Dhobi Ghat Review

Here is the First Review of movie Dhobi Ghat by an IMDB user. 

Just returned from the Toronto International Film Festival where Dhobi Ghat premiered to a very warm welcome from the Indian community as well as a large number of Toronto film lovers. There lineups were massive and the majority of fans paid big bucks not only to catch the premiere of the film but also catch an appearance by Aamir Khan and his director wife Kiran Rao.

The story itself is not complicated (you can watch Babel and 7 pounds to catch a more complex intertwining of multiple character stories) and focuses on the lives of an American born Indian Shai, a clothes washer (or a Dhobi as they are called in Hindi, hence the title Dhobi Ghat which refers to the place where Dhobis practice their trade), and a seclusive artist Arun (Played by Aamir Khan). To be fair, I figured out the story involving Arun and tapes left for him by his sister (who's moved to bombay at the start of the tapes and records a video of her days there as a 'letter' of sorts to her family which shes left behind in another city). You can see his motive for moving from house to house and his depression stemming from what he will eventually see in the video, well in advance and this takes the viewer a bit out of the movie (It's like knowing the ending to the Sixth Sense before you see it. Takes a bit away from the shock when it's finally revealed).

The story is neither a slow burner or a slum dog millionaire style endeavor where there's something constantly going on even in the slow parts. What makes the movie shine is an outstanding performance by new actor Prateik Babbar. I'm a pretty jaded film watcher and even when it comes to Bollywood comedies, I hardly find scenes to laugh out loud at but there were some scenes in Dhobi Ghat which made the entire audience fall in love with Munna (Prateik's character). His portrayal of a shy, self conscious your man who slowly falls in love with the much more worldly Shai is the best performance in a movie, English or Hindi that I've seen all year.

At the end of the movie during the Q&A session, when the mic was handed over to Prateik, the crowd went nuts as if Shahrukh Khan had walked into the cinema, and it was refreshing to see him almost start to cry and be so shaken by the applause he could barely talk. It was the kind of reception only a bollywood mega start would get and based solely on the power of his astonishingly good performance. Get used to it Prateik because gauging from this role he is the next big thing in Indian cinema.

Would I recommend Dhobi Ghaat? Yes, but not to anyone for who a song and dance number is an absolute must in their Hindi movie fix. Aamir Khan neither steals the show or fades into the background. You can see several of his mannerisms from the 3 Idiots come into his performance in Dhobi Ghat and apart from an unusual obscenity there's nothing much here that we haven't seen in his movies in the past. It's a solid, watchable job, and I guess being directed by his wife didn't make a different either way to the way he approached the role.

For a first time director, Kiran Rao's done very well. The visuals, the overall acting, the story, it's all above average but remarkable for so many principles involved for who this film was their first foray into movies. I would watch it again, if only for the layered performance of Prateik. Job well done all round guys!