We were warned. Slice-of-life they said, no structure they said. In the end no matter what anyone said, ‘Dhobi Ghat’ failed to do what a slice-of-life film should do: create characters and situations that made you root for, love or hate, wish happiness or pain upon. It ends up being a lukewarm look at 4 connected lives when it could have been a more intense interconnected spin.
The film revolves around an artist, a dhobi, an investment banker on a sabbatical and a young girl who tapes her years as a married woman in Mumbai. The film starts with Arun, the artist discovering the tapes and getting a peek into the life of Yasmin, while strangely finding himself healing from the wounds of a divorce. He has an intense 1-nighter with Shai the investment banker but dumps her not wanting to commit. Shai befriends their common dhobi, Munna who is a survivor, a do-gooder who wants to make it big in Mumbai and uses her connection with Munna to get closer to Arun. The 90-minute flow is a series of encounters between these 4 characters.
Written by Kiran Rao, the film’s plus is in projecting its characters and routines in as natural a way as possible. The chain-smoker, the obsessive lover, the hard-working dhobi who has ambitions of being a star like Salman and a young giggly bride don’t do much different than they would in the real world. Where it fails to evoke is in portraying their problems and making you feel for them.
You don’t feel bad for Arun in his lonely world. You don’t feel that Munna is a young man gunning for a tragic improbable future. You don’t feel that Shai is hurt, which should explain her obsession. You don’t feel Yasmin’s growing frustration with her cheating husband. They are all trapped, but you never get to feel it. These layers are not built convincingly and this is where the film falls short of expectation. The music of Gustavo Santaolalla is simple and largely acoustic. There is melody but nothing to write home about.
Prateik as Munna is clearly the brightest actor in the film. His is also the sweetest role. His performance in only his second film is convincing even in tough scenes. His will be a career worth tracking. Aamir Khan as Arun could have shed more weight to portray a chain-smoking, tea drinking, finger food eating artist. He is passable in the acting department, restricting himself to grim and intense looks. Monica Dogra’s role as Shai is not well etched out for the viewer to understand more about her. Kriti Malhotra as Yasmin looks sweet but fails to do more for a degenerating character.
We are often tempted to brand what we don’t understand as intelligent or dumb. If you watch ‘Dhobi Ghat’ expecting a slice-of-life film, you will get it, although a less convincing version. If you are used to plot, structure and drama, stay away.