Dhobi Ghat: Slice, nah, speck of Bombay…
* Dhobi Ghat’s greatest asset lies in its production value. It’s stunning to observe but isn’t intimate enough to reach out or seep in.
* While debutant director Kiran Rao captures not more than 10 % of my beloved city - its sights, the archetype and those who inhabit it is reassuringly familiar.
* My favourite moment is the last scene between Prateik & Monica Dogra. If only the movie had shown as much heart all through its uninterrupted 95 minutes.
* But I liked the Arun-Yasmin track more. It’s creepy yet disarming and sad.
* Dhobi Ghat is slow-cooked, tender but just as you warm up, it gets listless and moody. Can be enjoyed, sure. But only in fragments - gorgeously shot fragments.
* For me, Aamir Khan’s character - Arun sums up Dhobi Ghat - distant, awkward, fickle, esoteric and noncommittal.
* Somehow I can’t help thinking that Dhobi Ghat would have more credibility if Rao had retained the same elements capturing the million hues of this diverse city - Bombay/Mumbai/whatever you choose to address it to make a fulfilling documentary in place of a unconventional albeit lacking movie.
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