Delhi - 6

They say 'The Ramayan' is a quintessential classic Indian mythological story, that superbly tells the tale of a plethora of human emotions; across the spectrum, good, bad and ugly. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, uses this age-old narrative to render his tale of the virtues and vices within us, human beings.

Delhi – 6 is a collage in motion, articulately conceived and cautiously played out. Characters juxtaposed within their spaces, in a city that is known for her large-heartedness, generosity and mindless lovers. A city, which like most others, houses her villains within her ordinary everyday heroes, who unconventionally and simultaneously worship both Lord Hanuman and Allah or go around thrashing men and women under the pretext of power.

The movie essentially revolves around the hypothesis, that 'India works'; that India as a country works, because it's people make it work. In its chaos lies a system; in it’s beliefs (convoluted as it may sound), a science. Mehra hits the nail on its head and drills it deep within, when he says that headlines screaming ‘Elephant idols incessantly drink milk’ or ‘Sea water around a local dargah turns sweet overnight’ share front-page word space with others such as ‘The Jaguar to be an Indian car’ or ‘India launches its first moon mission’. Pregnant cows giving birth on the streets may provide momentary blessings that cure the unhealthy, but cannot cure human hatred. A dalit scavenger, touching whom in public, is considered sacrilegious, may provoke hardly any blasphemy when exploited as an object of sexual satisfaction, behind closed doors. It is this dichotomy that India lives and marvelously revels in.

The city of Delhi, especially Delhi – 6 (old Delhi/ Chandni Chowk) herself is the main protagonist in the story. Her character and dynamism lend themselves much more, than merely serving as a backdrop to the story. Delhi’s inner city reflects in its multiple spaces; where 300,000 devout muslims, synchronise themselves in obeisance at the Jama Masjid; haunted dilapidated monuments entice scheming crooks; where a maze of bylanes winds a character to his uncle’s bachelor pad within an almost-obsolete, fortified old building or the multiple terraces that nearly proliferate out of each other. North Indian roofs unfold their own spatialities too; where conversations occur, lovers meet, suicide plots are conceived, women chat and kids fly kites.
Mehra’s movie; may or may not be semi-autobiographical, but is closely relatable. The movie is not about one, but about every one of us and our inner demons. How we confront them or they confront us and what our reaction is to their instigation, is the bigger meaning the film tries to convey.

Problems where a brother fights a brother and religion becomes bigger than God, have prevailed abundantly, in India. But peaceful solutions have been scarce. The movie ends with a sense of hope; in keeping with today’s trying times. The director and a few members of the cast were of the opinion that in today’s depressing scenarios, everyone knows what the problems are. It is the solution that is unknown. And if an immediate solution is missing, then a sense of hope needs to be provided. And that is why, in my opinion, this film works. It asks questions and provokes answers. It not only points at the vices in our system, but also hints at the prevailing virtues that can be used to overcome them.
Simplicity, sensitivity, keen observation and a great translation of context are other attributes of the film. Each character sketch is intricately delved into and detailed to the core. The movie works in it’s simile's as much as it does, in it’s contradictions. Doves fly around symbolising peace and harmony, a mad man wanders with a mirror all day instigating introspection and a subdued hippie in a middle-class girl, waits to break free.
Prasoon Joshi, the co-writer and lyricist of the movie, conveyed that it often takes an alien eye to see what the local eye is blind to. In one of his songs from the movie ‘Swades’ Javed Akhtar aptly surmised our inner angels and demons, when he wrote “Mann ke Ravan ko nikaale, Ram uske maan mein hai” (God is within him, who can eradicate the demon from within himself).
The movie reinforces that catalysts for social change may be external and in this case even neanderthal, but the real transformation needs to come from the inside. From within each one of us, who should hopefully be able to comprehend the logical and pit it against the illogical, who must know where to draw the line between rage and religion and most importantly, who need to know not just how to, but how much to, hold onto their roots while soaring their wings.

A movie well written, well performed and well understood.
Mr. Mehra, you and your entire cast and crew, can deservingly take a bow!