Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra says he slipped ‘deep into alcoholism’ post failure of Delhi 6: ‘It was like a black hole’

In the latest episode of Rahman Music Sheets, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra opened up about the failure of Delhi-6 and said it felt like a major heartbreak. “After the initial weekend, where it did record business, from Monday onwards it just tanked and there was this huge outcry against the film. There was a heartbreak, I went deep into alcoholism, for almost six month or so. I just wanted to sleep and not get up. There was a spasm, a gap, which I fell into. It was like a black hole. Then one morning I woke up and realised that I got to do something about it, that I can’t just get into a Devdas mode.”

The filmmaker said he called up his cinematographer Binodh Pradhan and told him that some shooting is still left for Delhi 6. “We shot for three days. There was a different beginning, ending, we put it together and that’s the film we sent out to Europe, Venice Film Festival took it on. It kind of completed that incompleteness in me, it kind of healed me also. It got some kind of full stop out there, but the story continues.”

When asked does he plan to release the new version on OTT as perhaps the viewers are ready to accept newer things, the filmmaker asked, “Are they?” Mehra said releasing the film is not in his hands, and added that for it to happen, the “universe needs to conspire”.

“It is also a commercial exercise. But most certainly, one of these days, in the near future, I would love to share it,” he added. Though Delhi-6 was a failure at the box office, the film now gets more love with a section feeling that it has become more relevant than ever.

The film also continues to be remembered for AR Rahman’s soulful, chartbuster soundtrack. Post Delh-6, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra scripted a successful comeback with the biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, starring Farhan Akhtar. The film was based on the life of Olympian Milkha Singh.