Dhobi Ghat - Review

If you are a Mumbaite, you will very clearly remember "Dhobi Ghat" near Mahalakshmi where this movie is filmed.

Dhobi Ghat - A story that revolves around 4 main characters - each one very different from the other, belonging to different strata within Mumbai city's socio-economic classes yet very closely twined together.

Yasmin (Kirti Malhotra) a newly married bride, like many new-comers has arrived to Mumbai to call it her home, tries to capture every moment of her new life on her video-cam for her brother. Some precious memories reveal a ton about her everyday life and shows us many beautiful glimpses of the city as well.

Socially-aloof, emotional and self-absorbed, Arun (Aamir Khan) is a painter who ultimately creates an artistic, masterpiece based on what he sees and learns from Yasmin's video-cam.

Munna (Prateik Babbar) is a dhobi, aspiring to become an actor meets Shai (Monica Dogra), an American investment banker, when delivering laundry to her house. This chance meeting is just a beginning of a socially unacceptable, an unlikely friendship.

The first 20mins of the movie is kind of slow and much spent in introducing characters, but there is never a dull moment in the entire 90mins of the story. There are many wow moments throughout the movie.

An amazing chemistry between the dhobi boy Munna and the investment banker Shai can be seen throughout the movie.

Munna's social class comes in way many a times throughout the movie but the wow factor kicks in especially when he tries to get closer to Shai one night on the terrace and then backs off. The quiet, restrained lover never forgets his boundaries.

Another soul-stirring moment in the movie was when Arun discovers the truth about Yasmin, whom he has never personally met but has known her through her video-recordings.

But the show-stealer moment was when Munna runs like wild fire on the busy streets of Mumbai to hand a note to Shai, thereby putting an end to his many unfulfilled dreams and desires. It just seemed like a perfect moment!!!

Most of the story is carried forward by the stunning emotions expressed by all the characters involved. Each character performed their best but the heartbeat of the movie was Mumbai city itself ... how this city closely intertwines all social classes of people into itself is just unbelieveable and the director (Kiran Rao) has done a commendable task of protraying Mumbai as never seen before through the eyes of Munna, through the lens of Shai, through the paintings of Arun and through the recordings of Yasmin. Music by Gustavo is an interesting feature to the Mumbai backdrop and the lives revolving around it.

One scene that just stands out of the rest is when Arun walks down the busy, bustling streets of Mohammad Ali road on a twinkling night and the camera zooms out to give us a magical, absolutely nostalgic moment ..... that's Mumbai!!

This movie is definitely not an universal appeal ... some people will simply love it and others will walk out the theatres feeling a huge disappointment. Hopefully you all will enjoy the movie as much as I did and say hats off to Aamir for yet another brilliant performance and for not over-shadowing the new-comers in the movie.

Happy Viewing!!