DHOBHI GHAT

"Once upon a time there lived a king, a farmer, a merchant..." is the manner in which a story would normally begin and it never fails to grab my attention no matter how many times I might have heard the same story till then. The interesting part is that you would still come out of that experience with something new. That's how one feels or atleast that's how I felt after watching "Dhobi ghat".

This is neither a mainstream commercial bollywood potboiler nor a serious art cinema. It provides an alternative for those longing for something different and in my opinion it fairly serves the purpose.

With 95 minutes of running time, it was appropriate to not to have an intermission and this gives a sense of continuity which in my opinion is its USP. The debutant director Kiran rao has shown Mumbai in all its colours which is rare to see in a hindi movie. I guess she is more of a story teller than a movie maker for that's how I felt during the course of the film. I don't know how this film ranks on a scale of 10 on movie watching experience, but scores pretty high when it comes to her prowess of story telling skills.

Except for the character of Yasmin who is the personification of innocence and all that's good in this world, all the other characters have shades of grey. Just as it's almost impossible to come across an out and out good person in real life, the same applies to the character of Yasmin. She too isn't real and yet she is a prominent character in the story. You have to watch this movie to know what I am blabbering.

This movie exudes emotion subtly and in right proportions. The dynamics of human emotions has always been an enigma and it's difficult to answer why one person likes another person. The obsession of Aamir's character for Yasmin and how he undergoes transformation as a person is example of how people think and relate to others.

In terms of screen presence Monica dogra & Prateik have lion's share and hats off to them for their acting, which is nothing less than natural.Kriti Malhotra as a muslim girl named Yasmin and the diction of her lines deserves a special mention. Surprisingly Aamirkhan's performance except for few scenes looks just good which is not what we normally associate with him, "just good". In this movie Prateik's & Monica's & Kriti's importance and performances overshadows Aamir's which never happens in a bollywood movie with any of the top heroes. Poor chap he is even the producer of this movie. Well, the director Kiran rao happens to be his wife. Need I say more?

Jokes apart, if you are open to something different, something good that you want to feel inside watch this movie. Just like a flower which remains shut until one fine day it would have suddenly bloomed, this movie also seems normal until it reaches its climax.

How do you feel when you see a beautiful flower? That's how I felt at the end of this movie.

EPILOGUE: All of you would have listened to the background music of "Mouna raagam" in which Ilayaraja cast a spell. Get prepared for another such spell. I came to know that the music is by a two time oscar winner Gustao and you will agree why he got them in the first place. Well, I agreed.