Is Hindi Cinema evolving, the answer would be Yes, but how far is it comparable to World Cinema, well the answer to this question lies in the coming years, but I feel that Today's Hindi Cinema have the raw energy to stand on it's own grounds and Dhobi Ghat adds more vigor to it.
Every Filmmaker/Film-lover believes in a Cinema which stays in his/her mind, a Cinema as close as a personal affair, but most of the filmmaker get mold to the current trends in filmmaking as they find it hard to convince a financer. This is what I felt after reading many aspiring filmmaker's take on their professional life. Fortunately Kiran Rao has an advantage to convey her story unadulterated, thanks to Amir Khan, husband of Kiran Rao and the producer/actor of Dhobi Ghat.
Well to start with Dhobi Ghat, it's a different movie in Indian Cinema with characters tend to be real and genuine. As this review will have spoilers attached to it, so would request film-lovers, who would not want to know the story before they have watched the film to please excuse this blog for time being. They can visit at their convenience when they have watched the film :)
As earlier mentioned this is a bold take on reality check on four different characters coming from different strata, different mindset/outlook, but common location i.e. Mumbai. These four characters and Mumbai for me is DHOBI GHAT. I would like to present my review on each character to know more from you as well as to how you felt about each one of them.
1) Yasmin (Middle Class Housewife/HandyCam)
This character, a newly wed, seemed to me a character who is new to Mumbai and was absorbing the essence of Mumbai through the handycam provided by her husband. The intercuts used to portray this character was very well done, but the conflict used to present this character was very vague and am still not convinced on the point that, in the world of mobile communication, why the hell I would keep recording on Handycam cassettes to show my brother in some other city/country how is my life shaping in Mumbai. Even if I still agree to it, why Yasmeen did not shipped the first two cassettes to his brother, also on the third cassette there is no point saying to her brother/family 'This is my last recording and I hope you will forgive me', as she is not gonna ship that either, so no point of saying those lines as well. I was able to relate to this character in the climax, the trauma was underlined excellently by the director but the concept of using a Handycam was like an incomplete deal to me.
2) Shai (US Investment Banker/Photography)
This is one of the confused characters of all the four, she is returned from US for a sabbatical. She is interested in Arun, sleeps with him the day she meets and she likes photography. She meets Munna (Dhobi), Munna becomes her guide to show around Mumbai. These all events leads to a viewer like me that what is she really looking out for. She being working in US has got a broad outlook towards life, very open minded, ready to be around with anyone at any given point of time, then why to life so seriously when it comes at a point when she has to decide between Arun and Munna. Was really confusing for me to see a character who happened to be a flamboyant intially looked like a puzzle in the climax.
3) Arun (Artist)
This character has gone wrong completely for the filmmaker as for the first time I felt Amir has not studied the character and has left his character solely in the hands of the filmmaker. Arun is an Artist who is as moody as every other famous artists are tagged for. Also a character who has no control on his life/family life, lives life on his instinct relying on his current state of mind. The weak point of this character to me was the way he smoked throughout his film, giving us a feel that he is in total control of the situation and looked very pretentious which he is not. Also how can a person who does not like to connect socially just gets with a girl over a few minutes of talk and then sleep with her gets a bit heavy for me to digest. The climax part was superbly executed by the filmmaker and also the actor has to be applauded.
4) Munna (Dhobi)
The most believable character in this film. A very well written character having multiple shades, representing the slums of Mumbai, but having dreams of becoming a famous actor. The filmmaker could have avoided few 'Explicit' aspects to this character portraying him as a Gigolo, the conversation with Munna's female customer seemed redundant.
Acting wise it's a top notch performance from all the four characters, but Pateik was special in this film, the rawness in his dialogue delivery, the passive feelings towards Shai and then his relation with his paternal cousin makes the character adorable. Monica Dogra as Shai is sensous and I felt the character was justified well by her. Kriti as Yasmin was also special, loved the way she delivered her lines, left a feeling of a philosopher who happened to embrace the good and ugly facets of the city. Amir was very mediocre for me in this film, expected a lot from him, I find him trying a lot to get into his character, but there were scenes which really stood out, esp the climax scene.
Technically the film worked for me, multiple video formats used, defining the mood of Mumbai at different levels. Even the cuts were interesting, the different video format worked well with the intercuts used. Musically, am not sure why the filmmaker underplayed the music, there was a scene when all these four characters were on a HIGH, still the music was kept very subtle, just underlining the emotions. Though I felt the use of music as unsatisfactory there were many places where real music were used which worked for me.
Kiran Rao, the director of this film is the most luckiest filmmaker to complete a film of her choice under Amir Khan Production. This film will be in History among those films which try to evolve as a different flavor of Indian Cinema, but when it comes to characterizaton I feel something is left incomplete which would add to the negatives from my end.
