I surely hope Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor doesn’t think I have it in for her.
Back in 2007, I gave a negative review to her first movie, “Saawariya.” Today I must also pan her second feature, “Delhi-6.”
I think she should know my negativity has to do with the scripts, not her performances.
In fact, I find her a pleasant screen presence – I called her “drop-dead gorgeous” in my “Saawariya” review – which is more than I can say about her “Delhi-6” co-star, Abhishek Bachchan.
He gives a rather stilted performance in the role of an American-born Indian who accompanies his grandmother back to her birthplace, Delhi. She has some fatal disease and wants to die on her home turf.
In India, he meets a beautiful woman (Kapoor) and, no surprise here, they fall in love – although it takes the entire movie for them to hook up.
It would have been nice if the director, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, had concentrated on the love story – given it a bit more flesh, so to speak – but he had to throw in a jumble of subplots, including one about a killer monkey.
As for the dying granny, she’s miraculously cured, without explanation.
Compounding the problem, the film is light on those kitschy musical numbers that make Bollywood movies fun to watch.
For those who care, Kapoor’s dad, Anil Kapoor, portays the TV host in “Slumdog Millionaire,” a rather ordinary movie that some critics have deluded themselves into thinking is a masterpiece.
DELHI-6
Boo-ray for Bollywood.
In Hindi and English, with English subtitles. Running time: 140 minutes. Not rated (violence). At Imaginasian, East 59th Street, between First and Second avenues.