Delhi 6 almost had a much darker opening, reveals director
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra just shared that Delhi 6 was originally supposed to start with Abhishek Bachchan's character having his ashes immersed in the Ganges.
"The original film opens with the ashes immersion of Abhishek's character in the Ganges... saying, 'These are my ashes.' That's how the story begins," Mehra explained.
Quick recap: What's Delhi 6 about?
Released back in 2009, Delhi 6 follows an NRI (Abhishek Bachchan) who returns to Chandni Chowk with his grandmother (Waheeda Rehman) during a wave of monkey-man panic.
The film also starred Sonam Kapoor, Om Puri, Rishi Kapoor, and Divya Dutta.
Even though it made over ₹40cr, it got mixed reviews and didn't really click at the box office.
Why didn't we see this version?
Mehra screened his original cut at Venice Film Festival in 2009—Variety even praised it—but he's decided not to re-release it.
He feels "the time isn't right" and that "the nation hasn't evolved."
The ending was changed after feedback that its dark humor might be too much; so they went for something more hopeful instead.