Swades was a good movie it didn’t come close to his last movie and after the show we have exactly the same reaction on Delhi – 6.

The story is about an NRI who comes to his homeland to leave his dying grandmother and falls in love with the people around him. But his life is not going to be easy as the antics of a Monkey man turns the colorful people in the community grey. Will the hero be able to save the day? Or will he return back to US and stay off these troubled streets? Watch it yourself.

With such a wafer thin story line one has to work heavily on the presentation and Rakesh does that but not fully. Diverse people form the community - the middle class heroine who wants to become an Indian idol, flirty photographer, a rich-man who has a weakness for women, a strict no joke father, two naughty and adventurous kids, a joyous and fun-filled jelabi vendor, a sadhu whose antenna can connect to gods’ signals, a helpful loser who is taken for granted by everyone, a grandma who is ready to walk to get the blessings of the Holy cow when she has low blood pressure and just fainted, a rich person who lives his whole life cherishing the love that he lost, an untouchable but righteous woman, a Fakhir who always goes by with a mirror asking people to see the inner-side and many more forms the community. And then there is this Monkey man- who just jumps from one house to another hardly hurting anyone but becomes a dangerous monster thanks to the media hype and the people who use him to get out of their wrong doings. But the director takes more than half the film to draw the character sketch of all and makes you a little fidgety.

Rakesh Omprakash Mehra has many grudges against the society, and Rang De Basanti is a proof of the angry man inside him. For his next movie I presume he would have noted down all his grudges in a notebook and tried to choose one but as he was as confused as the heroine of the movie and decided to incorporate all the social issues he can think of and made a single story. Be it untouchability or silly superstitions or the media's thirst for controversies or communal disharmony or woman trade in the society or improper bringing up of children, he has dealt with everything in this 2 ½ hour movie. It does entertain and many scenes deserve applause like the scene involving Ramayan drama. It is a delight to see how Rakesh has incorporated Ramayan in the story and almost all the scenes of Divya Dutta who plays the role of the chirpy cleaner is neatly done.

Technically the movie boasts of a premier work behind the camera by Binod Pradhan, his work, especially the kaala bandar first person deserves more than just some statue. The dialogues are crisp and works fine with the mood of the movie. The art director needs a pat on the back as we hardly can believe that the whole Chandni Chowk shots are shot on sets. Rahman's music is the high-point of the movie which not just scores big with the songs, but sweeps you off your feet with an international quality background score. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are equally brilliant. Editing by P.S.Bharathy is first-rate and the 'Dil Kare Daftan' work is something which has to be seen to be believed. A dream sequence which is a mix of the past and future of the protagonist has many hidden and inner meanings and is shot brilliantly.

Acting is of high order with Abhishek bachchan coming up with a cool performance, Rishi Kapoor, Divya Dutta, Waheeda Rahman and Atul Kulkarni are as natural as you and me will ever be and that is the highlight of the movie. All the other supporting cast do their work with dignified brilliance and the two kids are a riot. But on the downside again would be the heroine Sonam Kapoor, who incites laughter in an emotional scene, which is bad news for this beautiful two film old actress. There is also a surprise special appearance by Amitabh Bachchan which is good.

On the whole the movie is an account of Rakesh's grudges against the society, though the intentions are noble the final product does leave you a lot to be desired. Even though the movie will satisfy the audience in more ways than one this social satire looks like a half baked collage of many vital social issues.

Verdict: A decent follow up to Rang de basanti