Dhobi Ghat

Cast: Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra, Danish Hussain, Jehan Manekshaw, Ashok Varma, Kitu Gidwani

Director: Kiran Rao

Yet another hit by Aamir Khan. Everything that he touches seems to turn into gold. The movie is written by Kiran Rao and tells a story of four people from very different backgrounds, whose worlds intersect and leave them forever altered and the relationships they are drawn into. The film marks the debut of Monica Dogra and Kriti Malhotra, who are marvelous in their performance. Prateik gives another great performance and could be a upcoming star. The movie is a must watch. Kiran Rao in her debut film has told an evocative and complex story of people coming to Mumbai – the city which offers more than pools of money apart from its breathtaking sea face where she interestingly twines the lives of Arun (Aamir Khan), an upmarket artist meets Shai (Monica Dogra), an NRI investment banker at his exhibition. A chance encounter makes Shai believe it can be taken further but the moody Arun is in no mood of relationships.

Shai the investment banker who can afford a sabbatical to follow her passion of clicking pictures is pissed. She befriends Munna (Prateik), the friendly neighbourhood dhobi who happens to be a wannabe actor too, they both watch movies, dig on keema pav at Mumbai bustling Mohammad Ali rd, the girl treats the boy as equal but the guy knows his limitations, it’s a totally diverse world but still they stay together in this beautiful city to fill their emptiness. Meanwhile Arun gets hooked in the video-taped story of Yasmin (Kriti Malhotra), the simple small town ex-inmate of the house he currently occupies. Recently married Yasmin shares a simple newlywed bride dream, she has an untold story to tell to her brother, the movie is a crisscrossing story of these four people who have immigrated to this city of dreams and how they survive, choose to carry whether they bind or break. How they respond and confront situations. Kiran chooses the guerrilla route to narrate her 95 minute story where the proceedings seems like we are watching our friends handy cam, the picture has a lean, almost procedural style, in which every scene and line of dialogue counts striking the notes of emotional distress, class difference.

Kiran purpose is simple, she wants us to meet these people, know them, sympathize with them but don’t drive any conclusion and that is what truly fascinating. The movie makes Mumbai more alluring thanks to the camera of Tushar Kanti Ray which captures the city in each every shade in dawn and dusk. Nishant Radhakrishna’s smart and crisp editing and the berating soothing score by Gustavo Santaolalla is an extra plus, making this mystical metropolitan city the fifth character which holds everyone together.Films about interconnected lives stumble under the weight of coincidences, not ‘Dhobi Ghat’, Kiran who also pens it turns out to be too savvy to let that happen.

The actors, Aamir (who does a smart job once again) and the newcomers bring an air of weary authenticity to their roles, Prateik Babbar as the day time dhobi and part time rat killer at night is intensely ‘in’ the role respecting the genes of his remarkably talented mother Smith Patil, Monica Dogra as Shai is hot and easy going perfectly modeled for the role. Kriti Malhotra as Yasmin is a welcome surprise, Kittu Gidwani is competent. All of them make ‘Dhobi Ghat’ a wise and complex drama that accompanies diversity and globalization to the simpler human story of how individuals cope with losses for which they bear a portion of the responsibility.

Well, Kiran makes a point as a helmer but in the commercial and artistic push and pull of cinema, Kiran’s Mumbai Diaries is not vividly clear to all. The rasikas are definitely goanna lap it up but it whistles doesn’t go beyond the niche ears as the maker doesn’t listen to general demands. But Kudos for Aamir Khan Productions for believing in cinema of choice and getting better more artistic and intelligent with ‘Dhobi Ghat’ after giving us ‘Lagaan’, ‘Taare Zameen Par’, ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ And ‘Peepli [Live]’. Every year literally hundreds of thousands throng to the city of dreams, Mumbai. To cover so many dreams in a small span of an-hour-and-a-half calls for some brilliant filmmaking. And watching "Dhobi Ghat" will make you realise that there indeed have been very few debuts as stunning as this one.

"Dhobi Ghat" is the story of five characters - Yasmin (Kirti Malhotra), Arun (Aamir Khan), Shai (Monica Dogra), Munna (Prateik Babbar) and the city of Mumbai. After a one night stand with Arun, who is a painter, Shai, an investment banker from America and an amateur photographer, obsesses over him, while her dhobi Munna pines for Shai. Arun, meanwhile, discovers a few tapes in his flat from the previous tenant and, watching them, falls in love and find a muse in the woman who has made them - Yasmin. Each of the character is thus looking for something in one another, while the fifth character, Mumbai, simply stares blankly at them without comment or prejudice.

One of the best things about the film is its casting. Each of the actors complement the film, its director, and the city of Mumbai perfectly. Each is believable in his or her own garb. Prateik is bound to become the heartthrob of the generation, while Kirti Malhotra's innocence has to be seen to be believed. Real life singer Monica brings out the uncertainty of her character beautifully. The only one who is a little out of place, and hence the small sore point of the film is actor Aamir Khan. He begins shakily and is self conscious, unable as he is perhaps of shaking away two decades of Bollywood's acting baggage. By the end of it though, he manages to get into the film's rhythm and gives a believable performance.

It is hence not Kiran Rao's luck that she got superstar husband Aamir to act in the film, but Aamir's luck that he is in this film, which will go down in the history of cinema as one of the best character sketches of a city and its people. Very few people in the world have sketched any city with such tender love, care and affection. And to add to the lilting melody that is Mumbai in the film is composer Gustavo Santaolalla who gives a haunting background score. Director Kiran Rao brilliantly manages to find a physical representation of Mumbai city, in the old woman who blankly stares at all the characters, but says nothing. The metaphor is simple but powerful - Mumbai is a dying, decaying city, but one that is definitely alive and watches over all. And like the character of Arun who becomes a voyeur into the life of Yasmin, it is Kiran Rao that has played voyeur on the city of Mumbai. Another good thing about the film is that nowhere does it slacken or lose pace. On the contrary, it unfolds almost like a mystery, like a rose bud, only to scintillate the senses in full bloom. It thus might become the low budget indie Indian film that will finally make money like big-budget Bollywood fare.

In the end though, that wouldn't matter much to the audience who will find themselves somewhere in the film. Each one of the characters in the film is like Mumbai, and Mumbai is like each one of us who inhabit it.