Comments on: 2011 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Who’s in?

By: Neil Bhatt

Neil Bhatt — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 10:01:29 +0000

Dhobhi ghat was mostly fantastic, with the exception of a few wooden scenes in the beginning that made me wince. Indian movies don’t do one-night-stands well. Prateik Babbar is AMAZING…hope to see more great stuff coming from him soon. Amir Khan, though I love him, was uneven in his performance. Also, the weird misanthropy of his character, the painter Arun, seems to come out of nowhere, and could’ve been developed more. Honestly though, I was completely hooked. I don’t want to give too much away but I loved how in the end I was thinking, “oh shit, they’re going to ruin it” but then, I was pleasantly surprised by a very non-cliche, satisfying conclusion. I was slightly miffed at the lukewarm critical response to this movie on metacritic. I feel like some of the criticisms leveled at Dobhi Ghat are invalid-the critics don’t really “get it.” I wish I could be more specific without ruining the plot. Maybe others who’ve seen it feel the same way? As far as city-tribute-movies go, Dobhi Ghat is quality-almost on par with Lost in Translation, though arguably better because we seamlessly get the native’s perspective as well as that of the outsider.

My name is Kalam looks excellent as well, hope to see it sometime soon.

By: Pavani

Pavani — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:09:43 +0000

Thirding Dhobi Ghat (can’t speak from experience for the others). I wasn’t too excited about going to see it, just went with someone who was and hoped we would stop at Samosa House nearby so I could try soy chicken tikka. But by the end of the movie I was a fan of Prateik Babbar, who it turns out is the son of an 80s movie star named Smita Patil. Pretty cool to see Shaa’ir of Shaa’ir and Func in it too.

By: Amrita2

Amrita2 — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:24:41 +0000

Not sure I need to see this. I know he’s going to say- “Cardboard? No! Delicious? Yes!

By: Yo Dad

Yo Dad — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:18:37 +0000

Abhi: It’s about time you come out of your winter hybernation ! look around the spring Cherry Blossoms are here. We have seen Peepli Live, and Dhobi Ghaat. They were both nice, although former IMHO better than the latter. They should have also included “Dharam” and “Amu”. These two are real classic and worth the time spent watching.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:11:31 +0000

I've seen Udaan, Dhobi Ghat, and Band Baaja Baarat. Local video store hasn't received Peepli Live, which I really want to see, and their copy of Endhiran turned out to be a grainy, washed-out pirate copy, which I refused to watch.

Udaan was well-done, but slow and so depressing that I could barely watch to the end.

Dhobi Ghat was self-consciously film-school non-commercial BUT extremely well-done. Good acting and exquisite production values. I didn't mind having Aamir in the movie. He played a well-known artist who attracted a groupie ... no unfamiliar situation to him in real life, I'm sure, and his solidity, his self-assurance, were right for the role. Prateik Babbar was brilliant, as were the two actresses, whose names escape me at the moment. The film has stuck with me. Don't miss this one. (Yes, there have been some bad reviews, but I didn't see what the reviewers saw.)

Band Baaja Baarat. Yash Raj fluff. Utterly commercial and derivative. Quite entertaining, if you accept it on its own terms. Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh are hotties, and the big dance number, Dum Dum Mast Hai, showcases every twitch of agile hip. There's a sex scene that is unusually explicit for Bollywood ... and well-directed and acted as well. You see Ranveer, as Bittoo, waking up to possible unpleasant consequences of the impulsive encounter.