A pastiche of sorts

While you watch Delhi-6 keep in mind certain things

a) Life is incoherent

b) Our memory frames are not logical

c) Massakalli is a great actress- after all 13 thousand per day is not a joke

d) Divya Dutta and Pawan Malhotra are always full of surprises

e) Child actors are the best thing that happened to Bollywood J

f) If you have not seen Ramleela after this movie you will not want to

g) There is life after death, but it is all White

h) You might not watch IBN-7 after the movie

i) Delhi-6 is not a movie. It’s a serial. A memoir. A disjointed piece of beautiful images.

All this and much more. I am not saying it’s a bad movie. It leaves you in a bit of a fix AmitJi would often react- Yeh kya tha haiin? You end up thinking why is the man trying so hard to put things together? What is he trying to say? And most importantly why is he saying whatever he is saying? All the bits and pieces are great, entertaining and beautiful. Actors are par excellence and are in perfect harmony. But the lack of coherence makes you feel as if you watching a serial with many episodes.

The first half is like watching a documentary on how to like India. It is like the Pre-lapsarian world where we all live in harmony and accept our selves as we are. We are all silly, funny, simplistic, innocent people who hold on to the pillars of love and faith for our survival. Post Interval the movie is like the post-lapsarian world. Satan here is the much talked about – Kala Bandar. Who comes and awakens the kala Bandar inside each and every one of us. The tone is preachy and moral but acceptable.

The locales of Rajasthan- a small village called Sambhar have been exploited brilliantly to serve as the Delhi-6 looks. The alike dingy streets and connected rooftops of Sambhar make it a real Chandni chowk. The feels of the movie is thus very true, relatable, especially for people who have spent plenty of time in the environs of Delhi-6. Music as I already said is real good but the incoherence shows even in there placement other than the title track. But then the melodious hymns do not give it jarring tone.

Pawan Malhotra is the perfect example of the routine Delhi residents’ ‘self-interested’ attitude. Sonam Kapoor, great just that I don’t know how on earth her gait is so synchronised. Mattakalli is apt for her and she moves her waist way too much then requires. Just see the promos and you will know what I mean exactly. Bittu Sharma a ,that is, Sonam Kapoor is again a brilliant name for an Indian Idol aspirant J and Sonam fits in the shoes of a cringing middle class daughter perfectly well.

Humour in the movie is very subtle and very entertaining. The day to day lives of Indians which involve various little rites and rituals gives us a great reason to laugh. Incidents like Kala Bandar, jagran, or to put it in words of Mamdu “Mother cow giving birth to baby cow”. The song which merges the American and Indian counterparts of Abhishek Bacchan is highly imaginative and entertaining.

The movie is a pastiche of sorts. It is a good watch, innovative to the core, but not one of his best. Climax is well suited for audience at home. Mehra could have done better justice to it. But, anyhow it is satisfactory.