If you are a "regular" bollywood fan chances are you believe in the mantra of "they lived happily ever after" and "If the scene is an unhappy one then picture abhi baaki hai mere dost" - clichés that have been epitomised by a regular doses of blockbusters from the various production houses within the industry. But then when you go for an Aamir Khan production you do expect something "out of the box", something different, something sans masala, something that will get you thinking. Dhobi Ghat follows all the above conditions but then, in all probability the immediate reaction after watching the movie is "Oh..was it all? Are you sure?" Its almost as if Aamir/Kiran Rao is teasing you on the thinking hat - "think man think..what should be the end?"
Reason : The movie ends leaving the watcher unsure of the fate of its protagonists; atleast in terms of their relationship(s) with each other. Did atleast one of the couples get to live happily ever after? You can't be sure. Quite a possibility that each one goes about dreaming, living, hoping, surviving Mumbai-fighting his or her own personal fight. After all life is not something that can be dissected into neat chapters- you fall in love and then you fall out of it(and then maybe fall again for it) but then no matter what ever be the feelings - the sadness, the happiness it all becomes a part of you - layer over layer- an absolute cocktail. Ditto with the movie- it takes a random look into the life of 4 individuals and then leaves it an open end - letting life(the watcher) take his or her own course.
Ok so you do not like incomplete stories- but then the movie has much more to offer. The vibrant colour of emotions, the blackness of Mumbai, why despite so much of blackness some people come to Mumbai to take a breath of fresh air and why everyone from a rat-killer to an investment banker call it home or fall an easy prey to its charms.
Even though I am one of those people who are from the Dilli gharana (definition: one of those who cannot understand all that fuss about Mumbai. Delhi is so very cool) the movie made me wonder about life....about Mumbai. I love all that attention that has been given to the people, the colours and life in general instead of useless talking. Arun/Aamir is the superhero - of silence. He doesn't talk for more than 15 minutes in the whole movie and yet surpasses most of the competitors. The one who has done the maximum talking (Yasmin/Kriti) doesn't exist. Munna/Pratiek is the quintessential dhobi with a convincing performance (only if he does not have that many funky t-shirts) and Shai/Monika is in every way the American bred confused desi with an accent who stands on the fine threshold between love and friendship, between the not so rich and extremely poor and between being a camerawoman versus investment banker.
Overall a good watch. I loved it and can watch it again...for each time as the minute details of the 4 lives emerge they give me a different perspective about the ending. Keep watching, keep ending :)
the movie is definitely a refreshing change from the usual stuff. nice storyline, good cinematography but the style of narration makes it more of a collage than a movie.
ReplyDeletenew comers were impressive (love u monika...). but pratiek disappointing, i had expected better after i had seen him in jane tu jane na.
the weakest link of the movie is not the end, its the loose narration bad direction (n the cool Tee's :P)
I dont agree with Gopal. I think the direction was impressive. The way it was presented was different from all other movies. And lacking a crisp ending was a part of it. I enjoyed it a lot. But then it can be a personal choice thing.
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