Home / Arts and Entertainment / Filmmaker Kiran Rao Reflects on Capturing Mumbai's Chaos and Charm in Debut Film
Filmmaker Kiran Rao Reflects on Capturing Mumbai's Chaos and Charm in Debut Film
4 Nov, 2025
Summary
- Kiran Rao's debut film Dhobi Ghat explored Mumbai's diverse and layered urban landscape
- Rao drew inspiration from her early days as a student in the city, observing its "life of the mind and life of labour"
- The filmmaker aimed to tell Mumbai's story through four different perspectives and visual styles
In November 2025, acclaimed filmmaker Kiran Rao reflected on the making of her debut film Dhobi Ghat: Mumbai Diaries, which explored the diverse and layered urban landscape of India's financial capital. Rao, who first came to Mumbai as a student, shared how she aimed to capture the city's unique pulse and energy in her 2011 film.
"When I was writing it, I was trying to say how does one actually write the story of a city that is so diverse and heterogeneous," Rao explained. She noted that unlike the vertical divisions in Delhi, Mumbai's different elements are "sort of layered one on top of the other," with "overlaps and intersections that you can't avoid."
