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Reviews
Dhobi Ghat (2010)
The Movie with a hangover!
Mumbai. The movie is one flavor of this city left unexplored, reason: very very subtle and obvious at the same time! To clarify lest I am putting a wrong impression, this story is not about Mumbai, it is a story of people, from different backgrounds; intermingled, in this city.
Be it some young girl from a small town married to a middle-class, self- centered man- recently moved to Mumbai; or an artist, a painter, who seems socially inadequate and terms Mumbai to be his tawaif. A girl belonging to a rich family, yet working in America; and now on a sabbatical- is enjoying her love for photography. In a different yet coinciding world, somewhere in the slums of Mumbai, lives a young boy, a dhobi with a dream- "actor banne ka hai!" So, is he the hero of today's cinema of ours? Well, you see this movie and realize what is already known. Every individual is the hero of his\her own story.
Amidst the acting brilliances of the cast, the director Kiran Rao perfectly implants the heroics in their characters' lives. This is a movie that could potentially be better appreciated by a Mumbai admirer than just a Mumbaikar. More by a person who can connect to one of these characters' backgrounds naturally or by experience, and at the same time possess an understanding for the rest.
Arun(Aamir Khan) is a reputed painter, who prefers being solitary. And like an honest artist, imagines-believes-& lives the work.. his art. This character may remind you of Sid(Akshay Khanna in Dil Chahta Hai), but honestly, Aamir takes this act into a whole new level. Shifting to a flat with a location of the working-class Mumbai, he tries to give the social superstructure a skip. His 'exciting project' is what could give an enthusiastic man goosebumps! Again, the details; what an artist's eye sees, is a pleasure-watch in this movie.
Yasmeen(Kriti Malhotra), the small-town-girl, is an innocent soul who is trying to enjoy her lonesome life and adjust with her not-so interesting husband. Mumbai, the city, is her hope. And Arun finds this interesting. I think I'll leave her right here, SPOILER ALERT!
Shaair(Monica Dogra) and her interest in photography takes us to an all new adventure, with her new friend Munna(Prateik Babbar), the aforementioned dhobi. Uncanny relationship one might wonder, but Shaair's American-ness is the clear answer. Munna is the picture of a slum-dweller who works day-night, and has a dream; not the dream to be at the top, not a planned one kind: its 'a-common-man's-dream'.
As the story catches pace, the characters, all connected to one another, induct 'attraction' in one way or other. Arun's new painting takes shape upon the life of Yasmeen, where Munna and Shaair find themselves dazed and confused: because our mind doesn't have answers to all the questions posed by life at different levels, natural reactions aren't always the wisest ones. This would be the easiest way to sum up the movie's plot. This leaves the audience wondering till the end; and the hangover kicks in.
Being a music fan, must say- Oscar* winner Gustavo Santaolalla's Spanish guitaring is mesmerizing! Just completes what a perfect intellectual movie needs.
This movie is actually more beautiful than I can ever get with words, so if you like any part of what I say here, you shouldn't miss this one!
My Rating: 9/10
*Gustavo has received 2 Oscars for Best Original Score, for Babel and Brokeback Mountains!
Dum Maaro Dum (2011)
A cop-story against the Goan drug mafia!
What's comes to your mind when you think of Goa? Beaches, parties, hangovers.. Dumb Maaro Dumb starts with a hint of of all that and more – raves, drugs, sex and all that is associated with the mafia in the Goan region. The movie turns into a tale of bad-cop-turned-good; who is stubborn over uprooting the drugs-industry from the whole of Goa.
ACP Vishnu Kamath played by Abhishek Bachchan, lost his family in an accident; a car accident which was a result of a driver's drug abuse. This transforms his life and he sets out to transform Goa – his road to redemption. His biggest target is Lorsa Biscuta (Aditya Pancholi), who is the main connect to the foreign mafias, suppliers and the rave parties.
Meanwhile Lorry (Prateik) is a minor who is lured into carrying drugs to the US as his fees to a certain university is paid in return, gets caught by the police. This is when Joki (Rana Daggubati) takes centrestage, in order to save the innocent lad, and in turn deliver, what he couldn't to save hi ex-girlfriend Zoey (Bipasha Basu) from entering the illegal world. Thus the two men in redemption work together for the clean-up. And need I mention, truism in a suspense-thriller is not a great news!
Rohan Sippy does a fine job as a director, and sticks to his style as in Bluffmaster. But clearly the story of Dumb Maaro Dumb has nothing new to offer – owing to the mega 80s and 90s where a single cop was enough to ask for a super-hero. The difference lies in the theme, where drugs, raves and trance surface up. A bit more research in this field and proper exploitation of trance could have been something fresh; and also justified the use of the song(and title!) Dumb Maaro Dumb. Where Hare Rama Hare Krishna was a depiction of the Hippie culture of the 1970s, this movie tries to relate to the modern Trance era, but in the end is another cop story. Even Deepika Padukone's sensuous attempt falls flat in the Munni-Sheila-era. But the good direction, as it stays, was beautifully covered by the camera personnel. The colors used are perfect keeping in my mind the story and.. well, Goa! The movie does not rely on powerful duologue's alone, as has been the trend recently. Instead, intense scenes and heavy action are the dominant part.
The idea of "universal approach" given by Rohan Sippy is not totally baseless, but his claims – "Drug consumption is shown in films only when it is crucial for a script" should be hint of pure Indian-cinema-ness of the script, and the lack of naturality and adventure as much as the original is evident. But I'll accept, the movie is more about Dumb(power & action) than Dumb(drug injection)
The music used in this movie is highly ordinary not at all pertaining to the genre and theme(the expected one of course!) of this film. Having a musician(Joki) in the movie is an advantage though, and the song Ti Amo catches on a few lips as people exit the theaters. Sunidhi Chauhan's experiments and the 'potty' lyrics fail to pull off, being the worst expected in a Rave party!