Delhi 6

March 03, 2009 bollywood , Film Review 4 Comments

“Kale bandar ki ek mother hai, jo is saal board ke exam mein baithegi. Uske upar paani phekna hai”
“Maine dekha hai kale Bandar ko. Woh Invisible hai”
“Arre tum madan gopal electronics ki wife ho, tumhe…
“Burger chaap”

Chinese whispers, urban legends, maze like colorful streets, feisty music, Ramleela grounds, religious paradoxes, political slapstick and a gamut of spectacular cast including Masakkali n Kala Bandar makes Delhi 6 a worthwhile place to visit. Not to forget its amazing songs that transports you to other world, blissfully.

Picture this-
A gang of women, unbiased, indifferent to their Men folklore’ inter personal differences, sitting at terrace on a vibrant morning, chitchatting while preparing “Lal Mirch ka aachar”, breaks into jaggery of a song-
Saiyan ched deve; Nanand chutki leve

Sasural genda phool
Choda babul ka angna; Bhave dera piya ka Saas gaari deve; Devar ji saamjha deve

Sasural Genda phool

Saiyan hai vyapaari; Chale hai pardesh Suratiya nihaarun; Jiyara bhari hoye

Sasural Genda phool

The movie’ metaphorical touch is another delight to watch. Whether it’s straight jacketed portrayal of faked religious believes; the clever twinning of Ramlila with story, media hoop la floating around the “kala Bandar”, merchandizing [bazaarikaran] of the invisible monkey man in the age of Chandrayan; the loose brick through the wall of the estranged “Mohan electronics” brothers; the appeal for human liberation in form of masakkali; to the healing effects of faith and its killing effect too…

Some other interesting metaphors well reflected in scenes like-
1. When a fainted Waheeda Rehman is taken to clinic in a rickshaw and suddenly she gains conscious seeing the blessed movement of a “Gou Mata” giving birth.
2. The scene where Cyrus sahukar and lalaji’ wife are making out, with their toe hitting the TV remote that switches from news to primates mating to missile launch and then the same news playing at different location, at Prem chopra’s shop and then returning back to the former scene. The switch on and off was well shot and hilarious too.
3. Unleashing the God & kala Bandar which lies within all of us. However cliché it may be but the essence remains undiluted- Self introspection

Then there is an interesting set of characters and even brilliant actors performing it. Mandi house se Chandni Chowk tak. From Suresh raina, Pawan Malhotra, Vijay raj, Raghuveer Yadav, Divya Dutta, Supriya Pathak, to Rama bua and the surprise packet Cyrus sahukar. There is hardly a character that is not anchored in to the film.

I would not exactly call the movie preachy. I would rather call it a “good wake up kick” to fanaticism, commercialism, political agendas and many other farce that surround the society, making lives difficult to breathe.

Well the almost empty auditorium at the Sunday late night show hasn’t surprised me for long. For the populi that is constantly being fed on capers like “Welcome” “singh is king” or even “Chandni Chowk to China”, Delhi 6 can be a quite a cognitive load on that average Indian viewer who is made to barter their brains for the over expensive multiplex food. [Oops I have no rough bone against Akshay kumar; movie names r just coincidental]

And thank god that Rakesh OmP Mehra chose the happy climax over the sad one. Though the Junior-senior men in white, eating Jalebis in the heaven was too uninvited.

Off course the narration could ve been better but overall what served was quite creatively appetizing and savoring though.On a whole, Delhi 6 is an interesting trip. After all “yeh shehar nahi, mehfil hai”!!! Yeh Dilli hai mere yaar!!!