After Delhi 6 failed at the box office, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra revealed how he found himself buried in a ‘black hole’. Continue reading!
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is known for his innovative storytelling, thought-provoking narratives and visually stunning filmmaking style. But did you know that he went through a troubled phase after the release of his deeply personal 2009 film Delhi-6? Scroll down to learn more.
In a recent interview, the director revealed how he found himself buried in a “black hole”, unable to cope with the film’s failure. He also began to slide into alcoholism. Starring Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor, the drama also featured Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor, Aditi Rao Hydari, Divya Dutta and Atul Kulkarni, among others. The film opened to poor reviews and, despite a good start, flopped at the box office.
As reported by The Indian Express, in the latest episode of Rahman Music Sheets, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra said, “After the initial weekend where he did record work, from Monday onwards, it just dropped and there was this huge outcry against the film. There was a disappointment, I went deep into alcoholism for almost six months or so. I just wanted to sleep and not get up. There was a spasm, a void, into which I fell. It was like a black hole. Then one morning I woke up and realized I had to do something about it, that I can’t just go into Devdas mode.”
The director said he called his cinematographer Binodh Pradhan and told him that there is some shooting left for Delhi 6. “We shot for three days. There was a different beginning and end, we put it together, and this is the film we sent to Europe, the Venice Film Festival took it. It kind of completed that imperfection in me, kind of healed me, too. It had some kind of a dot out there, but the story goes on.”
When asked if he wanted to make the edited version available on OTT, the director said, “It’s them,” possibly indicating that audiences were ready to accept it. Mehra claims that he has no control over the film’s release and that the “universe must conspire” to make it happen.
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“It is also a commercial exercise. But definitely, one of these days, in the near future, I would love to share it,” he added. Despite the failure of Delhi-6 at the box office, the film is now winning more accolades and some people believe that it is more relevant now than ever.
The film’s haunting, top-notch music by AR Rahman also lives on in the memory. After Delhi-6, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra wrote the biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, starring Farhan Akhtar, which became a commercial success. The life of Olympian Milkha Singh served as the basis for the film.
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