Review - delhiiheights: Predictible thus boring

delhiiheights

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable ^(?)

quick review:

No amount of extra “i”s can save this one. Jimmy Sheirgill and Neha Dhupia look cool. So what if they gave an alright performance, they can’t pull it through with those lousy lines. Even day-to-day conversations at our homes would be more interesting.

Director: Anand Kumar

Cast: Jimmy Sheirgill, Neha Dhupia

Running time: 110 minutes

Genres: Romance

More Movie Info

After a long long while, watching a bad movie did not make me grit my teeth in anger. It made me laugh in despair. Kudos to the 17 year-olds sitting beside me who were saying the lines before the actors in all the clichéd scenes, and obviously giggling at their victory at the most serious spots.

Only the dialogues can be blamed when you identify with the situation but not the characters. Especially since the performances were not half bad. The sick PJs (poor jokes) - yeah that's how sick and poor they were - try their best to make your eyes roll. But we are not going to give them that satisfaction, are we?

Jimmy Sheirgill looked awesome and does whatever justice can be done to the aweful lines given to him. You actually feel bad for the actor Jimmy than his character. While Neha Dhupia is certainly not the slimmest stick around, she has a certain Rubenesque appeal. Her costumes were outright gorgeous, especially the saris, and she carried them well too. Her performance is obviously not the best but the lady's skills are improving gradually.

It's not good enough if you have individual alright performances. A couple has to have chemistry. Now, screen chemistry is a very abstract term. But I think it can be described as a failure when you understand the tension between a husband and wife but you don't feel tense. You can see they are trying to be romantic but it doesn't strike a chord. Again I think the actors cannot be held entirely responsible here. I think it was more to do with the camera decisions. In most of the shots between the couple, or any twosome for that matter, the camera was on the speaker. The listener was seldom in the frame. It was almost like each person's lines were shot separately.

Yet again, Om Puri is wasted in an inconsequential loud role and Kamini Khanna is shrill. Speaking of which, it felt like all side characters were conversing in the highest possible pitch. The transition from one story to another was jerky and clumsy. Not to mention that the side stories could have been completely avoided since they were never meant to be given adequate footage. Also, this ain't the best time to show our man - Tendulkar hitting fours and sixes. I don't blame the makers since I assume they finished filming long before the World cup debacle. Or maybe it is the right time to remind us of our glorious past. Oh, here I go again...

The mediocre presentation of the songs makes you forget that they are actually worth listening to. The "rang barse" (from Silsila) type holi song doesn't work at all because the jealousy has no background. The college kids' need to learn lip-synching. The situations were created in almost every song to fit with the lyrics. Its supposed to be the other way around. "Tere bin" is certainly the best of the lot though and made a lot more sense because of the sub-titles.

The silver lining is that the mercury is close to 40 degrees out there and the cinema hall had functioning air-conditioners. I am sorry - the silver lining is that the movie is not pretentious at all. It is being marketed as "a feel good movie", so you know everything will sort itself out even before you buy your ticket. As a little bonus, I don't have to spend energy on trying hard not to give the story away. About those dialogue-writers-in-their-own-right-giggly-teens - we were in the first-day-first-show, so it was not like they were seeing it for the second time. Besides, who would want to? Unless they go again just to ogle at Jimmy and Neha.

- meeta, a part of the audience

9 reviewers^(?) - 0 yays 0 so-so 9 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs down, by Rachel Fernandes, Bollywood Mantra : ...Also the climax is again a predictable one and does not do much for the film.... full review

Thumbs down, by Sanjay Ram, Business of Cinema : ...The film is short, but couldn't have been stretched any further... full review

Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...Random scenes are slapped together one after another, with obvious disregard to the viewer's attention or intelligence... full review

Thumbs down, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...Given the material, director Anand Kumar’s execution doesn’t really help elevate matters.... full review

Thumbs down, by Arpana, Now Running.com : ...The story is too predictable to keep the audiences hooked... full review

Thumbs down, by Raja Sen, Rediff : ...There's precious little to watch in this haphazardly put together tale of predictable pitfalls.... full review

