‘Dhobi Ghat’ to disappoint hard core Aamir fans’: Kiran Rao

Hard core fans of Bollywood star Aamir Khan may be disappointed in ‘Dhobi Ghat’ (Mumbai Dairies), even though he is one of the characters in the film, because it is not a ‘regular’ commercial blockbuster, said its director Kiran Rao today.
The film, scheduled to be released on January 21, captures the growing relationship between a young washerman or ‘dhobi’ (Pratiek Babbar) and migrant girl (Kriti Malhotra). It is an art house film and not the ‘regular’ commercial blockbuster that Aamir Khan is now
associated with among fans.
”Keeping in mind Aamir’s universal and loyal fans, we felt it was important not to mislead them with misplaced expectations from the film. People who want to ‘consume’ the film as an Aamir Khan film may be disappointed. The film will have its own set of audience,” Kiran said here.
The film is not promoted as an Aamir Khan film, and he is not spearheading the promotions. Even in the film’s promos, Khan is shown as one of the four characters and does not monopolise the limelight, she said.
Though the total number of prints of the film is yet to be finalised, Kiran said she was confident of breaking even and recovering the cost.
Shooting for the film started in September 2008 and went on till January 2009, with an initial budget of Rs two crore. With Aamir coming on board, it did increase the budget to Rs five crore, but also strenghtened it.
”I couldn’t see a role for him (Khan) initially, but he insisted on being tested for a role, and he fitted perfectly. I don’t expect the film to have mass appeal. The plot points are unconventional and the characters are meshed — it is for people who go for sensitive films. But at least we’ll crack the mainstream cinema circuit. We have made the film on a feasible budget and that is the only way. Investors will get their money back, even if they might not even earn enough for a BMW,” Kiran said.
Kiran, who is married to Aamir Khan, further said although she drew inspiration from a whole range of directors from Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray to Debankar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, the old European Guard of filmmakers to Japanese and experimental filmmakers, she does not regularly watch films.