The debutante director Kiran Rao is impressive with Mumbai Diaries which seems more apt an title than Dhobi Ghat. For any other debutante director the critics would have easily applauded but thanks to Aamir Khan's presumed mentor like presence the test will be more severe. This bilingual film doesn't even feel odd like some films do, the characters that speak the language belong to it.
But one casting question? What happened to Aamir? He is quite visible shaken, floundering through the role and you can almost see the preoccupation, "should I walk out of this now?" No the doubt is not over the content of the film, Aamir had has a long-stay enough to realise it is a goldmine. But what bothers him is the old Bollywood adage of "keeping to your image." Aamir seems to be worried of his audience, of what they might think of their "hero" once he has played Arun. Perhaps to calm his nerves Kiran Rao made it very clear not to expect an Aamir Khan movie so the detracters could basically steer clear, but this is post-production.
Perhaps one thing that holds him back is the very primary basis of the character. The character just seems like a mundane flawed character. In the sense Bollywood heroes have learnt to take risk by playing grey shades, but that is basically preparing you for standing ovation, you are not supposed to take it seriously. Why is the character "grey"? The answer is not in the character's mental make-up of white-black-grey shades of thoughts co-existing, where only a slight provocation has the person tilted, to take on his black/grey side. No, when the Bollywood hero plays a grey shade, the white in the grey comes from the actor's own previous work. That had Aamir in a fix, the character is almost negligible, colourless, where drama is concerned, as such he has no qualms about the one-night-stand, the man's professional stance is dicey too, he already has a relationship with his agent Vatsala that is far from being either a love affair or a platonic relation. He even moves on to his next muse really easily. And when he meets Shai for the next time there is no sign of guilt or regret only a very crisp apology.
What has Aamir worried is no one even seems to care, much less judge? There is no moral stand absolutely. As a person, there is no backstory for the character, no explanation about the divorce and the custody of the child seems to be with his mother. Did it end due to just another case of random adultery? So in a way it is possible Arun finds atonement by mourning for Yasmeen, feeling the pain, why else would somebody else's life leave such a remarkable impression on a person. The atonement is mourning for her like a husband or companion must.
But this is also the point in the film where Aamir seems to have found a grip on the role. Perhaps because here finally is a more marked territory. He is a hero who has come to the refuge of a victim. Aamir has actually reached a point in his career where he shouldn't get carried away by audience reaction. Doesn't he do a Ghajini once in a while to get it out of his system? And to be honest Aamir himself has set the mark very high, so it basically makes you cringe to watch him lose conviction due to such factors. Basically audience also tend to have an instinct about which kind of movie is their movie and they have matured enough to know that their heroes do need to switch on to being artists once in a while. And as an artist himself and an actor he should know that our composed exteriors are a lot of hardwork, tedious act, basically we are all fumbling to ecstacy.
Prateik seems so much at home in Dhobi ghat, you may be willing to believe that acting may be in the genes. He is just as comfortable playing a dhobi as he was playing the reclusive-arty types in his debut film.
At Toronto International Film Festival, Aamir on why he fell in love with his wife all over again!
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