FILM REVIEW OF DHOBI GHAT

There are a number of Hindi films made on a metro city and its life, some explore the monotony of daily life, some relationships and some focus on hardships required to cope up with the pace of the city. The directorial debut of Kiran Rao- “Dhobi Ghat” released in January 2010 received mixed reactions from people. Even though the film got extreme reaction of being loved by some and disliked by some, the movie definitely made a mark and showed that Bollywood is not just limited to song and dance.

 Interwoven with the hustle and bustle of the dream city Mumbai, Dhobi Ghat presents the story of four individuals. The 95-minute film portrayed the city of dreams Mumbai in a complete new light.

The characterization of all the protagonists- Arun, Munna, Shai and Yasmin is very well done. And though the four protagonists are starkly different, all of them are entwined with each other in some way. The loneliness of Yasmin whose video diary narrates her day-to-day routine, the aspiration of Munna to become an actor, a washer man in day and rat killer in night, the inquisitiveness of photographer Shai and the restlessness of artist Arun is very well portrayed in the movie.

Cinematographer Tushar Kanti has done a splendid job. And all the shots of the film just look like moving painting of the canvas and successfully depict the Mumbai city.

Beautifully composed shots aided by an evocative background score fit very well with the varied moods, from melancholy to delight. The background score is definitely one of the many reasons that swayed the cinema lovers to fall in love with the film.

As a whole, the film leaves us moved as its protagonists bond together as they journey through longing, loneliness, loss and love.

The Most Wonderful Time of My Life

I wrote this long time back (February' 2010), but I was scared that people will make fun of me, but now I don't care so just thought of posting it!

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF MY LIFE…….

The first time I laid eyes on her, I knew I was in love. As I climbed down after my evening Nemaz (pray) in my parking and approached the staircase my eyes met with sparkling green eyes. There she was, a beautiful cute kitten hiding under the staircase. That was the day I met my adorable cat.

My relationship with Meaow as I named her has always been intense. Initially we thought how we will keep this beautiful creature in a flat so we thought we will gift her to someone. But her beauty has awe stucked me and my sister so we changed the plan and decided to keep her. The first day she came with me to my place she was scared and shivering. I kept her in my lap and soon she slept. We were made to be together. And on that first night, she woke up in middle of the night and went to the book shelf cuddled herself there and slept again. Once she got adjusted to her new home, she was ready to play. Playing with thread, rope or anything hanging was her hobby. Her best game was playing with our small teddy, as I throw the toy from bed she would jump on it and bring it back to me and so on. She loved sleeping whenever she wants, she just cuddle herself in circular way and doze off. Whether she is playing, sleeping, walking in the narrow balcony boundary, or peeping from the balcony with us she was such a delight to watch.

I remember how she used to sit in the sun, with his nose between two bars of balcony, looking out so peacefully, often falling asleep. She used to come by my side sit in my lap and start licking herself as if she is so dirty and while doing so she used to lick my hands also.

Her gait, magical paws and twinkling eyes everything was just adorable and me and my sister were deeply in love with her. And she turned out to be he most pampered cat of the world.

Meaow was a cuddly cat. She loved showing affection. Whenever I used to return from my college she used to come running and I picked her like a baby on my shoulders and kiss her. My mother used to hate this because she thinks that kissing a cat is not hygienic but how can anyone resist such beautiful and affectionate cat from kissing.

When I’d be taking a bath, she would be sitting outside the bathroom door, waiting for me.. Many lovely winter afternoons, we’d sit in the balcony together; She would sit in her typical blue chair playing with me. After dinner when I used to do some work on my pc she used to sit on the mouse pad or the keyboard suggesting that I should retire for the sleep with her. My sister always wanted that meaow sleeps with her but she would wait for me so that she can sleep on my arm.

She was very gender biased so I used to call her feminist also, as whenever my brother or male friends used to visit my place she used to hide herself under the bed or behind the refrigerator. And as soon as they leave she used to come out of her confinement and run herself against my legs, one of her ways to show affection.

My cat didn’t even think she was a cat. She thought she was one of us, and she was. At family get together she would sit in the middle of the guests (that should be girls and ladies only) I remember carrying her like a baby around the house, and showing her sights from the balcony. In my lap she felt safe, and I felt loved.

She used to wag her tail when my sister would forcibly kiss her or wake her from sleep. Opening mumy’s sewing box was one of her fascination. She would silently take of one role of thread from the box and play with her thinking it is her mouse. Her everything was special.

A part of me has gone with you. You’ve taken my heart with you. Thank you for coming into our lives and teaching us how to love. You made me a better person. You will always be in my heart, giving me strength all my life. I know you are in a happy place now, and I can’t wait to be with again. I love u my Meaow!!

Films

Cocktail- not a new tale!

The best sentence to describe this film is- ‘old story in a new package’. I won't say this film is not worth watching, but it cannot be watched more than once. Claiming to be out-of-the-box/ coming-of-the-age film it failed on various grounds. 

The first and most important thing about the film is that it simply reinforced the fact that an Indian man cannot fall in love with woman who goes to bar and cannot keep her house clean. The first half of the film has a feel good factor- depicting fun and friendship among the three protagonists. 

There are many plots that unspool halfway through, leaving us with a random sequence of events. The changes-of-heart is not justified (and never explained) where Veronica falls in love with Gautam and Gautam falls in love with Meera. Audience keeps guessing why Gautam fall in love with Meera, it simply reinforce the stereotypical fact that a bad flirtatious guy will fall in love only with a seedhi-sadhi girl woman (Meera). In fact, the girl is worth being loved only if she keeps things in place, cook food and are loved by typical Aunties. 

However, I think Deepika has done justice with her role, Saif Ali Khan’s acting looks exaggerated and forced in lots of places and Diana definitely needs a lot of improvement.  

The sequence which I personally liked in terms of depiction is where these three friends/ lovers are in disc and suddenly Veronica realises she is not required, not wanted, not loved. And the play of lights and introspection of the character is well-shown. Her loneliness, need of companionship is depicted well.  

But as a whole, the film failed to depict anything new. The music is peppy, lively and gelled well with the film. As a whole I would just sum up to say- ‘old story in a new package’.