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Delhi Heights
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'Delhi Heights' -A downer

By Nikhil Kumar
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

A realistic, slice-of-life story doesn’t necessarily make a good film. It is how the story is presented by the director and how the characters are enacted by actors that makes or breaks a movie.

Director Anand Kumar’s movie ‘Delhi Heights’ has neither depth nor height to catch your fancy. The film is more like a shoddily put collage of several characters living in a high-rise residential apartment in Delhi. The story focuses mainly on the lives of two married couples, and painfully tries to portray the emotional turbulence of their lives.

Abi

(Jimmy Shergill) and Suhana (Neha Dhupia) have culminated their long romantic relationship with wedlock. The newly married couple lives in a building called Delhi Heights.

In the same building lives Abi’s friend Bobby (Rohit Roy) with his wife Saima (Simone Singh). Bobby is a compulsive flirt who starts making advances on any attractive woman he meets. Saima is more or less a stoic wife who spends her evenings waiting for her husband.

Delhi Heights also houses a number of colourful characters like Timmy Singh (Om Puri) and his family (wife and daughter). And then, there are a couple of college-going kids with their attitude and wacky attire to flaunt.

In this melee of characters, the story of ‘Delhi Heights’ dabbles more on the lives of Abi-Suhana and Bobby-Saima.

Abi and Suhana are working on the same project, but for rival companies. Their professional lives leave them with little time for each other. Abi is more like an insecure husband who begins to feel jealous when Bobby starts making advances on Suhana. On the other hand, Bobby’s wife Saima is tired of her hubby’s flirtatious ways.

Things come to a boiling point when Abi and Suhana’s professional rivalry causes a rift in their personal lives. On the other hand, Bobby’s philandering ways are exposed to Saima.

At this crucial moment, the circumstances take a turn, after which both the couples are made to reflect upon their respective relationships.

A story idea like ‘Delhi Heights’ needed mature writing and a sensitive handling of the subject. Alas, the writing in the movie’s script remains amateurish and mediocre. Some of the situational turns are painfully predictable and clichéd.

Rabbi Shergill’s music provides a little respite. But, then again, the picturization of the songs leaves much to be desired. The ‘Holi’ track “Aye Gori” looks more like the modern version of “Rang Barse”, while “Tere Bin” (the best song in the movie) ends up looking a bit soppy because of the way it has been picturized.

Among the actors Jimmy Shergill is the only one who manages to hold your attention. Neha Dhupia is superficial in her expressions of over-enthusiasm. Rohit Roy goes over the top in most of his scenes. However, he does have a decent dialogue delivery. Simone Singh is pretty plain while Om Puri is wasted in a role that demanded more footage.

On the whole, ‘Delhi Heights’ is a piece of mediocre, amateurish cinema. The movie is a downer.

Rating: *

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