Delhi 6 Falling, Falling, Falling – Down 75%
Abhishek’s Delhi 6 Fails to Sizzle at Box Office
Folks, for the first time in so many years there were 17 people (12 initially + 5 more trooped in just as the movie started) for the 12:30PM show of a Bollywood movie in the U.S. on a Friday!
That’s a record because usually there are no more than three or four jobless guys (to use a phrase that we’ve been slammed with recently by Bala’s fanboys for daring to see a movie on a weekday) for the opening show.
The relatively large audience for Delhi 6 notwithstanding, the best one can say about Abhishek Bachchan’s latest misadventure is that it does not plumb the septic depths like his last disaster Drona.
Alien to Acting
Make no mistake.
Abhishek Bachchan is still the same lobotomized duffer, completely foreign to the notion of acting.
As is his wont, the lazy dolt sleepwalks through the movie never making even the feeblest attempt to give the paying audience its due for shelling out $8.50 or sacrificing 2 hours and 20 minutes of their short time on Earth.
For the most part, this Abhishek fella looks and acts as if he’s been dropped one too many times on his head as a child (and in his later years as well).
Irrespective of what the scene demands, it’s all the same to this somnambulist clown in advanced rigor mortis. Do you think Abhishek Bachchan was Harman Baweja’s teacher in non-acting.
And what’s with the phony American accent when it comes to English but the regular Dilli accent when it comes to Hindi, Abhishek?
That Bollywood fans have to put up with this bandar is one of India’s manifold injustices. Well, such are the vagaries of life.
The Story
Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra prove that even three heads can turn in a real sloppy job when it comes to the story and screenplay in a Bollywood movie. More like three blockheads.
Delhi 6 starts off with the arrival in Delhi of a New York-based NRI Roshan Mehra (Abhishek Bachchan) with his sick Dadi (Waheeda Rehman), who’s adamant about spending her final days in the old family home and amidst her people.
After that, the aforementioned blockhead troika lose their way completely and the movie turns into a meandering ordeal for the audience.
Like an errant river after a flood, the story wanders where it pleases – stopping for a few minutes at the Kala Bandar show, takes flight to tell us about Bittu’s (Sonam Kapoor) Indian Idol aspirations, stops by at the area’s moneylender Lalaji (Prem Chopra), chugs along to the fight between the two brothers Madangopal (Om Puri) and Jaigopal (Pawan Malhotra), takes a break to play pool with Ali Baig uncle (Rishi Kapoor) and makes pitstops at the local yokel Gobar (Atul Kulkarni), the moneylender’s adulterous wife, a cocky policeman, the usual Hindu-Muslim clashes, an untouchable sweeper Jalebi, a cow giving birth on a busy street holding up traffic and…..do you really want to know more?
Are You still Awake?
We’d have tolerated even a dizzying array of characters if at least one or two of them had left an indelible impression behind.
Alas, such is not the case here.
With so many characters and animals (yeah, there’s a goat too besides the cow) vieing for screentime, it’s no surprise then that neither the countless characters nor the movie make a solid impression. Or any impression, for that matter.
The disarray of characters make their appearances and they make their exits. They reappear and they exit again, ad nauseum.
Meaningless Kaleidoscope
Delhi 6 is an Indian kaleidoscope alright but one that has no meaning because most of the characters are so poorly fleshed out.
Nor is there a compelling overarching story to unite the disparate loose threads.
Although there are moments of humor that had us and the others laughing, ultimately the Delhi 6 story is not in the least bit gripping.
Tis’ a pity that Delhi 6’s music fails to rise above the ordinary either. For that would have been some saving grace.
With the exception of Masakali, we were not taken in by any of the other songs or their picturization.
Sonam – No Complaints
Sonam Kapoor is a decent actress. We found her OK in Saawariya and yes, we liked her in Delhi 6.
But she doesn’t have much of a role in this movie what with the thousand other characters and events in Delhi 6 crowding her out.
Like most desis, we like our girls chubby and alas, the young lady has lost some weight since her Saawariya days. Fortunately, not in all the places 😉 .
Stay at Home, Folks
Bottomline, Delhi 6 is just another Bollywood movie with nothing much to recommend it.
