Mumbai Diaries (2010)

70% of critics liked it
(23 reviews)
69% of users liked it
(5,974 ratings)

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries) is the story of four people from very different backgrounds, whose worlds intersect and leave them forever altered. As they find themselves drawn into compelling relationships, the city finds its way into the crevices of their lives, separating them even as it brings them… More Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries) is the story of four people from very different backgrounds, whose worlds intersect and leave them forever altered. As they find themselves drawn into compelling relationships, the city finds its way into the crevices of their lives, separating them even as it brings them closer... Fragments of their experience - seen through a naïve video diary, black and white photographic images and painting - form a portrait of Mumbai and its people, bound together as they journey through longing, loneliness, loss and love. -- (C) UTV

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: Kiran Rao (II)
Written By: Kiran Rao (II)
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 21, 2011 Limited
On DVD: Mar 8, 2011
Studio: UTV Communications

Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The sex/class conflicts are way too twee.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
An odd amalgam of soap opera and street-level realism, with, alas, the former trumping the latter.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
[A] satisfying, well-acted drama.
Rachel Saltz, New York Times
Ms. Rao does have an ace up her sleeve, though: Prateik, who in his first lead role gives a nuanced, career-making performance.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
With its key settings in a crowded, largely decrepit, congested yet beguiling, picturesque older portion of this city of 14 million inhabitants, the film is like a rich tapestry in which are interwoven the intersecting lives of three people.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
Rao avoids high drama, and while there is humor, the film's tone is one of melancholy.
Jay Antani, Cinema Writer
a refreshing, well-meaning entry in India's new brand of globally savvy cinema, [which] augurs exciting things from [director] Rao and her peers
Simon Foster, sbs.com.au
Captured with the assuredness of a true auteur's vision and defying all known conventions of commercial Indian filmmaking, Dhobi Ghat will be a revelation to those that think sub-Continental cinema is just all song-and-dance.
David Noh, Film Journal International
What is undoubtedly a sincere attempt to present the contrasting lives in a roiling city unfortunately seems more of a facile vanity project for the principals involved.
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
Romance and regret woven in four strands of India's striving Muslims are slight against Mumbai's striking sights, but have poignant realism (especially Prateik's portrayal).
Tim Cogshell, Boxoffice Magazine
This is a wholly accessible story that most filmgoers will find pithy and generally well done.
Gregory Weinkauf, Huffington Post
Sleek, subtle, sensual, a very human time-capsule of now.
Michelle Orange, Movieline
Rao's ultimate achievements are undercut by the arrangement of her characters into narrative castes that cross paths but can't quite connect.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
An enthralling movie set in Bombay about the dreams and desires of four very different people.
, Total Film
Emotive and evocative, it's helped by Gustavo Santaolalla's (Babel) outstanding score.
Mike Goodridge, Screen International
A reflective portrait of contemporary Mumbai largely devoid of cliché or overt exoticism, the multiple storyline film presents its characters with a subtlety never seen in traditional Bollywood fare.
Nick Schager, Time Out New York
Addresses [its] weighty concerns with such delicacy that they barely make an impact.
Andrew Schenker, Slant Magazine
That Kiran Rao doesn't adequately interrogate her own relationship to her subjects means that Mumbai Diaries can't quite match its own ambitions

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cynthia S

Not your usual Bollywood fare. Slow moving, low key, but at the same time intriguing. Excellent acting. Excellent overlapping stories. A very artistic film, without being snobby and boring. Nice to see some Bollywood without all the singing, and dancing. Personaly, I would prefer a… More
Not your usual Bollywood fare. Slow moving, low key, but at the same time intriguing. Excellent acting. Excellent overlapping stories. A very artistic film, without being snobby and boring. Nice to see some Bollywood without all the singing, and dancing. Personaly, I would prefer a little more of this type.