My comment on ‘Dhobi Ghat’ on website of SCREEN.

My comment on ‘Dhobi Ghat’ on website of SCREEN.

I read the following review of the latest flick ‘Dhobi Ghat’ on the website of Screen.I have also read reviews in a few other places.So I had posted my comment below the review/article.It is now displayed on the website.Those who would like to see the page in original,may please go to the following link :

Dhobi Ghat ( Mumbai Diaries)

Shubhra Gupta Posted: Jan 21, 2011 at 1613 hrs IST
 
Dhobi Ghat
Dhobi Ghat
Director:Kiran Rao Cast:Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra

Rating:**1/2  

Movie review: Dhobi Ghat`Dhobi Ghat’ is a strangely uneven film. Its beginning feels amateurishly put together ; as it heads onwards, though, it finds an easy, flowing rhythm with just the occasional stutter.

Its tagline is `Mumbai Diaries’, and debutant director Kiran Rao takes four wildly differing lives in a metro to share with us her beloved city, in all its varying moods. Mumbai, like all throbbing, constantly-on-the-move, major world cities, can madden and enchant at the same time : `Dhobi Ghat’s characters intersect with each other, rubbing off some of their skins on the other, giving and taking, pulling and pushing.  

Some of it works, some of it doesn’t. Arun ( Aamir) is an up and coming painter who also broods well. He is the object of interest of Shai ( Dogra) a swish NRI investment banker cum photographer, on a sabbatical to capture the lives of marginal city workers. Enter Munna ( Babbar), a young, good-looking slum-dweller who holds dual jobs : during the day, grinning widely, he washes clothes at the `dhobi ghat’; at night, he grimly kills rats. And there’s Yasmin ( Malhotra) a small-town girl we see only as an image in a video camera, recounting her tale as a new entrant to the city, moving through the arc of a happy bride to a sad, tragic wife.  

Arun and Shai meet at an upscale show opening, the kind where invitees float about with thin-stemmed wine glasses. Even though hers is the wealthier, more privileged background, they speak the same language, and they come together as equals. Rank outsider Munna enters their world as a lowly service provider : he’s the guy who collects dirty laundry and brings it back clean. With Arun, he remains in his place ; with the attractive Shai, he becomes a yearning, besotted young man, plagued by all the jealousies and possessiveness of one. Yasmin’s narrative becomes a point of fascination, and inspiration, for Arun, but the way it translates into action appears contrived : this is one of the film’s major stutters.  

Rao has an eye, clearly, but there isn’t a Mumbai scene in here which takes my breath away. Her drawing of Arun aka Aamir, who claims he had to fight for the part, is ironically the weakest strand. Khan tries underplaying his mega-star persona, and is made to say such sentences as “ Mumbai is my muse, my beloved, my whore”. Or words to that effect. The words sound stilted in Khan’s mouth : he’s also a surly lover, not wanting to be gracious to the smitten Shai the morning after. Both the girls, especially Dogra, fill in their parts better, and both sound just right for their station. Prateik comes off the best of the lot, though he could have been given more to work with : there’s something pleasingly original about him, making him stand out from the crowd, a quality he showed in his debut ‘Jaane Tu.. Ya Jaane Na’.

‘Dhobi Ghat’is arresting in parts. I wanted to be beguiled some more.

shubhragupta@expressindia.com 

ViewComments
DHOBI GHAT -REVIEW by J S BROCA on 2011-01-23 09:40:30.583277+05:30 Dear Sir, I have read the review of DHOBI GHAT here and in other papers and magazines too.Overall, the reviews are not so favourable.Some one jokingly said :” Dhobi Ghat” – dhobies protested.Film flopped.Next title for his film? “Western Ghats”?.No better still :”Shamshan Ghat”.No one will protest.Film will be a hit ! All the Best to Kiran and Amir. -J S BROCA NEW DELHI. 
 
Dear Readers,I wait for your responses.Wash your dirty linen about this movie publically-here,yes right here.Save water !!
 
Ah,yes,the comment is there on Twitter too but in limited words.Go to the following link to see it and re-tweet it.Happy twittering !! 
 

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11 Responses to My comment on ‘Dhobi Ghat’ on website of SCREEN.

  1. I think your blog is good! I found it on Yahoo, I think i will come back one day.

  2. Im glad that I found it. Very well posted.

  3. lebanoclegi says:

    Hello, pleasent read. Love every bit. Thanks.

  4. J S Broca says:

    Dear Readers.
    I have posted an opinion on YOUR SPACE of MUSE INDIA as under on 24th Jan 2011 :
    Amir Khan’s next movie title…
    Here is my brief take on Amir’s recent movie – Dhobi Ghat:
    “Dhobi Ghat” –
    Dhobies protested.
    Film flopped.
    Next title, for his film?
    “Western Ghats”?
    No, better still:
    “Shamshan Ghat”.
    No one will protest.
    Film will be a hit!

    To read in detail, please go to :
    a) http://seeingwithc.org/jsblog/?p=1751
    b) http://www.screenindia.com/news/dhobi-ghat-mumbai-diaries/740574/
    c) http://twitter.com/brocasbanter

    Friends, your limericks, haikus, etc on the topic, will be appreciated.

    The responses posted herebelow are from my readers of MI

    J S BROCA
    New Delhi
    25th Jan 2011

  5. kumarendra mallick says:

    Jatinder ji, who knows at the ‘smashanghat’ the dead will show Ameer black flags. The most suitable title for Ameer will be ‘Rajghat’ where not a ‘Raja’ but a poor man’s friend is cremated. And the frail fakir does not know’jhandabaji’.

    Kumarendra Mallick, Hyderabad
    Jan 25, 2011

  6. Raj Nandy says:

    BROCA ji , I liked the idea of ‘shamshan ghat’ , Amir Khan must give it a serious thought ! In any case it is something which none can ignore ! -Raj

    Raj Nandy , New Delhi
    Jan 25, 2011

  7. raja ramachandran says:

    The Lord of destruction is Lord Shiva, who dances in the samshanghat wearing skulls as His garland. So, it is no wonder, if Khan scores a victory if he prays Shiva and takes a film with a title “Samshanghat.”

    Rajaram Ramachandran, Juhu, Mumbai (Camp: Trichy)
    Jan 25, 2011

  8. nikita sareen says:

    Beautiful Sir! You gel humor very nicely.Nice observation Sir.Hats off to you.

    Nikita Sareen, New Delhi
    Jan 25, 2011

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