If you ask us whether Delhi 6 is worth the time or money, we’d tell you to stay at home – switch on the telly, surf the net or sleep an extra hour or two.
All less expensive and less painful ways to waste your time than say watching Delhi 6.
Related Stories:
Delhi 6 Falling, Falling, Falling – Down 75%
Abhishek’s Delhi 6 Fails to Sizzle at Box Office
Delhi 6 Review – A Meaningless Kaleidoscope added by SearchIndia.com on
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Nothing about the Monkey Man? Isn’t there a lot of preaching towards the end? I haven’t seen it yet but a movie that tries to impose its morality on the viewer is anathema to me. It can have one though. But it shouldn’t lecture us like we are KG.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Nothing about the Monkey Man?
We referred to the Monkey Man in the review but stuck to the Hindi term Kala Bandar used in the movie. Please see below:
Like an errant river after a flood, the story wanders where it pleases – stopping for a few minutes at the Kala Bandar show…
Kala Bandar is Black Monkey in Hindi.
2. You write: Isn’t there a lot of preaching towards the end?
Yes. Utter nonsense, the preachy crap in the end about the ‘Black Monkey’ in some corner of all of us. Not in the least bit effective or convincing.
Pretty much expected 😉
Yeah, sorry I missed that. Some other reviewers seem to give it more attention.
I do believe its a travesty that actors like Abhishek Bachchan manage to bag roles after dishing out garbage in film after film while competent actors remain sidelined. By the way when is that Charulata review coming? Also, did you review Dev D? What do you think of Anurag Kashyap as a director?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Charulata will come next week, followed by a look at other Satyajit Ray movies.
2. No, we never made it to Dev D…think it had a limited release in the U.S.
3. You write: What do you think of Anurag Kashyap as a director
We watched Black Friday and liked it.
Bachhan Jr’s lack of effort on screen may be regarded by some as `understated acting’, but it is clear that the fellow can’t act.
Merely putting on an intense / smouldering look all the time is not acting. He got away with that in Sarkar and Sarkar Raj (in the sense that the movies made some money), but not any more, hopefully.
There are some fine actors who use understatement to a great effect, but surely, Bacchan Jr is not one of them.
What about Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri and Waheeda Rehman in Delhi6 ? Surely they all would have done much better than Bacchan Jr.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: What about Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri and Waheeda Rehman in Delhi6 ? Surely they all would have done much better than Bacchan Jr
Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri and Waheeda Rehman do a decent job…but with their bit roles/brief appearances it makes no difference to the movie as such.
In any case, when has Om Puri ever done a lousy job although the chap has been reduced to doing pathetic caricatures lately.
Bottomline, at the risk of exaggeration we’d venture to say that even the goat and cow do a better job than Abhishek Bachchan.
I am new to this website, so I m just curious..What are the 3 bollywood movies that you actually liked? seems like u namecalling big bollywood actors and directors..so just wondering!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: What are the 3 bollywood movies that you actually liked?
Pl see here and there.
Hi guys our director priyadarshan in an interview said he did not like slumdog since it shows darker side of India and he believes that filmmakers like him in india could make movies thousand times better than slumdog. He also stated that westerners love to see india only in this manner and thats why the movie is a hit.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. God, what a bunch of whiners Priyadarshan and his Bollywood cronies are.
2. When Priyadarshan was accused of plagiarism a couple of years ago, this is what the dodo had to say in an interview with The Hindu:
3. Compared to Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, Priyadarshan is a bachcha, a podi paya (an amateur).
4. So what if Danny showed the dark side of India. Folks, India has a very dark side. Let’s not pretend otherwise.
5. Bollywood’s anger over Slumdog Millionaire is not because it depicts India in a poor light but because Danny Boyle made a fine movie that’s attracted attention of audiences across the the world. It’s sheer jealousy. The United Nations has put out so many reports that show India in an unflattering light. Does that mean the U.N. is exploiting India.
MUHAHAHA…this is what you get for not watching perfume-the story of a murderer.
Kneel before my superior intelligence, you mere mortal.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You must have put some voodoo curse on us and stuck some needles in dolls resembling us…because we just woke up and it’s 1:24 AM in the morning here.
