'Old Delhi is like a human explosion!'

Delhi-6 maker Rakeysh Mehra on why old Delhi is the place he loves more than any in the world

"Delhi-6 isn't really a return to roots. As you get older, you tend to think of your childhood more (laughs). I guess I'm getting old. I spent quite a bit of time in old Delhi. I have fond memories of that growing up period. I had a great childhood there I can't say that it was the best place to grow up, but it was my place.

Love-hate
"Then when I passed out of college and got my new job, we shifted to New Delhi. I started hating old Delhi. I got into this whole thing that roads should be wide, nobody should chew and spit paan, people shouldn't pee on walls, all those things. The power goes off, the taps run dry and there are men who pick up garbage and you're not supposed to touch them. You may get surprised, but it's a way of life in India.

"Rather than doing something about old Delhi, I started distancing myself. I got turned off. Lately I went back, just after I made Aks, and it started attracting me again. So I started writing this story. It was a weird attraction and I started loving old Delhi more than I'd ever loved any place in the world.

We are family
"Delhi-6 to a Mumbaiite would be like Bhuleshwar or Mohammed Ali Road. I lived there with my parents their ancestral houses were there. My nani, mama, mami, neighbourhood, cricket team were all there. I used to play behind Red Fort. It's easy to say I remember the chaat pakore whatever. But what I grew up with in old Delhi was that everyone was like family.

"You don't need permission to go to your friend's house. You don't eat more at your neighbour's house than at your home. You never had a catering service at marriages because the neighbours served and took care of guests. If you didn't have a job, you could survive because someone always helped you. I'm trying to find out the idea of India through Delhi-6.u00a0

Shooting in Delhi
"There's no way I could live in Delhi because I make movies and it's all here. But yes, I shot Rang De Basanti and Delhi-6 there. Rang De was about my college years. We were five best friends. That's exactly what we did drink beer and salute the Amar Jyoti because it felt patriotic. We always talked about bumping off corrupt politicians. We went every weekend to Suraj Kunj and jumped into the water. And while we always complained about corruption, we didn't do something.



So when I got the chance, I made amends with my youth by making Rang De Basanti. I had met students, bandaged after the Mandal Commission and spoke to them. They were brutally butchered by the system. People ask me why I killed off the boys in Rang De I say, 'Guys, you don't know what Emergency was. I know.' The moment you forget history, it will repeat itself.

"I shot most of Delhi-6 in Sambhar in Rajasthan because I wanted to avoid crowds. Twenty per cent is shot in Delhi itself Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, gullies, terraces. Even that was difficult. I took a week to get a shot of Abhishek Bachchan jogging. You have no clue what old Delhi is. It's a human explosion. The first thing he does after reaching old Delhi is doze off because of jet lag. When he gets up, there's a horse licking his face.

He looks around, it's a traffic jam. And the first thing he says is, 'Awesome!'

Making a difference
"Sheila Dikshit has made Delhi much more efficient. She's a goddess. She's really cool. That she's a lady is even more commendable. That she's a grandmother makes it better. I know her schedule, she barely has two hours to sleep and she's up and about. Look what she's done. She's built the most modern metro in the world in the most chaotic place. She created a corridor for buses in the middle of streets. She spread Delhi out. Look what one lady has done and look at what our politicians have done to Bombay. It's gone to the dogs at the same time that Delhi has become a global city.u00a0u00a0u00a0

Fighting eve-teasing
"I don't understand why people hate Delhi. It's just fashionable to do that. Pseudo-intellects from Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai hate it. I have no clue what world they live in. But there are things that upset me about Delhi, like the eve-teasing there. I go to colleges and speak to students, encourage street plays and say, 'Come on, this is not on. Behave yourself.'

"We just made a free tourism film on molestation Prasoon Joshi, Aamir Khan and I. It's seen more in north of India than anywhere else. It's a problem we face. That needs to change. That has created an image of New Delhi being unsafe. I wish we would learn to respect the fairer sex.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Exhausted,spent, drained
"I was going to make Delhi-6 before Rang De Basanti, but it didn't happen. Delhi-6 has now been with me for a lifetime, 45 years. As a script, it has been with me for seven years. I didn't want to touch it so soon; I wanted it to cook. The best dishes are cooked on a slow fire. All my films are personal, but Delhi-6 has really taken the mickey out of me. I feel exhausted, spent, drained. I'm not happy confessing that because it makes me feel weak.

It's taken so much from me because the film deals with people and emotions. I needed to find out how each character felt and with 17-20 characters, I felt as if I was in a constant state of schizophrenia. This is truly an ensemble film and as real as it gets. Not real as in no make-up, no lights and people looking poor and sad, but deep down emotion."u00a0u00a0u00a0

The Rang De Basanti gang/What they're upto now

Aamir Khan
Last seen in massive hit Ghajini, the methodical Khan is now shooting for Rajkumar Hirani's Three Idiots. Next up though, is wife Kiran Rao's Dhobi Ghat.

