Feminine outpourings

Preity Zinta

Nai Dilli is no longer new to the canvas of our movies —remember New Delhi Times, Chashme Buddoor, Delhi 6, Khosla Ka Ghosla, No One Killed Jessica, Rang De Basanti, Band Baaja Baraat, RockStar, Delhi Belly, Fukrey and scores of others who have delighted us with their Delhi sagas? It has effectively provided us an alter ego to Mumbai, the ever popular muse to film-makers and for good reasons too.
Mumbai has its impressive glitzy skyline, the ocean, Gateway of India, Haji Ali and Dhobi Ghat, the Mumbai locals and of course, the dabbawallas, while Delhi has its famous India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Metro, Hanuman Mandir, Connaught Place, Lal Qilla, Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi University Campus and Haryana hinterland to tap into.
All these locations, along with the accompanying mindsets have been wonderfully captured in a whole lot of movies and met with a great response too. However, Fugly director, Kabir Sadanand and Grazing Goat Pictures’ offering, the newest entrant to the Delhi club has not met with half as enthusiastic a response as its earlier predecessors. The fault, partly could lie in the stars (destiny) but mostly its extensive overuse of Delhi cliches and a somewhat half-baked plot that makes the film predictable and lose some of the mojo it starts out with.
There are the farmhouse parties, dialogues in typical Haryanvi accent, the political jugglery, and Sadanand manages to draw good performances from the bunch of youngsters at his disposal, but the story unfortunately, after a good start, unravels rather clumsily. What they certainly did get right though and something that few have adequately captured is the description of the cussed Delhi pervert (the lecherous and slimy shopkeeper). The brazenness with which he misbehaves and then puts the girl in a fix by deviously painting himself a victim, is an ubiquitous presence in Delhi. He can be found stalking young women in the streets, sidling up to girls in crowded buses and groping them or driving around in cars that stop to offer lifts to unsuspecting ladies. The character, one of Delhi’s darkest details that several others have missed out. Now, if only they had stayed the course and built on that, rather than ape Rang De Basanti.
Since we are on the subject of cussed behaviour of men, allegations of the same against Wadia scion Ness Wadia, by his ex-paramour, actress and business partner Preity Zinta, of ungentlemanly conduct and verbal assault has shocked both the film industry and Mumbai’s cocktail circuit. The jury is still out on that one, so it would be unfair to take sides but with the newfound outspoken side that women are displaying, men, especially in the film industry, famous for the proverbial casting couch, for one have begun to exercise extreme caution when it comes to the fairer sex. Several noted directors and actors have made it a standard business practice to meet women in the company of a female colleague from their team. This helps them steer clear of ambiguous situations that could sometimes be exploited for nefarious gains. Now, that should be reassuring for parents of thousands of young girls who wish to join the entertainment industry.
From on-screen plots to off-screen reality, the times are a changing.