We Kneel before your superior intelligence, immoral one oops immortal one…we’ll watch Perfume this weekend.
I saw it alright. It seemed OK.
Although I do feel it would have been better if Abhishek had done the entire movie with that gorilla mask. I don’t know whether its dollar vasool (probably not) but I feel like I got the worth of my Rs. 30. I thought the movie was very novel and creative. Its a relief from the usual crap. For people like me, away from their homes, with nothing to do on a sunday afternoon, this movie is enough. It is definitely WATCHABLE. That is a huge thing for a Bollywood movie.
The theatre was full-around 200 people and after a long long time I heard some-abt 30 by the sound of it- applauding at the end. I feel a better actor and a tighter script would have saved it. The Jalebi sub-plot I liked. The kids could have done better. And some crappy sh***y lines like “india works cos d people make it work” should have been edited.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. From what we’ve been reading on Indian sites like boxofficeindia.com, Delhi 6 does not seem to be doing well. Excerpt from boxofficeindia.com:
2. You write: I feel like I got the worth of my Rs. 30
Ah, you are in India…not sure why but for some reason we thought you were also based here.
I have seen only one Abhishek Bachhan movie… that is Umrao Jaan.. And on that very day sitting in a Delhi multiplex … decided that i will NEVER watch this idiot again …
Though entire Indian electronic media goes out of their hearts in describing him and others (more or less, similar to him) like Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan (“superstar”).. True… they are mediocre, pervert and shameless too…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: I have seen only one Abhishek Bachhan movie…
That is one too many.
We saw Umrao Jaan here a couple of years back and didn’t think much of it.
11 more to the jobless count in just 2 weeks!!! No wonder everyone’s screamin’ and kickin’ 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Funny. 🙂
I’ll take it as a compliment.. 🙂
I have great respect for NRIs. Where I come from almost every house has someone working abroad.
SearchIndia.com is without doubt one of the best blogs about cinema especially Indian cinema. Why is that? Because it’s unbiased and more importantly unforgiving to bad films, actors and directors.
If I say aloud where I am living that Mohanlal is a lazy, fat SOB who should have quit acting while he could indeed act (that is a decade ago), I would probably be lynched to death. But I can say that here and am sure if I torture SI into seeing one of his latest flicks (the entire length of it, like my friends did to me) he/she/it would curse me into eternal damnation, tear his/her/its own eyes out at having seen such vulgarity, dig him/her/itself a grave, lay in it and PRAY nay BEG to the almighty god to take him/her/it. Sorry about that everyone. Whew, had to get that out of my system. It was a very boring Sunday. And my opinion of delhi 6 may have been influenced by an earlier film I watched.
I know rajublog (i think) met SI but I still believe SI could be a humanoid robot-probably a banglorean creation-send from the future to rid India of bad movies and people. SI is based in US cos bollywood films make most of their money overseas and when that stops it would continue its quest at home where its master primarily intended it to be.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: bollywood films make most of their money overseas and when that stops it would continue its quest at home where its master primarily intended it to be.
Do Bollywood films make most of their money overseas? We doubt it…Not sure about Australia, Gulf, Singapore, UK et al but here there’s rampant piracy in Bollywood films…Barely a few days after the movie releases, pirated DVDs are available in Indian grocery stores for $1 or $2 rental.
Still, domestic distribution rights for ghajini was sold for 550 million rupees while overseas and satellite rights fetched more than 600 million as I recall. Read somewhere that movies of SRK collects more overseas.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Interesting.
There are only about 2.5 million Indian-Americans here. And not all watch Bollywood films. Some of the ABCDs we’ve met are completely divorced from ‘Indianess’ much to their parents’ displeasure. But that’s just the U.S.
With Wiki estimating the total Indian diaspora at 25 million, it’s perhaps possible that Bollywood is making good money outside India.
We know ethnic Indians from Suriname, Guyana et al who are as crazy about Bollywood films as we are.
2. If Bollywood clamps down on piracy, they could get more. But that would require some effort, time and money.
Raid a few Indian grocery stores in NJ/NY, VA/MD, Bay Area, L.A. and that should have a demonstration effect on the rest.
We get pirated prints too-very easily, sometimes even before the movie is released. So that kinda evens out.
