on "indhi makkal" often but they are living in Bombay only, no? ;)

lastknight said...

You know, I'm not defending the film, seeing as how I haven't seen it, and most Hindi movies don't do anything for me anyway, but as a Delhiite, and one who soon has to relocate to Bombay, for a while at least, I feel compelled to say a few words here.

First of all, most Bollywood movies have at least some Bombay influence in them. Which is not surprising, seeing as how they're all shot there, but it does tend to give a rather strong Bombay flavour to even those films which aren't explicitly supposed to be about Bombay (not that there aren't plenty of those too). So I don't think its a bad thing, really, if once in a while some Delhi-born filmmaker decides to showcase what his home is like.

And secondly, you know, almost any Delhiite will totally dislike Bombay. Not that its a bad city per se, but you know, once you're used to open spaces, broad roads, greenery, punjabi food, and the million other things that make Delhi what it is, it's awfully hard to like a place where most of these characteristics are conspicuous only by their absence.

And the winter counts for a lot, trust me. It's probably a little hard hard for someone from a warmer place to get this, but a lot of people in these parts really, really love the winters.

So all in all, if I may hazard a guess, most of the Delhiites in Bombay you spoke about are probably there only because they work there. The finance industry, for one, is mostly based out of Bombay. Which is also why I'm going to be going there, I've just gotten a job with a bank, so even though I would give anything to be able to stay in Delhi, I'll probably have no option but to go live in Bombay myself.

So have a heart when you're referring to those poor souls who have to live in a place which in many ways is the very opposite of what they call home... It isn't easy! :-)

Vibaas said...

Hi first time here and i love the review :-) I always feel abhishek is asattu dhadhi :D

D LordLabak said...

Idha idha idha than edhir paatthen. Enna irundhalum I can't bardaash you thittifying Amitabh Ji. Indian film industry should be indebted to him. He is such a great actor ji! Anil Kapoor stole the role in Slumdog. It should have been our Ji. He would have given a moving performance in the end by saying something like "Mohabbat mein is jahaan ki...".

Anonymous said...

The movie was not shot in Jaipur. They re-created Rajasthan in Delhi.

Spaz Kumari said...

first time here.

CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP

summa kizhichitinga.

harimohan said...

mudhal mariyadia ungalukku blogeswari
kalakitingo
xlnta irundudu
AR Rehman songs are simply superb masakali specially
luckily didnt see movie .....
only continuing to hear namma rehman songs
dool review
kolam pottutingo munjiyile