In Every frame, Dhobi Ghat reminds you of arthouse cinema stuff. Its more like a play or a painting which is supposed to be appreciated in a certain 'mood'. It has a very realxed pace and does not hurry in its narration. It just takes things easy. Story is compelling. Cinematography is brilliant. Background score could have been better. Narrative Slow. The director at a lot of places gave preference to the 'direction' rather than 'story telling' so sometimes, you feel that you are watching a movie which tries too hard to be an 'artwork'. Aamir Khan is there just to draw the numbers. Remove Aamir Khan and too much stress on the 'artyness' and you have a winner. Watchable if you appreciate slow narratives. To be honest, i had my doubts about the movie from the day i saw the first promo. I wasn't too impressed by it. Then, my facebook newsfeed was filled with 'Boring, Pathetic etc' type comments about the movie. So , i had some very low expectations. But the movie turned out pretty decent for me. I loved the simple storys. I think a maturer director and less emphasis on making a pseudo intellectual cinema, could have made it from good to brilliant. I just hope someone makes it again.
The plot revolves around 3 interconnected stories. One, where an loner artist Arun (Aamir Khan) shifts into a new house and he finds the earlier owner's camcorder discs in a daily diary form addressed to her brother telling him about her life in mumbai after she shifts here post her marriage. Second, an Investment Banker (yes, cliches are present here too) from US called Shy (Monica Dogra) comes to India on a sabbatical and meets Arun and falls for him. third, of a Dhobi called Munna (Prateik) who washes Arun's clothes, Meets Shy, become friends with her and then falls in love with her.
The best of the lot, both in terms of story as well as performance according to me was the most under-rated story/performance of Kriti Malhotra (who hardly gets a mention anywhere in the marketing too). Her monologues to the camcorder were so fresh that as soon as she goes off the screen you start waiting for her next video diary chapter. Aamir Khan was the most overrated and performs the worst according to me. It feels as if he has done this movie just because his wife directing it and he is also taken just to pull the audience to the theaters rather than character's demand. Prateik looks really cute in a couple of scenes. A couple of more films and you will have a 'Lambi Race ka Ghoda' in the Industry. Monica Dogra is good but there is nothing special that i could feel about her performance.
The film suffers on the Direction front. It screams, 'I am an artwork' in every frame. The director made it a too pseudo intellectual european cinema rip off at a lot of places, which according to me took away the soul of the movie. But makes an impact because of its Plot and its sweet-simple-ness. The background score although was good but i felt it could have been much better had an indian composed it. I think Kiran in her attempt to give it the 'International' marketing took away the could have been most important ingredient. Not a bad effort though for a first timer like Kiran Rao. I am sure she would come out with some brilliant stuff the next time
Overall: Definitely Watchable provided you don't mind the slow narrative and are in a relaxed mood to immerse into the 'experience'. Don't expect a thriller or a fast paced entertainer and you will not be disappointed. Not bad but not brilliant as well.
Feel-O-Meter: 7/10