Delhi-6

New Delhi: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's much-talked about "Delhi-6" is the "journey within" of an American-born Indian played by Abhishek Bachchan. While the director showed the modern face of the city in "Rang De Basanti", his third directorial venture will bring forth the flavour of the walled city.

"'Delhi-6' is a journey...a journey within. We are all living in difficult times. 'Delhi-6' urges us to look within and if there is an answer then it is love because that's the law of nature and it's creation," Mehra said.

"For me, it's much more than a movie. I have dipped the pen in the ink of my childhood memories and setting them against today's contemporary India have tried to weave a story," he added.

Releasing Friday, the film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, veteran actress Waheeda Rehman and Sonam Kapoor in the lead.

Already been in the limelight for its serenading music and unconventional subject, distributors and exhibitors predict a grand opening for the movie. Co-written by Mehra, Prasoon Joshi and Kamlesh Pandey, the music of the film has been composed by Oscar-nominated maestro A.R. Rahman.

Told against the backdrop of the ancient walled city of Delhi, the film is the "journey within" of an American-born Indian Roshan (Abhishek) who comes to India to drop his ailing grandmother.

Having spent his life in the west, Roshan is not familiar with the sites, smells, food, culture, religion, beliefs and the warm hospitality of India, which once encountered wins his heart and urges him to unravel his roots.

While trying to adjust to the new cultural set up, Roshan comes across an aspiring singer, Bittu (Sonam), who is yearning for identity and wants to break away from the shackles of the society. Eventually Roshan falls in love with her!

The unusual title of the film is inspired by the pin code of Old Delhi that is 110006, and it is referred to as Delhi-6.

Mehra, having spent a major part of his childhood in Chandni Chowk at the heart of the walled city, has brushed the strokes of his adolescence in the film. However, contrary to abounding rumours that the film is his autobiography, he also shrugged off such speculations.

"'Delhi-6' is not an autobiography at all. Not really. I've only used what I observed when I was growing up," said Mehra.

A major part of the film was shot in Rajasthan because he did not want to disturb the people living in Chandni Chowk.

"Except for capturing some aspects of walled Delhi, we couldn't have shot the whole film in that part of Delhi. Otherwise, we would have disturbed the life out there," he said.

Considering the buzz the film has managed to create courtesy the big names associated with it, "Delhi-6" is the most awaited movie after Nikhil Advani's "Chandni Chowk To China" and Anurag Kashyap's "Dev D".