Review of Dhobi Ghat (2010) by Niraj V — 22 Jan 2011

When the tagline for a movie is "95 minute movie with no interval", you're always a bit uncertain about what its gonna be like especially with a debutant director.

I went along, mainly curious about about the highly hyped Kiran Rao, who, unfortunately, would have never had such a high profile if she wasn't married to one of the biggest stars of the Hindi film industry. Fortunately, she delivers the goods.

The movie itself is what we call an "art" film. Totally non mainstream and non commercial.

It deals with the lives of 4 people living in this big bustling metropolis, where you are just another face in the crowd. How these 4 lives are curiously intertwined is what the crux of the movie is. The movie, for the large part, is shot in the congested, decrepit parts of my city, but it only adds to the visual treat and is a welcome change from the usual glitz and glamour associated with Bombay.

Cinematic liberty is aplenty, best demonstrated by the growing friendship between an NRI photographer and the dhobi, I mean, come on, seriously, how many of you even know the name of your dhobi, let alone go traipsing around the city with him and photographing him at work! That said, the movie keeps you engrossed in the lives of the characters.

Now to the performances.

Aamir Khan delivers, as usual, playing the reclusive artist very well, and driving home the point that loneliness is a big factor inour lives and how we have to strive to not fall prey to it.

Monica Dogra, as the NRI, is competent, and considering this is her cinematic debut, she passes the test.

Prateik Babbar, as the dhobi, is curiously miscast, I feel. He doesn't look like your average dhobi, and he knows it, and the awkwardness comes through from time to time. However, within the realms of that prejudice, he does well and has definitely grown as an actor since his debut in Jaane Tu......

Kriti Malhotra, plays the role of the immigrant who is cataloguing in a video diary her experiences of living in a big city, quite well.

Overall, this is a good one time watch, and will hold special appeal for all Bombayites as it showcases parts of the city you may or may not have seen, all in 95 minutes with no interval!!

The fact still remains, however, that this movie would've come and gone, without a trace, had it not been that it was directed by the wife of one of the biggest stars of the industry, or, as in the case of Peepli Live, wasn't an Aamir Khan Productions' release.

Go watch it, its not as bad as my review may make it sound!!