OK, I was sacked by Delhi 6 because I didn’t read up on it before I went. I fell asleep seven times even though I wasn’t tired. The story wasn’t. The characters were start and stop, hit and miss.
Even so, even so…
SearchIndia.com, how can you not love Rehna Tu and Dil Gira Dafatan? ?? Good gracious!
Also, the film was a present-day fable/fairytale, with a very moving and true message about how love for one’s fellow human beings trumps factional divisions based on religion, caste, gender and class.
I agree the song picturizations were mediocre.
Baby B was quite good in Refugee, excellent in Naach and Yuva, and OK in Delhi 6. You just don’t like his tall looks and laconic style. Sonam Kapoor has the ability to project a good heart, tenderness, humor, intelligence and a little bit of edge. It’s in her genes.
Btw, Slumdog is not that great a film, except technically. Story-wise, it’s really shallow, and the characters are way underdeveloped. I don’t know why you keep holding it up as a filmmaking milestone for India’s film industries. It’s not. It has nothing on a zillion Indian films over the decades, in terms of real story and feeling.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write above: Btw, Slumdog is not that great a film, except technically. Story-wise, it’s really shallow, and the characters are way underdeveloped. I don’t know why you keep holding it up as a filmmaking milestone for India’s film industries. It’s not.
Slumdog Millionaire Wins First Oscar – for Adapted Screenplay
2. You write: Baby B was quite good in Refugee, excellent in Naach and Yuva, and OK in Delhi 6. You just don’t like his tall looks and laconic style
If we are going to go in for Height, we’ll opt for Yao Ming.
Abhishek Bachchan is a disgrace to Bollywood.
Accha, but an award is not directly correlative of quality, as we all know. To back my opinion, the shallowness of the SDM screenplay was unsolicitedly obvious to friends who know zip about India’s culture and entertainment traditions, but who know a lot about screenwriting.
Have you re-watched Yuva lately?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write above: Accha, but an award is not directly correlative of quality, as we all know
True, in some instances.
What about eight Oscars for a single movie (hint: Slumdog Millionaire)
2. Have you re-watched Yuva lately?
We watched Yuva a few years back.
Don’t know if this link will come through — it’s a review from a couple of months ago by Anthony Lane of the New Yorker — he’s pretty clear in pointing out the story flaws. Though this is an old review, I didn’t see it until today, when they republished it because of SDM’s wins:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/11/24/081124crci_cinema_lane
In every respect but the screenplay, SDM deserved every award it got.
I watched Yuva again about six months back, in part because of the way criticism of Abhishek has seemed to get noisier since his marriage, so I was questioning my memory of how he did in Yuva. He is truly excellent in that film.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Yeah, we read the New Yorker reviewer sometime back (we subscribe to the print edition of New Yorker…For those considering a subscription, we recommend it).
Let’s not forget Anthony Lane also had the following to say in the review:
and
2. Although we like the New Yorker reviews, we thought Lane gave away more than he ought to in a review, thereby robbing potential viewers of some of the shock value.
3. You write: I watched Yuva again about six months back, in part because of the way criticism of Abhishek has seemed to get noisier since his marriage
Not sure if criticism of Abhishek Bachchan has intensified since his marriage to another non-actress.
The fella has been giving a lackluster performance in movie after movie after movie despite the intense competition out there in Bollywood. Strange.
what about Guru (the movie and AB’s performance)?
Also, I’m surprised you guys didn’t watch Paruthiveeran and Subramaniapuram.
I’d also like to know your opinion on K.Viswanath’s movies?
1. SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: what about Guru (the movie and AB’s performance)?
Please read Guru review here.
2. Regarding K.Viswanath, we are not that familiar with his work although like a lot of Indians, we have listened to the songs of Shankarabharanam.
He’s also acted in Anbe Sivam but we can’t place him in the movie now.
3. You write: I’m surprised you guys didn’t watch Paruthiveeran and Subramaniapuram.
We don’t think Paruthiveeran and Subramaniapuram made it to the East Coast of the U.S.
I can’t place him in Anbe Sivam either. Shankarabharanam was his masterpiece. But I am surprised. Was Swathimuthyam not dubbed into Tamil?
