Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the man who gave us a movie like Rang De Basanti, which was set in Delhi, returns this time with a movie in which he tries to trace his routes. Aptly titled Delhi – 6 (The pin code of old Delhi, Chandani Chowk etc is 110006) although originally titled Dilli -6, the movie tries to encapsulate the salient aspects of Old Delhi, as one of the main themes.

For a Delhi’ite and me personally, the movie did evoke some emotional connect as it did for my parents who were residents of Delhi -6 in the post independence era. Quite like Roshan (played by Abhishek Bachchan) who returns to Delhi from the USA, me and my brother as kids used to come home for summer vacations. Home was Delhi and I am talking about early 1980′s. As kids we would also be quite amazed at the site of a cow on the streets, or a vegetable seller going around shouting and selling vegetables or the best of them all, the news paper fellow, who used to roll the paper, put a rubber band on it and fling it one floor, aiming directly at our balcony. For my parents, it evoked nostalgia since they could relate to the streets, the religious fervor witnessed around Ramlila and the camaraderie between Hindus and Muslims. For instance my Dad was reminiscing that post independence, the area they stayed in had 90% muslims and 10% Hindus. The bonhomie between them was excellent. The houses were connected and the people celebrated all festivals together. So why such an abysmally low rating for the movie.

The reason for the low rating is that it seems Rakeysh Mehra ended up making a documentary on Delhi -6, rather than a commercial flick. He has focussed so hard on the setting for the movie, that he forgets that the audience for the movie wants a particular story. There is a very strong reference to the “Monkey Man” , a strange Monkey like creature who made headlines in 2001 in Delhi. In fact at several places in the movie one feels like the movie is dragging, it’s repetitive and just does not hold your attention. The characterization leaves you all confused and wondering as to who is doing what and who is what. In all of this, the one message which Rakeysh Mehra wants to set is that there is a Monkey Man in all of us, which breeds hatred and destruction. Sure, but look at the elements which are trying to be connected here: Roshan a NRI born in the US returning to India and discovering a new world, Roshan and Bittu’s (Sonam Kapoor) love story, Roshan’s grand-moms wish to return to India and die in her ancestral property, Hindu-Muslim feuds, Bittu’s search for the Indian Idol, the Charm of Delhi-6 (Chandni Chowk, Red Fort, Jama Masjid etc). Mr. Mehra I think you over-did it this time with the number of stories you wanted to tell. If you had just told one story, you would have done well. In all this I feel sad for Sonam Kapoor. Her second movie release will have to see a pathetic review.

So for all those who are going to watch the movie, be prepared for a documentary with some interesting tit-bits on Delhi -6.

What happens when you inter-breed Seeta aur Geeta with The Karate Kid, you get a mish mash called Chandni Chowk to China (CC2C). CC2C presents mindless banter which is slowly becoming the hallmark of all Akshay Kumar movies. The wonderful part of this is that the audience enjoys it and the movie does well too. We saw this with Singh is Kinng, which was one of the biggest hits of 2008, and CC2C is supposed to be the first big release of 2009.

CC2C tells the story of Sidhu (Akshay Kumar), an orphan bought up on the lanes of Chandni Chowk, a place in Delhi which has a rich history behind it. Chandni Chowk has great importance for all Delhi’ites and tourists since it was the nerve center of Mughal rule and British rule. A visit to Delhi is incomplete without going to Chandni Chowk and part of Old Delhi around it.

So anyways coming back to the movie, Sidhu is a simpleton, a person who wants to get rich and make it big – quick and easy. He is kept on the ground by Dada (Mithun Chakraborty), who has brought him up as a kid, and continuously re-instates in him that his destiny is in his hands and not the hands of astrologers, tarot card readers etc. While the movie is placed in Chandni Chowk, it fails to show any points or artifacts of Chandni Chowk. Sidhu is waylaid by two Chinese strangers who believe he is the re-incarnation of a war hero, and he can rid them of the atrocities of Hojo (Gordon Liu), a Chinese Mafia king.

So on goes Sidhu to China, leaving his Dada behind in India. Deepika Padukone plays a double role almost akin to Hema Malini in Seeta aur Geeta(Interestingly Ramesh Sippy was involved in Seeta aur Geeta and CC2C). Considering that this was Deepika’s second film she was shooting alongside Om Shanti Om, she does well to essay her characters as an Indian and Chinese woman, even though her acting seems to overlap in the two characters. As Sakhi (an Indian advertisement actress for the Tele Shoppers Media), she is as expressionless as Meow Meow, her chinese twin sister. So while she gets credit for rendition as an expressionless chinese, she loses credit for being the Indian.

Overall the movie is filled with errors and screenplay guffows which are very noticeable. Like while telling Sidhu to leave his conquest for Hojo he is told to go back to Chandni Chowk (time and again), rather than India. Besides this Akshay says his age in the movie is 27 years, but you can see several strands of grey in his beard. He laughs and jokes about his Dada (Mithun Chakorabaty) being killed. He also calls his teacher and saviour (Roger Yuan), an old man, when the fact is that if it were not for him Sidhu would have died. That’s why it is light hearted movie to be enjoyed by you alone. The surprise package of the movie I feel is Roger Yuan, who plays the role of a police man, the father of Sakhi and Meow Meow, a mad man who has lost his memory, Sidhu’s Sifu (master) and a King-Fu master who trains Sidhu. The special effects in the movie are nothing worth talking about, even though there was enough scope for the same in the story.

One of the biggest losses for me was that even though the movie was named “Chandni Chowk to China“, nothing so special has been done to show both these places in their true self. Overall an interesting experience, but you would not miss anything if you just saw this movie on a DVD instead. However if you do visit Delhi, visit Chandni Chowk, not for the movie, but for the experience in visiting areas of pre-independence India.