Delhi 6 – Review

Rang De Basanti was a super movie. There were a lot of expectations from Delhi 6. Unfortunately Rakesh Omprakash Mehra has got it all wrong this time.

 

Delhi 6 is about a young man coming back to his roots and deciding to stick on. Abhishek Bachchan plays the protagonist, who decides to bring his ailing grandmother back from America to her hometown, Delhi. Delhi 6 is the name of the area where they live. Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) falls for the neighbourhood girl Bittu (Sonam Kapoor). Surprisingly she has acted well, although the chemistry between Roshan and her is non-existent.

 

Anyway, back to the plot. Roshan tries to get accustomed to the unusual Indian norms of living. Hindus and Muslims live happily together in the area until an unknown monkey man – you will recall the capital’s monkey man murders where a guy in a furry suit (or the abominable snowman with a tan, whichever pleases you) destroys the peace. The Hindus say that the man in the suit is Muslim and that’s the reason it killed an innocent Hindu girl and the Muslims say otherwise. Yes, however stupid this may sound, this is how the divide starts. Abhishek’s attempt to make sense fails — even he is accused of being biased. The movie needs no more explination because it’s boring.

 

AR Rehman has once again proved to be the saving grace — the music of Delhi 6 is fantastic, although it hasn’t been able to hold the film. There are a few good moments, but sadly that’s about it — they don’t last too long. This movie is no Saawariya or Drona, but I never expected it to get even close to those clunkers. The intention is good but the movie isn’t. Om Puri could have been given a larger role. Abhishek Bachchan is no Aamir Khan or Shahrukh Khan and it shows. Sonam Kapoor looks like the character she plays and I think she is the only one who has done justice to her role.

 

Overall, Delhi 6 fails to do what Rang De Basanti managed to do effortlessly. The good dialogues are few and lack essence. The director is capable of much more and let’s hope he makes a good one before going on vacation.

RishiO Meter 1.9/5

Slumdog Millionaire Review

I read somewhere that some Mumbai-based movie critics are saying Danny Boyle has shown Mumbai as a gutter. I don’t know what those guys mean. If the shoot has taken place in Dharavi, how will it look clean? It’s not supposed to. My advice to the critics is to CLEAN IT if you can.

 

Let’s get to the movie now. I am going to review it as an Indian — foreigners seem awestruck by a few things that we see everyday and pass off as normal. Slumdog Millionaire is a story exactly as the title suggests – the tale of a slum dog who becomes a millionaire. The journey is what makes you believe in this piece of celluloid.

 

The movie is based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup, directed by Danny Boyle and co-directed by the lesser-known Lovleen Tandon. Simon Beaufoy, the screen writer has woven the book nicely into an inspirational screenplay.

 

It all starts off with the protoagonist, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), being interrogated by a cop (Irfan Khan). Jamal has been brought in for interrogation because the cops suspect him of cheating in a game show. Poverty being his major enemy and honesty his strength, Jamal manages to convince the cops that he is innocent and goes on to complete the show as a roll-over contestant.

 

The story is Jamal’s life’s journey, depicting his life in a slum, the death of his mother in Hindu-Muslim riots and how he and his brother as children are left to fend for themselves. They meet a girl, Latika, who has seen as hard a life and Jamal immediately falls for her. Child actors Ayush, Azharuddin and Rubiana have acted brilliantly. Hats off to the directors, they have managed to extract the impossible out of them.

 

 In a few years, due to unfavourable circumstances, Jamal ventures out alone into the dark and unforgiving city that is Mumbai. His mission is to find his love, Latika who gets separated from him in the prime of his childhood full on hindi film style (running behind a train)

 

Working as a chaiwalla in a call centre he manages to get through as a contestant in the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire. He is ecstatic as he knows his love Latika (Freida Pinto)  watches the show. He manages to answer all the questions as they are related to his life at some point or the other. Anil Kapoor has played the quiz master. He doesn’t have much of a role but whatever little he has done, is done well. In the end as a masala Hindi movie goes, Jamal meets Latika and everybody goes home happy. (and dancing – literally)

 

AR Rehman’s music is the best thing about the movie. The soundtrack is better than most Hollywood films of late. After all, he was nominated along with Hans Zimmer and managed to beat him to win the Golden Globe award.

 

I don’t think this is Danny Boyle’s best film, though. Trainspotting cannot be compared to this movie. I don’t think he has shown poverty to get mileage. Lovleen Tandon and Danny Boyle deserve a pat on the back for doing such good work, and I think they will get more awards too. The film has appealed to the audience and the jury members to no end. I’m not surprised. The Indian film makers should take a clue from the movie about what the international audience likes. We cannot keep sending movies with eight songs in them and expect awards.

 

If I am not mistaken, Amitabh Bachhan issued a statement saying that had it been an Indian director, the film wouldn’t have done this well. I agree with him completely, not because Danny Boyle got preference being a Britisher, but because no Indian director is capable of taking the risk of keeping a film clean without unnecessary songs and dances. 

 

If you notice I have written this review not in a straight script format (if you know what I mean – I mean all over the place). That’s exactly how the films screenplay goes. Overall the film is good ( not the best ever as critics have said across the world). It’s entertainment guaranteed. But it will surely make you think off and on whether it deserves all it has already got. I mean awards.

 

RishiO Review Meter – 3.9/5