so simple from above and yet so lusciously layered beneath delhi 6 does what its directors last work rang de basanti did so spectacularly it pushes the boundaries of cinematic entertainment almost beyond the brink but catches its breath just in time in an exhilarating exhalation of enchanting thoughts images and characters that seem to convey the truth about life without obstructing the truth about cinemaas abhishek bachchan jumps from one buildingtop to another in the congested colony of old delhi parkour meets the monkeyman in delhi 6 in a mix thats zingy and intoxicating without trying to be eitherin fact the most cherishable quality of this film about the cultural diaspora and its tragicomic resonances in a society trapped between the machinations of religion and politics is its transparencyeven when rakeysh omprakash mehra makes deep comments on the culture and politics of religion in contemporary india he keeps his narrative liberated of punctuation marksthe narrative flows in one seamless harmony of characterizations music and satire bound by a vision that sees the aspirations of an indian idol contestant sonam kapoor in the same line of vision as the fornications of a chalu delhichaap photographer and the selfserving pontifications of a saffron ladythe greatest virtue of delhi 6 is its bustling mass of everyday commuters from chandni chowk whose lives converge in routine and notsoroutine ways to create a work of art that pays a heartwarming homage to the spirit of a city without idealizing and romanticizing the gulli culture of the backwater towns where jalebis are fried by streetside halwais next to kids frolicking and defecating in the open sewersas a society based on hierarchical and communal segregation collapses all around us rakeysh mehra portrays this society in a flux with a mixture of pleasure and regret without getting overly nostalgic or god forbid cutethere are lines which openly ridicule the dilli ke dilwale who are supposed to be one big happy family although the family warring brothers om puri and pavan malhotra and religious communities the green versus the saffron brigade fall apart with an earthshattering heartbreaking thudthe dynamics of a culturallydecaying society are projected into scenes that come together as vibrant vignettes drawn with sincerity affection and transparency from the most enduring and endearing colours of lifeand while we are on the colours of life let me say right away that binod pradhans cinematography is the real hero of delhi 6 pradhan captures the faded pastels of the crowded gullis of delhi and the glorious miraculously aesthetic garishness of the ram leela with the feeling and fervour of a subtle celebration rather than a flamboyant festivalmehras mellowdrama completely avoids the touristic flamboyance that the theme nri boy returns to desi roots with dying grandma could have happily embraced by the time the narrative reaches a somber climactic reality were watching a work of art that transcends the power of the visual medium sneaks into the realm of dark poetry and them remerges as a sociopolitical