Review Of Dhobi Ghat

I was pleasantly surprised by Dhobi Ghat. On the one hand, I had high expectation from the movie but the same time , I didn’t exactly know what those expectations were. But after watching the movie, wonderful is only word to describe it. As an Aamir khan movie, I was waiting with humungous expectation, super enthusiasm and dared to think beyond the normal stereotype. And it raises the bar high and reaches beyond imaginations. It is a mellow afire that’s soothing yet unnerving.

• o   Official Website: Link
• o   Producer: Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao
• o   Director: Kiran Rao
• o   Genre : Social
• o   Lead Cast: Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra, Aamir Khan, Prateik
• o   Story: Kiran Rao
• o   Cinematography: Tushar Kanti Ray
• o   Editor: Nishant Radhakrishnan
• o   Action Choreography: Aejaz, Javed
• o   Music Director: Gustavo Santaolalla
• o   Facebook Page: Link
• o   Running time: 95 minutes

Story:

Dhobi Ghat is one of the most dynamic cinematic portraits where a city plays a character along with actors. A film that considers the city itself as a character and looks closely at how it impacts people from a range of social classes.

Dhobi Ghat is purely character driven. Rather then following a large story, I followed there characters on their journeys through life. It is a story of four different character- Arun (Aamir) the lonely artist, Sahi(Dogra) is an NRI and the banker on a sabbatical in India, Munna(Prateik), the dhobi who want to a actor and Yasmin(Kriti), the recent married Muslim girl who records her life in Mumbai for her brother back home.

These four people have very different backgrounds, whose lives cross for a definite purpose. If I summaries the story, then I would divide the story into 2 parts, One is the story of Arun, his search for the new flat and how he draw in to the world of Yasmin. And the second story is about two different class people Sahi and Munna, there  love story & there promise exchange…munna promise to show real Mumbai in exchange for a portfolio which will help him to release his dream.  It is an attempted to encapsulate the tangibility of Mumbai from different perspectives. It shoe us how these lives interested in this city of more then 11mn people and how they each deals with love, relationships and disappointment.

Director Cut:-

Kiran Rao clearly knows her film very well and it felt that every detail had lovingly been crafted & detailed to her specification.  She is so perfect that every single shot in the movie tells a story, every image counts and every emotion feel like real. An proverb is there” morning show the day”, the first scene of the movie ‘Bunch of fake grapes hanging from the rear view mirror in a car during the monsoon’ tells the quality of this director. She is really a good movie painter who made a portrait a beautiful movie. Each tit & bits are so nicely presented in the movie and placed every thing so perfectly. For example, the painting that Arun makes towards the end of the movie,  the women in the train that yasmin in filming, the old neighbor sitting in her chair with a Vacant look …. And specially like to mention the way she portrait Mumbai. The art she provides to capture the sight and sound is brilliant.  So many are things are there to look for. Really a clap for this woman and for her imagination, thinking & presentation.

Helping hand to Kiran, Tushar Kanti Rays cinematography is a top notch. The presentation of heavy rain in infected streets, crowded city, traffic jam, slums, colorful sunsets over marine Drive, celebration of Ramzan Festival, Beautiful Landscapes…all these thing crafted wonderfully and deserve a appreciation.

And Oscar and 13 times Grammy award- winner Argentine composer Gustavo antaolalla,s music adds yet another layer of beauty to the storytelling and the visuals. 

Performance:

Starting with Prateik, is a complete screen scorcher and a natural actor. He delivers a speculative performance that has all the right spunks to carry him home with élan.  With no second thought, A star is born and definitely this performance will fetch s some awards.

The fanfare marks the debuts of Monica And Kriti are just exceptional in their very first outing. They both have excellent knowledge of camera sense.

 And coming to perfectionist Aamir khan, I really don’t know what this man’s brain is made off. When other stars are involved in a formulatype, this superstar has always tries something different. It requires some kind of versatility, talent and confident to pull off an Unconventional role in an offbeat & social relationship drama movie like DG, on the back of a very popular role like Rancho in 3 Idiot.  Though he is THE star of this decade, he didn’t hesitate to act as a second Fidel or you can call a supporting in the movie. I appreciated the way he  played the part in such a subtle way , much like TZP. He restrains himself and leis his co-stars eclipse him. He underplays his assigned part efficiently. The super star replaced by the actor in this movie.

Inshorts: Ups & downs of the movie :-

Ups:-

• o   Brilliant performances from all the actors and presentation are so real.
• o   Excellent cinematography and pleasant background score.
• o   An impressive direction by debutant Kiran Rao.

Downs:-

• o   Not being general audience friendly
• o   It is too niche
• o   The slow pace Narration
• o   Editing could have been better
• o   A slightly-loosely written screenplay  

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Verdict

This movie is not for those bollywood buffs that prefers formulae films and regular does of songs and dance sequences. Its for those who likes unconventional art movie with a twist. As per Box-office point of view , This movie is design for certain type of class people but excellent WOM may put this into other zone. Though this movie is not made for profit making prospect, but with a budget of 8cr(including p&p) HIT (both commercially and critically) is written all over it.           

   

Detailed Ratings (out of 5):

• Direction: 4.0
• Story: 4.0
• Lead Actors: 4.5
• Character Artists: 2.5
• Dialogues: 3.5
• Screenplay:3.0
• Music Director: 3.0

Over all :- 3.5+0.5(Its for Aamir Khan, for showing believe in the script and producing & acting in the Movie )