Kiran Rao's Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries) has once again brought the lively city of Mumbai on to the big screen. She has said the film is her ode to a city she has lived in and loved for more than 15 years. We spoke to Rao and her husband, actor-producer Aamir Khan, about their hotspots in the city.
"I came from Kolkata to Mumbai when I was 18 and this is my home," Rao says. "One place I instinctively associate with is Mohammad Ali Road — one of my favourite areas in the city. My memories go back years when I spent days walking down the streets, going to Chor Bazaar and Minara Masjid, and the food, especially during Ramadan," says Rao.
"The sea, however, is a very important part of the city. The Girgaon beach, also seen in the film, even if it's clichéd, is one of the most beautiful views of Mumbai, with the city wrapping itself around the bay. Oval maidan with its Art Deco buildings on one side and the Victorian Mumbai High Court and Raja Bhai clock tower (which is my favourite building in the city) on the other side are my third-most favourite areas in the city".
Happy times
My happiest memories are of when I was studying in college, of times when my friends and I would take a bus to the Fort area to buy books from second-hand booksellers and eat perus (guavas) and peanuts because we couldn't afford much more. Sitting by the sea has been my favourite pastime since I was a first-timer in Mumbai.
"I'm trying to think of something not really nice but I think I have several unhappy moments when I feel the pressure on life that the city puts, such as the traffic, people's lack of consideration — especially when you pass the slums beside the Eastern Express Highway and you realise there are vast areas with no sanitation and people are forced to live in such conditions. These are the things that make me unhappy in Mumbai."
Khan's favourite places are Bandra and Dadar. "I've lived all my life in Bandra — I'm totally a Bandra Boy. The whole area, including Pali Hill and Carter Road, is full of memories. The other is Dadar, where I spent a lot of my childhood days at my maternal cousins' place. They lived just opposite the Dadar station."
— With inputs from Andrea Bailey/UAE-based freelance writer
