Dhobi Ghat (2010)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Dhobi Ghat is in the list of my top 10, or lets say top 14 films of all time. I'd made the list the other day and that made me want to write this review. I loved each of the three stories. They all speak of loneliness, of being in love, and of love being the only thing that really makes life worth living. When the end happens, and that final run behind the taxi happens, I began to cry. For this was such a beautiful symbol of selfless love. Isn't that what love is? Going beyond yourself and your shadow sides your insecurities, your pride, your self, to be something better, something more than just another selfish being. The Aamir Khan story was to die for. Beautiful premise itself. And I thought it was one of his finest performances. Least Aamir Khan like, compared to most of his other films. I've been waiting since then for Kiran's next film. I really hope she makes one soon and gets back to direction full time. It's india's loss, that another superbly talented filmmaker has not made another film in so long, specially since there are hardly any women filmmakers around, when compared to the number of male makers. The background score was gorgeous. And i remember the foghorn like sound when the title comes on screen for the first time. And then that image in the taxi in the rain. So much love, this film was made with. it was evident.

My observations,1. The chaotic life of Arun's life gradually beaming up with inspiration with Yasmin's Vlogs which she has defined as "Letters to her brother". Yasmin was able to capture the rainy days in the way it was supposed to be described as. Any other narration on those rainy days would have totally destroyed it. But her narration was spot on. This goes to show that you don't always need Amitabh Bachan as a narrator. You just need an actor with conviction. Arun's transition from inspired to depressed was captured with perfection and that painting which was done based on the Vlog was exceptional.2. It's funny that they named the movie Dhobi Ghat. I thought the movie would revolve around him. I was expecting something like Lunchbox (Yes I saw Dhobi Ghat after watching Lunchbox). There might be a connection somewhere but I am guessing that the common presence of Munna in both Arun and Shia's life might be the reason but I still would want the movie to have a clearer title.3. Even though Munna's performance wasn't brilliant, Shia and Munna was enough to keep the audience fixated. Of the few things, I felt right about Munna was that his aspirations to become an actor as opposed to his livelihood were perfectly convincing. When he revealed that he was from Bihar, I was searching for his typical Bihari accent. I might be stereotyping here but the plot had so much to offer that it didn't come across as a drawback to me.4. Shia instead of being this typical NRI from America was shown as the apt character display of what lengths an NRI would go to get what she wanted. In a normal Bollywood movie, we would not have seen her going on top of a building under construction. Even if we would, there would be nonsensical comedic characters that were totally out of place.Bottomline: - What stayed with me was how those rainy days were shown the way I as a viewer would want to see it.

The minute you watched the trailer of Dhobi Ghat with Aamir Khan in it, you would have though this would be a typical Aamir Khan movie. let me remind you, this is not!The pace of movie Dhobi Ghat moves just like this is one of Nicolas Winding Refn direction - Slow and beautiful Monica Dogra plays banker turned photographer and asks Prateik(Dhobi) to show her the local slums and dhobi ghat so she can get some good stills. Prateik is aspiring actor and asks Monica to do a photo-shoot of him eventually falling for her. Aamir plays a successful painter who shifts to a new apartment for some new inspiration. He find some video cassettes with recording of previous apartment owner Yasmin(Kriti Malhotra). Yasmin is newly married and is making video recordings for her younger brother who lives in another state. Aamir starts watching the tapes and finds Yasmin fascinating. Apart from 4 stories that are going on in the movie, I found Aamir's and yasmin's story more appealing. Yasmin's story just grows on you. There's no escape. As I said before this is not Aamir's film but this is a film by Kiran Rao and she have shot this beautifully. If you have some time and if you like slow burning movies which actually have some plot unlike most of the bollywood movies, then I suggest you to go ahead with Dhobi Ghat. I assure you, you won't be disappointed!

I am very disappointed by the negative reviews of this film which in my opinion is one of Aamir Khan's and Kiran Rao's greatest works. I have one thing to say to there folks who did not like it - The beauty of the movie is not in what is explicitly conveyed, it's in the things left unsaid and in the emotions it brings about. If you did not understand it, the loss is yours and not Kiran Rao's or Aamir Khan's who I hope continue to create such pieces of art.I myself being born and brought up in the beautiful city of Mumbai felt the true essence of my beautiful city throughout the movie. It is indeed a place where people from different backgrounds come to pursue their dreams. There have been many movies made which show the lives of strangers intertwined. But this one touched me like no other. Maybe because it is my home. But mostly because the the stories of these people struck a chord with me. There is the story of Yasmin - the lonely housewife. But you cannot pigeonhole her into just another lonely housewife. In her eyes you see the hopes of a young optimistic girl who loves her family more than anything. She is a simple and innocent girl put into a new life in a big city. She portrays a brave front but is completely lost and alone. You only realize at the end that behind those beautiful eyes, was a hidden lonely struggle which had a tragic ending.Then there is Munna, a simple, resourceful and hardworking lad - a dhobi from the slums. And Shai, a rich, intelligent and creative young Indian girl brought up and probably born in America. I am putting them together because their story touched me collectively. They come from totally different worlds but have a connection or rather an understanding. He is infatuated with her and she cares for him. He knows his world was different from hers and she is completely out of his league so did she. But when they were together, they had a world of their own. The best part is he never made a move on her even though he could have on several occasions. It shows that he may have very little education and a slum boy, but he had integrity, intelligence and a wonderful heart. The last scene between them when he runs to her cab was probably my favorite. There was nothing said, but there was so much understood. They both knew they had no future, but they both cared for each other deeply. It was so intense and I applaud the director and the actors for that. It was an exquisite shot.And then there is the artist. He too is lonely in spite of having people around him. Probably looking for something real. He finds that in the smile of that sweet innocent girl who he cannot get enough of.There is no doubt that Prateik stole the show and won our hearts with his brilliant performance. If I can find one flaw, it would be the underrepresented "Marathi manoos" in the movie. Not to please the masses or politicians, and I am not one myself, but because that a big part of the ethos of the city.The reason this film probably did not click for the Indian audience is because it is worlds apart from the mainstream madness of Bollywood. It did not need intense drama, songs, duologue's or dance. It is in the subtle sadness behind the smile, the aspirations of a young, but true heart, the search for something real in a fake world.It's a story of 4 people searching for the truth, searching for love. They find it very briefly with each other. They all belonged to Bombay, Mumbai, yet they all belonged to different worlds, as is the true spirit of the city.