Dhobi Ghat. Where dreams and reality merge.

Pratiek Babbar is delicious. I am sorry but this is what I need to start this with. And that shouldn't be a surprise. From all the trailers that I had watched so far, Pratiek had seemed the most intriguing and thankfully he completely lived up to the expectations.

As did the movie. It is pretty much as I had anticipated it to be. Arty. Intellectual. Understated. Subtle. Beautiful. Real and surreal at the same time. The only bit that I hadn't really bargained for was for it to be somewhat predictable.

Kiran Rao has done a commendable job. Starting from the characterization to the crispness of the film, to the simplicity and ease with which she has portrayed her story and of course the sound track. The sound track is what first caught my fancy. Its a track that confuses me a bit, intrigues me for sure and haunts too, but in an interesting kind of a way. It strikes an emotional chord but not the regular sentimental, pity, sympathy kind of a chord. Rather, it evokes a sense of purposelessness, you know the feeling you get when you know the way, you have the map and yet you feel like you're lost. Or maybe the feeling you go through when you are in the middle of a crowd, with people buzzing all around you and yet you feel alone, really alone and the realization neither depresses you nor does it excite you. Its just a realization. Its just a feeling. The feeling of "just".

Pratiek Babbar is a replica of Smita Patil and even more intense and mysterious, if possible. His eyes and his smile do all the work for him. Especially his smile; says a thousand words. He plays his character in a sort of a perfect manner - vulnerable but determined, young but mature for his age, the slumdog and a hero, not "but" a hero. Very well done. What else can I say for something that itself is so understated that using more words than these would almost be criminal.

Amir Khan of course is an enigma that only intensifies further in this movie. Once again its his eyes that I noticed. He has beautiful eyes. I always knew that but they were much more accentuated here. The artist look does his persona great justice. The dash of grey in his hair, his painter look, smoking almost like an amateur and his canvas - all put together form a fairly 'typical' picture but its somehow not a cliched image. And once again, 'you know what I mean'.

The two new women also come across as very genuine. I know I am being very biased here with words reserved only for the men. Pratiek is too delicious to think of anyone else.

The movie is not mind-blowing (because I already said its a bit predictable) but its definitely a must watch. It's pretty succinct story telling which is interesting. It doesn't try too hard, is not in your face, does not show the same old Mumbai with its over-abused "spirit" and the over-amused world-famous-in-mumbai slums. The movie neither shocks nor entertains, it neither depresses nor does it set you off on an existential tangent. Its just real. And its well rounded. Its subtle and its normal. Thats what it is, its normal.

And who else would feel it like that more than me! Especially the part where Shai feels this inexplicable bond with Arun for no apparent reason, where she is attracted to him and is drawn to his persona not because of any other reason but because in life, this happens. We don't always need reasons to feel a certain way about people we've just met, we don't always need to substantiate our feelings or even our thoughts. We don't need to conform just as we don't need to always stand out. That's probably what the movie too aims at telling us, at a level. Shai's intrigue with Arun, Arun's bond with Yasmin, Munna's justifiable attraction to Shai and Shai's confusing friendship with Munna - none of these are normal, neither are they abnormal. None of these bonds, these relationships, these instant connects make you question them. There is almost this natural understanding you feel within. Its nice. Refreshing.

And you know what else is really nice, really refreshing? Its Pratiek Babbar - really, he truly is very delicious!