Saagara sangamam is Salangai Oli in Tamil if i am right. Didn’t you watch it? If you didn’t, you must get your hand on it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Added Salangai Oli to our Netflix queue.
Will watch it shortly.
Here’s a partial list of Tamil, Hindi, English & other language movies we’ve watched in the last few years.
[deleted because of repetition]
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Please do not repeat comments. We usually get to most comments (yes, we’ve processed your previous comment too…see above).
BTW, we work on U.S. Eastern Time (tonight is an exception…we couldn’t sleep…so we are typing away at 4:09AM ET). 🙂
70-year old Waheeda should have done an “Aaj phir jeene ki” dance in the film to pump up its market value like “Kajra re”. I am sure that would have done the trick and overcome Abhishit’s crappy acting!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Aaj phir jeene ki from Guide is a lovely song.
We’ve listened to it countless times to so much pleasure over the years.
Guide (by R.K.Narayan) was not a bad book too.
It was really hilarious to see Kareena-a woman at No. 10 on the Filmfare survey of the 10 most powerful persons in Bollywood in 2008. Not even Amitabh’s son could make No. 10. It would be easier to end the recession in the U.S. than for Abhiflop to ever get to No. 1 by overcoming such titans as Hrithik, SRK, and Aamir: the latter being king of original cinema while Abhishit being the flop king of copying Aamir in very bad ways such as Lagaan compared to the trashy Mumbai se aya mera dost. I guess Abhishit should stay in Mumbai and sing “Bombay se aya mera dost” while drinking and singing out loud on Marine Lines at 3 in the morning while his father negotiates deals with directors to star his bhangi, bhikhari-like brat in new projects that will surely fail at the box office. [deleted….stick to English]
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: overcoming such titans as Hrithik, SRK, and Aamir: the latter being king of original cinema
Ghajini is stolen shit. Not original.
pathetic performance backed by a real pathetic story.. so who was there for the first day..
Masakali is awesome.. most of the other songs are also pretty good.. too bad that they have been wasted in this dud of a movie
I have got bored with my collection.. now am gathering new songs.. Can you recommend any good music review site?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Can’t remember offhand any music review site.
If you like listening to late 60s/early 70s Hindi songs, Yadon ki barat, Dost, Aaradhana, Hare Krishna Hare Ram, Andaz have good songs. YouTube has them all.
See this recent post for some nice numbers – Old Hindi Songs We’re Listening To
i am mainly looking for something when I drive.. and also particular about the sound quality.. the older songs don’t have the zing in them that the new ones have.. Masakali would have been a classic had it been in a superhit movie.. these songs are better than the ones in Ghajini.. ARR was disappointing in that one.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Given his track record, we find it hard to associate the word ‘classic’ for anything related to Abhishek Bachchan.
The music score in this movie is pretty good considering the out of the box sounds – lot of variety in texture, rhythm and syncopation. Maybe the music would have been served well if it had found placement in an over-the-top commercial than in a semi-feature, semi-documentary episodic mish-mash like Delhi6…
I think one of the comments buried above is spot-on, wearing a smoldering look doesn’t count as acting and doesn’t make one Clint Eastwood ! Maybe the kid has been watching too many westerns.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. OMG, the Delhi 6 miscarriage seems like it happened an eternity ago. 😉
2. You write: I think one of the comments buried above is spot-on, wearing a smoldering look doesn’t count as acting and doesn’t make one Clint Eastwood ! Maybe the kid has been watching too many westerns.
Abhishek Bachchan wouldn’t recognize Clint Eastwood even if ‘Dirty Harry‘ personally came over and pistol-whipped him. 😉
Agreed, Abhishek can’t act. He’s pathetic. But have you seen Yuva? Somehow (accidently) he has delivered in Yuva as a gangster named Lallan. I think he acted decently in Yuva!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You Write Above: I think he acted decently in Yuva!!
If Abhishek Bachchan did something right, it must have been an accident. 😉
did not see the movie cuz of the reviews….but the music was pretty good especially “rehna tu” and “dil gira dafatan” which are nothin short of heavenly
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: did not see the movie cuz of the reviews….
Just when you think Abhishek Bachchan can’t sink any lower, he goes and does exactly that. 😉