Rating : 2.5/5
Every Filmmaker/Film-lover believes in a Cinema which stays in his/her mind, a Cinema as close as a personal affair, but most of the filmmaker get mold to the current trends in filmmaking as they find it hard to convince a financer. This is what I felt after reading many aspiring filmmaker's take on their professional life. Fortunately Kiran Rao has an advantage to convey her story unadulterated, thanks to Amir Khan, husband of Kiran Rao and the producer/actor of Dhobi Ghat.
Well to start with Dhobi Ghat, it's a different movie in Indian Cinema with characters tend to be real and genuine. As this review will have spoilers attached to it, so would request film-lovers, who would not want to know the story before they have watched the film to please excuse this blog for time being. They can visit at their convenience when they have watched the film :)
As earlier mentioned this is a bold take on reality check on four different characters coming from different strata, different mindset/outlook, but common location i.e. Mumbai. These four characters and Mumbai for me is DHOBI GHAT. I would like to present my review on each character to know more from you as well as to how you felt about each one of them.
1) Yasmin (Middle Class Housewife/HandyCam)
This character, a newly wed, seemed to me a character who is new to Mumbai and was absorbing the essence of Mumbai through the handycam provided by her husband. The intercuts used to portray this character was very well done, but the conflict used to present this character was very vague and am still not convinced on the point that, in the world of mobile communication, why the hell I would keep recording on Handycam cassettes to show my brother in some other city/country how is my life shaping in Mumbai. Even if I still agree to it, why Yasmeen did not shipped the first two cassettes to his brother, also on the third cassette there is no point saying to her brother/family 'This is my last recording and I hope you will forgive me', as she is not gonna ship that either, so no point of saying those lines as well. I was able to relate to this character in the climax, the trauma was underlined excellently by the director but the concept of using a Handycam was like an incomplete deal to me.
2) Shai (US Investment Banker/Photography)
This is one of the confused characters of all the four, she is returned from US for a sabbatical. She is interested in Arun, sleeps with him the day she meets and she likes photography. She meets Munna (Dhobi), Munna becomes her guide to show around Mumbai. These all events leads to a viewer like me that what is she really looking out for. She being working in US has got a broad outlook towards life, very open minded, ready to be around with anyone at any given point of time, then why to life so seriously when it comes at a point when she has to decide between Arun and Munna. Was really confusing for me to see a character who happened to be a flamboyant intially looked like a puzzle in the climax.
3) Arun (Artist)
This character has gone wrong completely for the filmmaker as for the first time I felt Amir has not studied the character and has left his character solely in the hands of the filmmaker. Arun is an Artist who is as moody as every other famous artists are tagged for. Also a character who has no control on his life/family life, lives life on his instinct relying on his current state of mind. The weak point of this character to me was the way he smoked throughout his film, giving us a feel that he is in total control of the situation and looked very pretentious which he is not. Also how can a person who does not like to connect socially just gets with a girl over a few minutes of talk and then sleep with her gets a bit heavy for me to digest. The climax part was superbly executed by the filmmaker and also the actor has to be applauded.
4) Munna (Dhobi)
The most believable character in this film. A very well written character having multiple shades, representing the slums of Mumbai, but having dreams of becoming a famous actor. The filmmaker could have avoided few 'Explicit' aspects to this character portraying him as a Gigolo, the conversation with Munna's female customer seemed redundant.
Acting wise it's a top notch performance from all the four characters, but Pateik was special in this film, the rawness in his dialogue delivery, the passive feelings towards Shai and then his relation with his paternal cousin makes the character adorable. Monica Dogra as Shai is sensous and I felt the character was justified well by her. Kriti as Yasmin was also special, loved the way she delivered her lines, left a feeling of a philosopher who happened to embrace the good and ugly facets of the city. Amir was very mediocre for me in this film, expected a lot from him, I find him trying a lot to get into his character, but there were scenes which really stood out, esp the climax scene.
Technically the film worked for me, multiple video formats used, defining the mood of Mumbai at different levels. Even the cuts were interesting, the different video format worked well with the intercuts used. Musically, am not sure why the filmmaker underplayed the music, there was a scene when all these four characters were on a HIGH, still the music was kept very subtle, just underlining the emotions. Though I felt the use of music as unsatisfactory there were many places where real music were used which worked for me.
Kiran Rao, the director of this film is the most luckiest filmmaker to complete a film of her choice under Amir Khan Production. This film will be in History among those films which try to evolve as a different flavor of Indian Cinema, but when it comes to characterizaton I feel something is left incomplete which would add to the negatives from my end.
Rating : 2.5/5
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