Dhobi Ghat

Dhobi Ghat is a movie directed by Kiran Rao, wife of Aamir khan. Not a typical Aamir Khan type movie. The secondary title of the movie “Mumbai Diaries” reveals vividly the theme of the film. The plot is not a leaf picked from the life of any single individual. But a story of Mumbai, known as Maximum City, that is churning out dreams of everyone who has made it their home. Each one of its dweller stands apart from the rest of the crowd in more than one ways. And yet the city connects one to the other in a bizarre way. This is exactly what happens to the protagonists of this flick.

Munna , a dhobi in the neighborhood meets Shai a well-educated Indian investment banker in USA who is on a visit to Mumbai. And Shai also meets up with Arun an introvert painter. Here’s another a character , Yasmin Noor, who do not make a on-screen appearance or so to say but makes a reverberating effect on Arun, the painter played by Aamir Khan. All four of them are poles apart in all aspects of their lives. What connects them to each other emotionally is love, loneliness, passion and survival.

Mumbai Diaries as the movie is called does not picturize the globalized part of the city but that face of the city which Bollywood had forgotten long time ago. There are neither sheening bungalows nor the gleaming sports cars. May be this is why it is titled Dhobi Ghat. The video tapes of Yasmin Noor are a real depiction of loneliness with no tears shed. It was completely moving. Munna , a lanky lad carries a heavy weight on his shoulder and big dream in his eyes with a heart willing to accept the paradoxes in his love for Shai. He is sure a star in the making. And shai is on the search for love that had possessed her during a one-night stand. Arun comes as a passionate painter with the hope of fixing his botched up marital life.

The movie by and large is a interesting watch. But I must say it is not entertaining but engaging though.