Delhi-"6" Crosses the boundry but just falls short of going over it!

"Rehna Tu Hai Jaisa Tu
Tujhe badalna na chahu raddibar bhi sanam
Bina Sajawat na Milawat- Na Zyaada nahi Kam.......
This says everything about the movie. It's just as real a film can get. Going by the age-old adage that "Art is a reflection of reality"- this movie is definitely the mirror to everyday life one leads. The movie is pure (bina sajawat and milawat) as the lyrics of this most beautiful composition of the movie (I am sorry Masakali) go. This song is perhaps one of the most best music pieces I've heard in my life. While I am at it, lemme take a stop before I plunge into the review and just devote some deserving time to this song. The lyrics of this song do not follow the typical lyrical diktats but are yet so poetic. Another interesting part of this beautiful song (I need another superlative adjective) is the flute piece that plays for a good long 2 minutes at the end of the song. Rarely, do you get to hear such standalone music pieces in a song without any lyrical intersperse.
Now coming back to the film, this was one movie that I was very keen on watching ever since the inception of the movie. This was coz of the humongous influence Rang De Basanti (RDB) had on me that tops my favorite movie list. And boy, I wondered RDB is a tough act to follow. Unfortunately for Rakesh Mehra (the director), it will be very difficult for the audience to view this movie objectively without drawing parallels to RDB. So the big question, Does the film work????
For me, "YES", but am sure it will open to mixed response from the audience. For starters, the movies heavy on "Chandni Chowk" (CC) flavor, that is very difficult for someone (includes me) who is unfamiliar with the CC milieu to relish the flavor instantly. When I say heavy, it is heavy indeed as the director invests a good hour into every nuance of this colorful place that it will take some patience to sail through this hour. I was totally out of sync with the concept of a fervent ram Leela, the local political goons and how even the "Gods" have to succumb to the local politician's bhashans whose nostrils flare while she is giving hose speeches....But what made me sail through was the intense passion of the director that the film reflects. Everything is so real, so grounded...When I say that, I mean the clothes, the body language, the make-up )or more so the lack of it)- basically the absence of every "K" element of film-making. I have seen the movies of directors who claim to have made realistic movies- by this they mean they are just making the protagonists wear non-designer clothes. The performances in such "realistic" films is so labored (perhaps the effort of trying to break the norm is so evident). Thats where Delhi-6 scores and how!!!! The characters are so oblivious to any camera, directions that they seem like people have been actually hand-picked from CC whose lives have been shot by hidden cameras. And the credit for this must go to the director for choosing the best ensemble cast. These people grow with you as the movie progresses. There were moments that stayed with me. Atul Kulkarni's naivity, Deepak Dobriyal's angst when his store is torn down, Divya Dutta at her fiery best, the warring brothers at the jaagran to name a few.
the second hlf of the movie, wherein the Kala-Bandar metaphor strikes CC, the movie gets very moving. (I don't want to play spoiler and reveal the fim's finest moments towards the end). the movie fails to surpass RDB at this juncture. Although, a mean thing to say, a sad end would have given the movie a befitting climax. the near tragic end being miraculously converted to a happy end is where the movie utterly falters and hugely depriving the soulful movie of the perfect end.
Now the movie won't work for you, if you looking for a definite plot, boy-girl protagonists, boy-girl romance (this element exists but is overtly underplayed-ts the perfect oxymoron...) and if you not the kinds to read between the lines and not wanna take home a message or not a an admirer of subtlety and/or walk into the movie wishing to see Abhishek Bachchan as the quintessential hero!!! The real heroes are CC itself, Rakesh Mehra, the ensemble cast and of course AR Rehman whose music elevates the movie several notches higher and this list will be incomplete without mentioning the name of the most unsung hero- Prasoon Joshi (the lyricist).
For me the hype was totally worth it!!!!!!