JOIN US'The film is a reflection of me'
The lady behind Bollywood’s most spoken person, has decided to speak out. And she has chosen the medium of film to convey her thoughts. Kiran Rao, Aamir Khan’s wife, is directing a film, Dhobi Ghat.
And the lady is sure choosier than her husband. Asked why it took so long to make a film, Kiran says she simply didn’t have anything to tell. “There was no story worth making a film. I can only tell stories that are meaningful to me,” Kiran told Metrolife.
Kiran dubs her directorial debut Dhobi Ghat as a reflection of the person that she is. She has attempted to discover and explore the many cities within the city of Mumbai through this film. “I explore the multiple identities of Mumbai in the film. The city of Mumbai means different things to different people. I have woven together these interpretations,” she says.
What about the title? “Oh, that’s just a metaphor,” she says. The Dhobi ghat is just one of the many locations in the movie. “The character who plays the dhobi connects the other characters in the film. He’s the backbone,” she says.
The movie has different characters, each armed with either a camera or a camcorder. “There are footages, videos and documentaries of the City in its varied colours and character. There are black and white pictures too,” she observes. There’s a young girl from America who lands in Mumbai to understand the City. “The film explores the relationship between the rich and the poor. We may live in the same city and travel by the same bus and use the same elevator but there’s something amiss,” she says.
Aamir Khan plays the character of a painter. Asked how it was working with Aamir, Kiran says, “I am fortunate to have had him as one of the central characters in the film. He’s a brilliant actor and can sublime into any character with elan,” she avers.
Kiran began working on the film in 2005. She then took a break to produce Tare Zameen Par and a few others films. She returned to work on the script in 2008 and has been at it since then. What does Mumbai mean to Kiran? “The City has made me who I am. I connect with the City instantly and there’s a certain aura about the place,” she says.
Kiran is never short of ideas but she’s not the one to jump in, scribble out a script and make a movie. She’s in no hurry. About her next movie, Kiran says that she’s got a couple of ideas in place but hasn’t managed to get anything on paper as yet.
“I have a flair for the arts. I like Indian classical music and I am absolutely in love with Kolkata, the City I grew up in. So maybe, I’d script a movie around either of these,” she sums up.