Sharman Joshi
After a damp 2008 with disasters like Hello and Sorry Bhai (yes, he missed out on all the Golmaal Returns hoopla), Sharman joins hands with Rang De buddy Aamir in Hirani's Three Idiots.u00a0

Soha Ali Khan
She played a reporter in Mumbai Meri Jaan, but Soha was last seen as the cold Mita in Dil Kabbadi, the rip-off of Woody Allen's Husbands And Wives. Next up is Sudhir Mishra's short chapter in Mumbai Cutting. And yeah, looks like she's finito with her Rang De beau Siddharth.

Siddharth
Apart from Aamir Khan, he's had it the best, following up Rang De Basanti with Telugu's highest box-office earner Bommarillu, scripting Chukkalo Chandrudu and acting in Vishal Bharadwaj's acclaimed HIV short film Blood Brothers. Still on with Telugu money spinners, Siddharth will next be seen in Mumbai's theatres with Chandan Arora's Striker. But personally, things have changed. Since Rang De, his marriage went bust.

Atul Kulkarni
The only one who's made it through to Rakeysh Mehra's Delhi-6, Atul too has kept busy with multi-lingual projects. There's been the blunder Breaking News, but there's also been the Marathi satire Valu.
Between it, Atul has also shot the hard-hitting Allah Ke Bandhey and acclaimed Malayalam movie Thalappavu.

Kunal Kapoor
Oops, hopefully he's onto bigger and better things. Kunal last did forgettable appearances in Welcome To Sajjanpur and Bachna Ae Haseeno, the latter earning him the tag of the Yashraj Films specialist after tallying up Aaja Nachle and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. Now he's shooting Rahul Dholakia's Kashmir story Lamhaa with Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu.

Alice Patten
The 'gora' Sue in Rang De Basanti, Alice Patten has since played a student joining the CIA in the political thriller Trade Routes and is currently acting in Richard The Lionheart in the BBC TV miniseries Heroes and Villains.

Misty-eyed Mehra

The director reveals why Abhishek Bachchan and he nearly broke down on the sets

The trailor of Delhi-6 is like a smattering of images.
Delhi-6 is not a plot-oriented film. It doesn't have you reaching point B from point A. For an audience, it's not a boy-girl getting together or stealing the Kohinoor from the Tower of London. It's a story about people and a place called India, represented in the small area of Delhi-6. If you shrunk India, it could be Delhi-6, old Ahmedabad, Bareilly, Raipur, Jabalpur, Lucknow, old Hyderabad or Bangalore. You know, the heart of the city?

That's where I think real India resides.

Your observation is right about not getting the storyline from the trailor. I'm trying to weave the fabric; at best you'll see shades and different weaves.
Since Rang De Basanti, people feel that Rakeysh Mehra has a finger on the pulse of young India.

That's a tall claim. It's a clichu00c3u00a9. For me to assume that would be losing my head. You have to do something and hope India likes it. Not do something that you think India likes. That's the biggest fallacy. To know young India, you have to connect and you can only do that by being yourself. There are no formulae. But yes, India is a young country. I think you are young more by your ideas than your age.

Why did the casting for the main boy take so long?
It's difficult to find the correct cast. You can't cast until you meet the person in flesh and blood and see what he feels about it. I gave Abhishek the script before Rang De, but he got out because I wanted to shoot in the winters and his were full then.

Then I did the rounds Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Imran Khan, Siddharth Suryanarayan, Sharman Joshi, Shahid Kapur, everyone. But I still felt Abhishek was the right choice because of how he interpreted it with me.

I told him this seems like a mistake for the movie. He said, "My father says if you like something, you need to make it work." Then Karan (Johar) kindly shifted Dostana.

You had wanted to make your first film with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan called Samjhauta Express, which was meant to be his launch.
Yes, he had worked on the character for a year. He was supposed to play a Pakistani terrorist and I even went underground and met a terrorist for research.

It wasn't meant to be. The pundits felt that for Abhishek to play a Pakistani terrorist in his launch film would be hara kiri. I don't understand these things. Maybe some people are wiser and that's why they make great hits.

How was it then finally shooting with Abhishek ten years later?
We carried on shooting without looking at each other because we felt that the emotion would make us break down (laughs). We kept the eye contact out. After all, Samjhauta Express was supposed to have been our first film. The first film is like your first love; you can't let go.

So we kept doing things so we didn't embarrass ourselves. Thank god or the unit would have thought, 'What are these guys up to?'u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

There are religious threads in Delhi-6 Ravan, Hanuman, Jama Masjid. Are you religious?
We all live in troubled, scared times. The first reaction is hatred and to point a finger. But love is the solution. The dove out there isn't supposed to dance on your head it's a symbol of freedom and love. Religion is something you practise. For some, cricket is a religion and for me, cinema is.