Review Delhi 6: Message too subtle

Really wanted the title to be ‘’ Message too subtle, if any!’’, but then I didn’t! The message is in fact so subtle in its delivery that most would miss it.

The movie is about a guy, Roshan who comes from the US to India just to fulfill his dying grand-mothers last wish. The fact that even till the end of the movie, the grand-mother does not die is an altogether different story. So Roshan basically lands in this huge cultural melting pot called ‘Delhi’. A place full of colour and people or rather full of colourful people.

The movie’s biggest weakness is its multitude of characters. The entire first half is just dedicated to introduction of various characters. After the first 10 minutes, I told myself that may be now the movie will pick pace. Ditto after the first 60 minutes, but again, the same result. The end of the first half leaves you with a hollow feeling. Even after a good 70 minutes, you don’t know where the movie is heading, what the message is.

The movie though, is a visual delight, old Delhi looks amazingly beautiful. Rakesysh Mehra again delivers on the visual front, the same way he did with Rang De. But the story leaves a lot to be desired. But the music is truly uplifting. If you thought Rahman’s ‘Jai Ho’ was brilliant, Delhi 6’s music will simply blow your mind away.
Also, there are multiple stories running at the same time: Sonam fighting against her father’s wish to settle for an arrange marriage, the Hindu-Muslim tension over the ‘kaala bandar’, a rich landlord’s wife cheating him and many more. Add to this, the love story between Bittu and Roshan and what you get is a plate-full of confusion.

Even Roshan’s transition from an American to a thoroughbred Delhi ka munda is shabbily handled. The fact that Roshan, born and bought up in America just easily merges into the loud society of Delhi is most baffling. Surpirisngly, his character does not encounter any awkwardness and hence the transition that the director wanted to show, that of an American-Indian finding his true self is not effective.

Please enjoy the song Masakalli thoroughly, not because it is a great song, but because it is one of the rare sequences in the movie worth enjoying. When the movie finally ended, I was left with a highly confused and empty feeling. It was as if I had just seen a marathon episode of a daily soap, whose last scene said ‘’ To be continued…’’

P.S: I may be a bit more disappointed because Rang De Basanti is one of my favourite movies. Hence, expected this one to be even better.