Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

adityakripalani Dhobi Ghat is in the list of my top 10, or lets say top 14 films of all time. I'd made the list the other day and that made me want to write this review. I loved each of the three stories. They all speak of loneliness, of being in love, and of love being the only thing that really makes life worth living. When the end happens, and that final run behind the taxi happens, I began to cry. For this was such a beautiful symbol of selfless love. Isn't that what love is? Going beyond yourself and your shadow sides your insecurities, your pride, your self, to be something better, something more than just another selfish being. The Aamir Khan story was to die for. Beautiful premise itself. And I thought it was one of his finest performances. Least Aamir Khan like, compared to most of his other films. I've been waiting since then for Kiran's next film. I really hope she makes one soon and gets back to direction full time. It's india's loss, that another superbly talented filmmaker has not made another film in so long, specially since there are hardly any women filmmakers around, when compared to the number of male makers. The background score was gorgeous. And i remember the foghorn like sound when the title comes on screen for the first time. And then that image in the taxi in the rain. So much love, this film was made with. it was evident.

Prince_Adam Lo and behold, there's a new talent on the director's chair. Take a bow, Kiran Rao, this is one of the best directorial debuts ever.Dhobhi Ghat is a scholar's (Kiran Rao) dedication to its muse (Mumbai). A savoury ode to one's fetishes. A philosopher's view of the contradictions of our civilization. And a guiltless acceptance of one's harmless pursuits. There is no scepticism in Rao's love for the city. It's pure and unconditional. That is why she chose "Dil tadap tadap ke keh raha hai aa bhi ja" as the song to describe her feelings.He meets her, she meets him and he meets Yasmin. There's no beginning. There's no end. There's a journey that goes, ripping the obstacles around it, while walking, sipping a cuppa tea, smelling the fragrance of flowers and hacking the caustic forces in form of cruel changes before they suck our passion. The editor's chopping table called for a sacrifice; as a result, the fifth character, that of the labourer, went away. One may call it a mistake, but perhaps it was influenced by the ruthless impatience of today's young breed.We all know Prateik had talent. We all saw how he turned an unlikeable introvert from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na into a lovable character. This time he submits himself to his character of Munna, a ghetto boy. Never do you feel that he is the MTV-watching yuppie. The ode to Salman Khan, the Khan of all seasons, is a masterstroke. How could Munna be a fan of anyone else, other than the 'Bhaijaan' of the Hindi film industry? Monica Dogra is impressive. She underplays herself so well. We need to see more of her. Kirti Malhotra (Yasmin) is a talent to watch out for. Now on to the biggie: Aamir Khan. He is the only mainstream actor, a man of the classes and the masses, who'd have the guts to be a part of a cinema like this where he is basically a supporting character, free from any starry traits. This character is the opposite of what he played in Ghajini. There he played it to the gallery with aplomb. Here he's restrained, virtually immersed in the background. He talks less, thinks more. For those not used to subtle acting, this performance of Aamir warrants a repetitive viewing to get the notes correctly.Here lies a cathartic passion of finding one's inner-self in Mumbai Diaries. In many ways, it's a kind of a love story where one doesn't realises that one is in love till years go by -- an unchanging soul of one's life. It grows on you like a fine malt.

