Reviews & Ratings for
Dhobi Ghat (2010)

A unique take on everyday interactions humans have, how they connect us, sometimes even attach us, maybe even destroy us, but always change us, little or a lot. If you're a fan of Aamir Khan, watch it. If you like Prateik Babbar's strange eyes, watch it. If you like films that are not mainstream, watch it. If you like heart-wrenching stories not because of the emotional drama they contain but because of the sheer honesty their characters display, definitely watch it!

I don't know why this movie is receiving such negative reviews. This movie is very fresh and calm.
There is the story of
Yasmin - the lonely housewife. She is a simple and innocent girl put into a new life in a big city. She portrays a brave front but is completely lost and alone. You only realize at the end that behind those beautiful eyes, was a hidden lonely struggle which had a tragic ending.
Munna, a simple, resourceful and hardworking lad - a dhobi from the slums.
And Shai, a rich, intelligent and creative young Indian girl brought up and probably born in America.
And then there is the artist. He too is lonely in spite of having people around him. Probably looking for something real. He finds that in the smile of that sweet innocent girl who he cannot get enough of.
Munna and Shai come from totally different worlds but have a connection or rather an understanding. He may have very little education and a slum boy, but he had integrity, intelligence and a wonderful heart. They both knew they had no future, but they both cared for each other deeply.
Direction and screenplay are amazing. They connect audience with the character so easily. MUST WATCH. GO FOR IT.

Knew nothing about it going in other than it had Aamir. It's Kiran Rao's only directorial film. It premiered at TIFF, and it is such a film festival kind of film. Intersecting stories about various people in Mumbai, including Pratiek as Munna, the dhobi -- he was the annoying younger slacker brother in Jaane Tu...Ya Jaana Na. HE was excellent (he doesn't seem to have done much else since.) I thought Kiran using the dhobi as the connection between the characters was very smart -- it shows the "real" Mumbai, and a person like that has entre into the upper strata of life, too.

Since I had the DVD I watched all the bonus videos, and the most fascinating was how they were able to film Aamir in this run down neighborhood apartment -- by sneaking him in in the dead of night and he basically didn't leave for three weeks. Then the people in the other apartments caught on, but were bargained to keep quiet if he would visit on the last day, and the end of the bonus film was him eating at kitchen table after little kitchen table home cooked meals and taking endless pictures with families. It was adorable. Also, filming him in a crowded street scene just walking in the crowd -- how they carefully planned with hidden cameras and pulled it off was very interesting.

The film was really interesting, but I thought Aamir and Kiran were rather pretentious in the bonus casting video talking about how they struggled to find the "right" person to play the artist Arun, and that Aamir had to convince her to cast him. Please. Putting his name on this was the sure fire way to get attention for the film.