I am not sure if I should like the movie – Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries). Probably this movie is perfect and I don’t like perfection. Whatever it is, this is not a movie review. It is something else, so hang on.
An easy life - full of freedom – lot many chances to commit mistakes – repeat mistakes – enough space to learn - observe trivial stuff - kill time - don’t live for society – but society recognizes… What else you want?
Aamir Khan was a common actor. Like any other actor, he targeted audience with stereotypic loves-lusts-fights stories. But at some point of time, he stopped soothing society. Alternatively, he showed a new dimension towards art-but-no-art movies, or say rare-breed movies. If he did not compromise with those stereotype movies, he wouldn’t have succeeded and never got chance to make countertype movies. People may not have accepted both - movies and Aamir Khan.
Equally reputed actors don’t have this dissolution towards commercial movies. They are not ready to experiment. It needs guts and Aamir Khan has it. ‘Success is relative; it’s just a state of mind’. Success is not something society awards to individual. Instead success is something individual makes society to accept their actions.
Most of the people earn money for the sake of society. They get into loop of competition/ comparison and stay there forever. Handful of folks earns money to keep it as base for their passions. Being ignorant towards money and society is not easy, people are lame ahh…
‘Going deep takes us to VOID’. At the end we may not be sure, was it really worth to go that deep. Whatever we professed may be totally in vain and same with life. It is so simple and straight-forward, but still nobody takes life for granted.
Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai diaries) made me think philosophical. Arun is idiosyncratic character. Shai always feels from heart. Munna is innocent and never tried understanding world. Yasmin is one among commoners who are victims in general. Innocence is portrayed in each of these characters.
But none of these characters are my favorite. I liked the 5th character at most, ‘Mumbai’ personified as old-idle-lady sitting on the chair thro’ out the movie. May be you won’t accept this personification, but it doesn’t matter to me. She is awesome, just an observer, never involves in anything. People ooze their sorrows, plead, threaten, cry, laugh, scream and stir their emotions with the character. Fortunately “the character never responds and never reacts, but always accommodates”.