Advait Kamat There is something refreshingly different about "Dhobi Ghat". It spins a fable of the world we claim to know and live in yet it's unlike anything we've seen before. The answer to what makes it so different is a lot like the characters it tells us about : enigmatic and complex. Kiran Rao's debut succeeds in picking out those few emotions which we experience everyday but never succeed in comprehending them.Of the millions of storytellers of the chaotic, vibrant and secretive city of Mumbai, Rao narrows it down to just four of them. Munna (Prateik Babbar), is a washer-man who aspires to become an actor one day. His luck takes a turn for the better when he encounters Shai (Monica Dogra), an American banker who comes to Mumbai to pursue her interests. Shai is an adventure junkie, intrigued by the squalor of Mumbai, and befriends Munna because she needs a friend to show her around the city. In the course of things, Munna falls in love with her but she has her eyes on Arun (Aamir Khan), a reclusive artist. Arun has a dark past and therefore fails to have an emotional connection with anyone. After he moves into a new house, he comes across a bunch of tapes in which a newly married woman Yasmin (Kirti Malhotra), an ex-tenant, tells her brother of the new life she's experiencing in the city of Mumbai. Hesitant at first, Arun becomes increasingly fascinated by her life. The film explores the intertwined stories of four people who are, in different ways, affected for the better or worse by the delights and tragedies of the city that never sleeps."Dhobi Ghat" is a film reminiscent of the miraculous Indian art films of the 1980s. Although Rao uses the unusually chaotic city of Mumbai as her muse, the film is something as quiet as a whisper. Rao cleverly uses archaic locations around the city to give it a melancholic look and feel, yet there is something strangely optimistic about it. "Dhobi Ghat" is a remarkably observant film. In one fantastic sequence, when Shai asks her maid to bring tea for Munna and herself, the maid gets it in an ordinary glass for him, clearly highlighting the appalling difference in class which exists all around us which we sadly choose to ignore. The story of Arun and Yasmin merits a deserving round of applause for Rao, who chooses something drastically different from the usual mundane crap we're subjected to in Indian films today. It is both imaginative and fascinating, and Rao tackles it with vigor and a sense of urgency. Tushar Kanti Ray's cinematography is outstanding, capturing the right essentials of the city with his faithful camera. Somewhere in the midst of the film, a hollow feeling begins to creep in but you can't place where it could've originated from, which is harrowing. One grave error on Rao's part is that she doesn't let her characters evolve completely. Making use of an age-old cliché of an outsider coming to explore the city of Mumbai, Rao ends up playing herself through the stereotypic character of Shai, because she documents the city without any affection whatsoever. I couldn't quite understand the relationship Munna and Shai share, for there are flashes of affection between them, but the depth of it is kept cryptic. In my view, had Rao made the film about for people who are used to the abrupt tragedies and small delights of the city, the film could've turned out to be better and much more mature. That, you see, would be a tribute to the city.Of the performances, Aamir Khan is reliably excellent, playing the brooding Arun with exemplary calm and confidence. Babbar and Dogra are convincing in their respective roles, but the best of the lot is Kirti Malhotra, who has the briefest role of the four leads. Though she's hardly seen in the film, her oratory skills are simply terrific. Yasmin is a character all of us have encountered at some point or the other in our lives, a passive spectator but who can speak volumes with her silence."Dhobi Ghat" is a flawed effort and is criminally passed off as a documentary about the city. Though Mumbai does play a significant role in the film, it is a mere representation of how an outsider embraces it. The film is devoid of a plot and the soothing and redeeming qualities of the city are never explored, because the morally complex characters get nowhere at the end of it. Still, I'm glad that someone in the industry has no qualms about making an independent film in a commercialized film industry. It's a good film but far from a perfect one, and if you can overlook the gaping holes in its premise, it can make a compelling experience.

Ahmed Dawod I wanted to watch this movie after my very good experiences with Aamir Khan movies: "3 Idiots" and "Like stars on Earth". So I got the movie and watched it and WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!!! The movie - as any of Aamir's movies - has a message to deliver to the audience. but I think the message is lost in the many events of this movie. It tells about lives of different people and their intersections in a way that makes you can't understand who is the main character of this movie. I mean a movie can have more than one main character if they have one common thing. But when they have many things in common and sometimes they differ then you are lost. The ending is open too and you can't know how the issues ended at all. I don't know but I'm very disappointed with this movie. I rated it with 6 out of 10 because it has a very noble message to deliver but it failed to deliver it right. I'm neither regretting watching it nor will be if I didn't.