There is something refreshingly different about "Dhobi Ghat". It spins a fable of the world we claim to know and live in yet it's unlike anything we've seen before. The answer to what makes it so different is a lot like the characters it tells us about : enigmatic and complex. Kiran Rao's debut succeeds in picking out those few emotions which we experience everyday but never succeed in comprehending them.
Of the millions of storytellers of the chaotic, vibrant and secretive city of Mumbai, Rao narrows it down to just four of them. Munna (Prateik Babbar), is a washer-man who aspires to become an actor one day. His luck takes a turn for the better when he encounters Shai (Monica Dogra), an American banker who comes to Mumbai to pursue her interests. Shai is an adventure junkie, intrigued by the squalor of Mumbai, and befriends Munna because she needs a friend to show her around the city. In the course of things, Munna falls in love with her but she has her eyes on Arun (Aamir Khan), a reclusive artist. Arun has a dark past and therefore fails to have an emotional connection with anyone. After he moves into a new house, he comes across a bunch of tapes in which a newly married woman Yasmin (Kirti Malhotra), an ex-tenant, tells her brother of the new life she's experiencing in the city of Mumbai. Hesitant at first, Arun becomes increasingly fascinated by her life. The film explores the intertwined stories of four people who are, in different ways, affected for the better or worse by the delights and tragedies of the city that never sleeps.
"Dhobi Ghat" is a film reminiscent of the miraculous Indian art films of the 1980s. Although Rao uses the unusually chaotic city of Mumbai as her muse, the film is something as quiet as a whisper. Rao cleverly uses archaic locations around the city to give it a melancholic look and feel, yet there is something strangely optimistic about it. "Dhobi Ghat" is a remarkably observant film. In one fantastic sequence, when Shai asks her maid to bring tea for Munna and herself, the maid gets it in an ordinary glass for him, clearly highlighting the appalling difference in class which exists all around us which we sadly choose to ignore. The story of Arun and Yasmin merits a deserving round of applause for Rao, who chooses something drastically different from the usual mundane crap we're subjected to in Indian films today. It is both imaginative and fascinating, and Rao tackles it with vigor and a sense of urgency. Tushar Kanti Ray's cinematography is outstanding, capturing the right essentials of the city with his faithful camera.
Somewhere in the midst of the film, a hollow feeling begins to creep in but you can't place where it could've originated from, which is harrowing. One grave error on Rao's part is that she doesn't let her characters evolve completely. Making use of an age-old cliché of an outsider coming to explore the city of Mumbai, Rao ends up playing herself through the stereotypic character of Shai, because she documents the city without any affection whatsoever. I couldn't quite understand the relationship Munna and Shai share, for there are flashes of affection between them, but the depth of it is kept cryptic. In my view, had Rao made the film about for people who are used to the abrupt tragedies and small delights of the city, the film could've turned out to be better and much more mature. That, you see, would be a tribute to the city.
Of the performances, Aamir Khan is reliably excellent, playing the brooding Arun with exemplary calm and confidence. Babbar and Dogra are convincing in their respective roles, but the best of the lot is Kirti Malhotra, who has the briefest role of the four leads. Though she's hardly seen in the film, her oratory skills are simply terrific. Yasmin is a character all of us have encountered at some point or the other in our lives, a passive spectator but who can speak volumes with her silence.
"Dhobi Ghat" is a flawed effort and is criminally passed off as a documentary about the city. Though Mumbai does play a significant role in the film, it is a mere representation of how an outsider embraces it. The film is devoid of a plot and the soothing and redeeming qualities of the city are never explored, because the morally complex characters get nowhere at the end of it. Still, I'm glad that someone in the industry has no qualms about making an independent film in a commercialized film industry. It's a good film but far from a perfect one, and if you can overlook the gaping holes in its premise, it can make a compelling experience.
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