The Delhi Way

This film from James Ivory was created before this director's famed partnership with Ismail Merchant and is among Ivory's earliest films. Because of this, I can be more forgiving of the film's deficiencies--it was simply the work of a young and inexperienced film director. It's about the contrasts between the Northern Indian twin cities of Delhi and New Delhi. How Ivory was able to get Leo Genn (a rather distinguished British actor) to narrate is a wonder. The film is a very slow-moving documentary about the contrasts between the older Moghul city of Delhi and the British city of New Delhi. Much of the film just seems to meander and it is severely compromised by a faded print--so I am sure you can find much nicer looking more recent films about Delhi/New Delhi--though they might not be as lyrical and stylish as this one. Worth a look if you are a Merchant-Ivory fan--otherwise, you could probably do better. And, if you do want to see this short film, it's included as an extra on the Criterion disc of "Shakespeare-Wallah".