Dhobi Ghat (2010)

"Mumbai Diaries" is one of the Finest & most Realistic movies of the last decade! Prateik Babbar was excellent. Monica Dogra was not so great, but affordable! Aamir Khan is in a different avatar this time and completely Justifies it!A Story of 4 protagonists whose lives intersect in the City of Mumbai. Beautiful Story wonderfully executed by Kiran Rao! Some people take religion-biasness issues as the Muslim religion is highlighted a bit in the movie! But that's none of a deal in the movie. It's just to make the character look more Realistic! Nothing much to say about the Movie! Just watch it & Enjoy this Classical Journey!9.5/10

"Mumbai Diaries" is a very, very unusual Indian film. For those familiar with Bollywood films, you might expect a lot different movie than you get. There are no song and dance numbers. There are no film clichés or formulas. And, there is no real resolution to the characters and their problems. This is NOT a complaint--I liked the film--but I just want you to understand that "Omkara" is not what you are probably expecting.The film, not surprisingly, is set in Mumbai (Bombay). The story is about four people who are, in their own way, alienated. One is an artist who is afraid of commitment, another is a slightly out of touch American of Indian descent, another is a very poor man and the final one is a woman on videotapes--and you never actually get to see her live in the film. I could say a lot more about it, but frankly it's best to just watch the film and see it unfold. Because of excellent acting, the vague script manages to satisfy. Well worth seeing.

There are so many good reviews about this movie, so I watched it also because it is produced by Amir Khan. The movie tries to be deep without really succeeding. Its a story about a few characters - Prateik plays a laundryman/dhobi, an immigrant photographer comes over from the US and befriends Prateik, Amir Khan is a divorced painter, and a woman records her life in videos that Amir finds and watches. I found Prateik the most interesting mainly because he had several shades - he was a wannabe actor, and interacted with a few different characters through his dhobi work. The immigrant was totally shallow, a typical photographer taking photos of every part of India and finding it all quite deep and profound, yet ashamed of letting her friends know that she knows Prateik. She was the most under- developed character. Amir Khan is just there as a painter. The worse part was that the immigrant slept with Amir the first time she met him yet was surprised that he didn't want to continue the "relationship" and considered it a one-night stand - duh, then don't sleep with the man the first night you meet him!Overall, the movie tries very hard to be deep and falls short. It was a boring movie, with no character development. You really don't understand what the characters are about, what drives them, etc. The movie is also directed and edited poorly, some scenes are very abrupt. I am very surprised Amir did this movie, he must really love Kiran Rao. He is such a perfectionist yet he acted in such a horribly directed film. I don't recommend this film.I usually love art films and have seen many many art movies, this one tries hard to be one but fails miserably.

Since having been shown the classic sports movie Lagaan in 2006,the main thing that I've always heard when friends have been discussing Bollywood movies,is how different the films lead actor (Aamir Khan) is from other "mainstream" Bollywood actors,due to him having taken a very "method" approach for a number of his most well known roles.Recently deciding to cheek his IMDb page to see if he had any upcoming projects,I was shocked to discover that Khan had done a 2010 film with his wife which seemed to have been completely over looked in the UK.After having read a few interesting bits about this oddly over looked movie,I decided the it was the perfect time to take a look at Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan's snapshots of Mumbai.The plot:Arriving in Mumbai to follow her passion for photography,banker/turned amateur photograph Shia goes to visit a newly opened art gallery.Impressed by the art works on display,Shia gets a happy surprise,when she bumps into the struggling artist (Arun) who has created the beautiful works.Being taken by each others good looks and charms,Shia and Arun leave the event so that they can spent the rest of the night alone together.Inital acting in a flirty manner,Shia's hopes of a relationship developing with Arun are left in ruins,when Arun "politely" decides to ask Shia if she is OK with their romance being "A one night thing!".Slamming the door behind her,Arun soon has his washing delivered from a man called Munna. (who also gets the chance later, to cross paths with Shia.)Wanting to go deeper into the art world,Arun moves into a much more classy,upmarket flat.Unpacking the handful of belongings that he has taken,Arun discovers a hand made bag hidden in a corner of the flat,filled with a number of home video tapes filmed by the previous resident of the flat.View on the film:Showing a strongly individual directing style for her debut film,writer/director Kiran Rao shoots the movie in a half docu- drama/half "indie" lo-fi fuzz style,with the scenes featuring the four interconnected characters mostly focusing on their attempts to slowly move "up a level" and reach their long-distance goals.For the "docu- drama" moments of this interesting movie,Rao shows an impressive attention to detail,as the Mumbai skyline is shown in a gloriously over exposed light,and the great on-location out door scenes taking place around the real activates of the residents in the city.Whilst Rao's dialogue rings with a wonderful frankness,where the discussion on love and sex from Shia (played charmingly by debut actress Monica Dogra) and Arun, (played by a quiet and focused Aamir Khan) impressively stays away from feeling sweet and "loved-up",to instead being much more realistically open and genuine.Although the dialogue allows for a good out line to be created for the characters,Rao seems to be overwhelmed by the size of Mumbai,with all of the characters feeling a bit of a distance from being fully formed,as Rao struggles to do a deep,intimate portrait of the characters,as the huge city casts its shadow over the proceedings.