Dhobi Ghat

Cast: Prateik Babbar, Amir Khan, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra; Music: Gustavo Santaolalla; Direction: Kiran Rao

Dhobi Ghat reminds you of those French New Wave-inspired Hollywood films. A Requiem for a Dream here, an Everything Put Together there, and none of them in the intention of impersonating or feeling superior but, of creating a cleanest possible movie. The chosen model works big time. The quietness of the film is as calming to the senses as Kiran Rao had intended. Every frame recites a poem, just as Rao had planned. The silent moments of the lonesome painter looking through the window at the rainy Mumbai is so thoroughly satisfying that you don’t realise you’re actually watching a movie. Here’s a film where nothing much happens, at least not in the era of today’s Final Cut Pro obsessed directors: If a single frame stays on the screen more than three seconds, it’s considered a slow film. Viewers impatiently pick up their mobile and start fiddling around. If a single second goes by without background music, people start walking out of the cinema.

In Dhobi Ghat, some of the frames last as long as 10 seconds, and they end without any development. The music is by Gustavo Santaolalla, who has such an impressive CV with names such as Amores Perros and Motorcycle Diaries. Yet, metres of film reel pass by without any music. I didn’t care. For every such scene I was ever more thankful to Kiran Rao for respecting my senses, for calming me, and demonstrating that an interesting movie doesn’t have to be edited like MTV music video, nor should have someone constantly shouting at your ears. Dhobi Ghat is not just the most interesting movie of that year. But the most satisfying one too. If you were bored even in one scene, let me know.