Delhi-6 (2009)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Rakesh Omprakash Mehra

Writers:

Rakesh Omprakash Mehra (story) &
Prasoon Joshi (story) ...

Release Date:

18 February 2009 (United Arab Emirates)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The Journey within

Plot:

A story about love, hope and self-discovery set in the walled city of Delhi (zip code 6) and its chaotic but touching life that forces us to ask questions about ourselves.

Plot Keywords:

Self Justice | City Name In Title | Depiction Of Corrupt Society | Shot By Gun | Film With Ambiguous Title

Cast

Waheeda Rehman	...	Annapurna Mehra
Abhishek Bachchan	...	Roshan Mehra
Sonam Kapoor	...	Bittu Sharma
Rishi Kapoor	...	Ali Beg
Om Puri	...	Madan Gopal Sharma
Prem Chopra	...	Lala Bhairam
Atul Kulkarni	...	Gobar
Pavan Malhotra	...	Jai Gopal Sharma (as Pawan Malhotra)
Divya Dutta	...	Jalebi
Supriya Pathak	...	Vimla Sharma
Tanvi Azmi	...	Fatima Mehra
Vijay Raaz	...	Inspector Ranvijay
Deepak Dobriyal	...	Mamdu
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Ramleela Narrator
K.K. Raina	...	Haji Suleiman

Also Known As:

Dilli 6 (India: Hindi title) (working title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:12A | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Hotel Tara Palace, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, Central Delhi, Delhi, India

Company:

ROMP

Trivia:

The Brooklyn bridge sequences were shot in green matte at the sets and were later composited with the BG plates, shot separately. (Number of shots: 18)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Abhishek Bachan goes to invite Om Puri for Jagran, the particles of blended cotton sticks to his clothes, but when he is about to leave all the particles disappear.

Quotes:

Mamdu: Only dogs eat when they're hungry. Humans eat to bond with each other.

Movie Connections:

References "Indian Idol" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Genda Phool

Failed to translate on screen

Too many big names associated with this project. Apart from the mammoth star-cast, please pay attention to the three "intellectual pool" of writers contributing to the ahem... broth. The answer lies somewhere in between "Brainstorming exercise gone haywire" or "paradigm shift went overboard".

Juxtaposing is a tried and tested method for Mr. RO Mehra. The autobiographical attempt is presented with the narrative concept from Malgudi Days and juxtaposing the socio-economic Mini-India. Noble intentions indeed, sadly attempted too early considering his single-digit film-making career. There are shades of great directors in the attempt however the plot fails to connect.

I will refrain to comment on performances and this is because the character seems "small" and the actor for the part "big". Practically, everybody seems grossly under-utilised. There is hardly any actor that stays on your mind after you walkout of the cinema. Just a second, it just struck me that Rishi Kapoor was in the movie as well.

Music is innovative and loaded with good tracks. However owing to the pot-hole the Malgudi Days drops everybody into, the songs are truncated big time and lose their very purpose. Well under-utilised there again.

The last 15-minutes takes a complete mickey out of the audience. Whoever came up with it let me assure you it was a monkeys idea. Not removing the mask at the very least saved further damage. And yo - from where did the flat-liner bit seep in?

With "Aks" Mr. RO Mehra learnt a valuable lesson about the importance of screenplay. The debacle of D-6 would have contributed to the learning curve I am sure.

PS:: Jr B's accent - nay!!! Should have let him be... or watch Siddharth Makkar in "Straight" from as a reference point.