Thumbs down, by Pankaj Shukla, SmasHits.com : ...Delhii Heights' moves on a very thin story line, and most of the time it progresses horizontally... full review

Thumbs down, by Naomi Datta, Times Now : ... Delhi Heights is shockingly amateur... full review

Thumbs down, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...A bunch of yuppies who try hard to find love in a city that hardly seems to know the definition of love... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

6 readers - 4 yays 2 so-so 0 nays

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Enjoylyrics.com : immy Sheirgill looked awesome and does whatever justice can be done to the aweful lines given to him

Yay! Thumbs Up, by fifa world cup portugal

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Lyricswale.com : Yet again, Om Puri is wasted in an inconsequential loud role and Kamini Khanna is shrill. Speaking o

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Lyricswale.com : The mediocre presentation of the songs makes you forget that they are actually worth listening to. T

So-So, by marketing digital

So-So, by Tamillyrics.co.in : The mediocre presentation of the songs makes you forget that they are actually worth listening to. T

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Any apartment complex has a wide range of characters. delhiiheights picks a few characters residing at "Delhi Heights", the apartment complex, to tell us about them in a supposedly light hearted manner.

What Worked

The way color flies in the holi song. No matter how many times it is done, the bright, colored powders mixing against the light blue sky pleases the eye.
The sound effect of an airplane flying overhead when Abheer and Suhana are arguing.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

The voiceovers in the beginning and in the end. What was point of that big description of Delhi when - one, the movie had nothing to do with Delhi specifically. And two, could be true of any Indian city or town.
The voiceover in the end was completely superfluous. And why were there subtitles in English?
The monologues. The one that Suhana starts off the movie with, the lecture she gave Abheer, Abheer's apology, Timmy Singh's little wedding toast - were all too long and thus ineffective.
Bobby-Saima were married for six years and Abheer-Suhana had a five year old relationship, but Suhana didn't even know about Saima, though Bobby-Abheer were good friends.

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

The voiceover in the beginning did not know how to pronounce "Pizza".
"Tanishq", the jewelry showroom was pretty generous in laying out all the bangle trays they had for Neha Dhupia. The last time I went there, the salesperson refused to show me the second tray till I was done seeing the first one.
Don't drink wine from the bottle, please. Its an offense to the wine.
Why did Bobby congratulate Abheer again after having done so at the latter's wedding party already? They were good friends, so that seemed even more awkward.
Was there no air-conditioning where Suhana was making a presentation at a top-class advertising firm? Why was the guy wiping his face?
Mind you the company mentioned above has the latest voice recognition software to change the slide when Suhana says "slide change" and thereafter reads her mind to change the slides.
Both Suhana and Abheer are giving presentations with slides in the background while they are standing right in front of them. Not to mention that they are not making any reference to what's on the slides
Some college kids are writing a love message on a greeting card - with a fluorescent green highlighter on a bright pink background!!! How will the poor receiver read it?
Come on guys - housewives (Saima) *do not* sort out their laundry in the middle of the well-kept living room! Only I know how I have controlled myself from putting this one in the "what didn't work" section...
Why is Suhana obsessed with making Abheer have "cold showers" all the time?
Timmy Singh's daughter has her boyfriend drop her off at her home after a date. And then requests eve-teasing bystanders not to tell her father?!?
Why were Lucky and Timmy Singh drinking and discussing their professions in a car?
Okay, we all know our male actors wear make-up. But was it necessary for Jimmy Sheirgill's eye shadow to show so obviously
This high-end apartment complex does not have an intercom system? The guy has to go to Suhana's house to fetch her.
Okay, guys, when you want to go up, you press the up arrow to call the lift. Jabbing the down arrow just does not help. Also, why did the ground floor have a down arrow button in the first place? Oh right, it had a basement that is not shown in the movie. Accepted.
Thank goodness hospitals that accept emergencies without the paper work still exist.
The budget of the movie was 8 crores. Couldn't they find a kurta that fit better for the singer in blue at Timmy Singh's daughter's wedding?
Neha Dhupia's facial make-up in some scenes made her look unnaturally fair, especially since her hands looked dark.
Abheer says, "I will wait for you down below". Can an educated, highly successful advertising guy speak correct English, please?