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Dhobi Ghat
Critic reviews and ratings
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...will make you realise that there indeed have been very few debuts as stunning as this one.
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...is like that rich tapestried melody whose metre and rhythm you cannot ever forget even though the lines may be forgotten.
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Some directors use sledgehammers to make their point. Others use a scalpel. Well, welcome the scalpel.
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...an imposing and vibrant cinematic portrait, appending itself to the new wave of independent Indian cinema which I am extremely pleased to applaud.
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...it's a moody painting that will entice you to linger and stare and stay with you forever. Either ways it's made of the stuff that makes life what it is. Down to the last intriguing detail.
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Forget the rangy big points. It’s the sculpted small-moment that marks this elegant elegy to Mumbai.
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...is intelligent and artistic cinema.
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It's different, it's sincere, it's inconclusive, it's abstract in its own way. It's intriguing and it leaves you dissatisfied.
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This film is first-rate tribute; it's visceral...
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Unusual, but definitely worth watching, it is mature, open-minded and thought-provoking.
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A rare Indian film which has the feel of European and other Asian cinemas, and yet is firmly grounded in the realities of Mumbai.
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Kiran Rao's directorial debut is immersing, throbbing and full of life. Don't expect a commercial entertainer, this isn't one.
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Kiran Rao has tried to be as realistic as possible, and that's the USP of the film. Her choice of subject and handling is one of the reasons that makes this film watchable.
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The direction of Kiran Rao is nothing short of an achievement for a first timer. Kiran is able to convey the aspirations, dreams and emotions of the protagonists in a very convincing manner through her guerilla style of shooting the sequences.
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...is an acquired taste. Either the film will sink into your skin like a slow ache or it will be bewildering and downright boring.
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If you have an open mind and an appetite for the experimental, take a bite out of this one.
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The city of great texture and matching indifference is poignantly captured by Kiran Rao in a sparkling debut.
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...is surely a different and brave step in Indian cinema; but not exactly a pleasing one.
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...is disappointing and does not move you. It starts off as an off-beat film but becomes unnecessarily dramatic in the end.
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...a strangely uneven film. Its beginning feels amateurishly put together ; as it heads onwards, though, it finds an easy, flowing rhythm with just the occasional stutter.
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...is uneven, particularly in the writing. It's neither totally impressive nor totally dismissable.
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The mood is overwhelmingly wistful, as if Rao were saying that heartbreak is the only way to go in Mumbai.
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Kiran Rao does enough in Dhobi Ghat to warrant an expectation fueled second look. Though had she shown a little more courage by going deeper into the cross-cultural undercurrents, which she seems fairly capable of, she could have come up with a winner instead of a middling effort.
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...a middling debut, watchable due to its nuances but simply not interesting enough to recommend. Yet Rao seems assured of her craft, and worth looking out for in the future.
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The traditional Indian audience may not find favour in Dhobi Ghat, may be only a niche few. For entertainment or emotional stimulation look elsewhere.
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...strictly remains an art house film with limited appeal, and its subtitle, Mumbai Diaries, captures the genre of the film correctly.
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