i want to call views_embed_view or $view->render to get the array (ex. json) instead of string. But I have to override the theme template so that i don't get all the

elements. 
function xxx_theme() {
  return array(
    'views_view__report_ontime_delivery' => array(
      'variables' => array('view' => NULL, 'options' => NULL, 'row' => NULL),
      'template' => 'views-view--report-ontime-delivery',
      'base hook' => 'views_view',
      'path' => drupal_get_path('module', 'plusdelta'),
    ),
  );
}

and in the template file, i just put 

<?php print $rows; ?>

as you see, if i can have a function call in view or in datasource which let me grab this $rows, it'll make my life easier. Let me know if this can be done in any other way. Currently i just reverse the json which is kinda of funny to me, but works :) 

  $res = views_embed_view('report_ontime_delivery', 'page_1');
  $res = json_decode($res);

I know, maybe i should ask this question in Views module