Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

view DELHI 6 movie stills

In DELHI 6 when Abhishek Bachchan needs to go the toilet and he is desperate about it, he is handed over the bucket and asked to fend for himself. The expression on his face is a clear exhibition to the manner in which the privileged class have access to the toilets and the manner in which the common man uses it on a day-to-day basis. For this simple reason, the dismissive expression that is exhibited by Atul Kulkarni on his face is summation of the predicament for the majority of the population of the country.

It has striking parallels with what had happened with Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha starrer film DO ANJAANE. It also had an interesting bathroom episode. Rekha had to use the toilet and the door went off so Amitabh Bachchan had to give it a support on his shoulders and the toilet became a major cause of rift between the newly wedded couple, which got manifested. It would indeed have been an interesting riposte if Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra had built on it in DELHI 6. After all, toilets have been interesting trigger points for generation of humor and pathos in the Hindi films.

CHECK OUT: Social stigmas and DELHI 6

It was brought out in a succinct manner in WOH SAAT DIN, the film in which Anil Kapoor had made his debut. The toilet did not have a handle to lock it, so one had to keep on singing while bathing. It also did not have a roof, and so the director to open the world of female sexuality to Anil Kapoor used it as a vantage point, it was altogether a different matter that Anil Kapoor did not accept Padmini Kolhapure's overtures. It had however an economic reason to it, Anil Kapoor was unemployed. But Anil Kapoor got an opportunity to land in bathrooms in score of films, and involving top female actors of the times be it Poonam Dhillon, Kimi Katkar or Dimple Kapadia.

As a matter of fact the toilets have been used as an interesting back drop by the Hindi film makers in score of films and in most of the films the situations have been built up in such a manner that the hero walks innocently into it and gets mesmerized, the most celebrated example being that of Padmini in MERA NAAM JOKER, the actor was Raj Kapoor, who continued to use this image as a prop right up to RAM TERI GANGA MAILI.

DELHI 6 is different in the sense that it has given a different perspective to the nature of toilets as they exist in India and may be subsequently more such films would try to focus on them and may be owing to this the status of toilets may undergo some betterment for the common folks in the country.


Read / Post comments on this article