An open letter to Rakesh Omprakash Mehra

Dear Mr. Mehra,

With great expectations, I watched Delhi 6 recently. Before watching the film I did tell myself that even though the film disappoints, I can still rely on the AR Rahman experience. The song Masakali was ringing in my head like a suppressed memory that was dying to appear in front of my eyes. The first two lines of the song relentlessly played tricks with my mind until I could take it no longer and decided that I had to put the song in some sort of a context or make it part of the journey, your own reference to the movie’s somewhat weak plot.

I have to say that I love movies that take me on a journey or movies that weave characters and settings and songs into an intricate entity, without necessarily having a robust beginning, middle or an end. And Delhi 6 started off so well. The adorable grandmother, returning to her homeland to spend her last remaining days and the Homeland that only injects a new life to her age old prejudices and superstitions. The sparring brothers who have a wall that stands between their houses, their lives and their happiness. The perceived local idiot who hides his sensibilities behind a facade of blind faith and belief. The two small kids who go up to the local untouchable/institutionalized prostitute and ask her to turn them into men (one of the most hilarious scenes of the movie) The young woman who sees Indian Idol as her escape from her impending arranged marriage that stems from her structured middle class life and of course the alienated NRI who is searching for his identity in his forgotten homeland.

All the characters make a lasting impression but its the innumerable themes that you try to juggle that causes the movie to falter. You try to showcase the religious and communal tensions, the break down of family, identity crisis, alienation, arranged marriages, the caste system, the struggle of good against evil, prejudice, superstition, alienation against the impressive backdrop of Ramayana. It is a moving attempt but it left me with the sense of emptiness as the climax of the movie sprung on me like an uninvited guest and before I knew it the movie ended.

All I have left to cherish now are snippets of wonderful scenes and now that I think of the movie I feel it would have worked much better as a television series similar to Malgudi Days, perhaps, where you could really manipulate the colorful setting of Delhi 6 and do justice to each of your characters and each of your scenes.

I commend you on your attempt but the next time you make a movie, be fair to your audience and give them the opportunity to really salvage your characters and the chapters in their lives.