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Hira

@friends_rock

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+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#11

Ghajini Review

Ghajini is an out and out revenge saga. But the director has tried to amalgamate the riveting revenge story with a soft romance between the two protagonists, Sanjay and Kalpana, played by Aamir Khan and Asin.

Sanjay Singhania is a very rich man with a flourishing business. One fine day, in order to promote his venture, he decides to display a board on Kalpana's roof top, much to her anger. Sanjay's business manager comes and requests Kalpana to allow them to display the board. She rejects the offer. But her commercial director (she works as an extra in the advertising world) overhears the conversation and presumes that Asin has refused Sanjay's love offer. How he tells her to accept the offer and how the intriguing romance blossoms between Kalpana and Sanjay form the crux of the story.

But the violent murder of his girlfriend sets off an acute short term memory loss in Sanjay. How he works around the handicap to reach her murderers is the rest of the story. Hindi movies have often depicted people suffering from memory loss, but in Ghajini the protagonist recalls events only for 15 minutes. And the manner in which he works to regain his memory has been depicted meticulously and very differently. He keeps writing the time, name and dates of clues about the killers as when he remembers them. He also carries a Polaroid to keep him updated in case he forgets.

The film is three hours long and the good versus evil theme is something we've seen many a time in Bollywood films, but each scene of the film is so gripping that never once do we feel bored. The story has been told in such a novel way with so many twists and turns that it keeps the audiences on the edge of their seats guessing what would come up next.

Director AR Murugadoss has tried to de-route Ghajini when compared to the Tamil version. The climax is different from the original. He cleverly weaves in the past and the present.

Performance wise, this is completely an Aamir Khan movie. He has done a brilliant job as usual. He hardly talks. It's his facial expressions and body language that do all the talking. His leading lady Asin has put up a sterling performance, so has the villain, Pradeep Singh Rawat.

Ravi Chandran's cinematography is excellent and AR Rahman's music is top-notch.

All in all Ghajini is a refreshing change. The film does not have a happy ending as both lovers do not get united in the end. Although this concept has never been approved by the Indian audiences, but Ghajini is sure to change that for the sheer brilliance of the movie. To sum up, Ghajini has everything to turn it a blockbuster hit. This one's a must watch!

http://www.aol.in/bollywood-story/ghajini-...403169019000001

3 1/2 stars.

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Hira

@friends_rock

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#12

Ghajini review: Intelligent, fresh; Aamir sets high standards

Film: Ghajini

Director: A.R. Murgadoss

Producer: Allu Arvind, Tagore Madhu, Madhu Mantena

Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan, Pradeep Rawat

Rating: 4/5

Intelligent, violent and packed with a freshness that Hindi cinema hasn't seen in a long time is what Ghajini offers. At the outset it is important to clarify that Ghajini is as similar as Memento as Novo is to the same film. That is to say that yes the idea of short term memory loss is similar, as is the fact that the character remembers only a few minutes of his life, but the manner in which this concept is executed has nothing similar to Memento.

It's Aamir Khan all the way and that's who you should be laying eyes on throughout the film. Ghajini follows Khan's character Sanjay Singhania through his turbulent past and his violent present. Rich, famous and totally in love is what Sanjay was, before a violent incident caused him to remember all but 15 minutes of his life. Entrapped in those 15 minutes is the loss of his love Kalpana (Asin), her killer and the reason for his condition - Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat).

Out to seek revenge is what Sanjay puts his life towards. But with strong memory as his enemy, Sanjay is left to seek revenge using all but pictures and memos. Somewhere down the line enters Sunita (Jiah Khan), who initially fears Sanjay but then having learnt the truth, is set out to help him. Alternating between a half remembered past and a revengeful present, Sanjay lives, breathes and sleeps only seeking to avenge his love's death.

One of the main reasons Ghajini works is because despite the rather intricately woven story, Ghajini is simple to understand. Even the characters are fairly simple to comprehend and look their part. So in essence you pretty much don't have to break your head trying to figure out who is who. Almost old school of types, Ghajini has the quintessential love story, villain and the aid; yet these are used...ingeniously through the film. Yes it does take you into a tangent establishing the love filled relationship between Khan and Asin, but unlike many films where flashbacks do nothing for the film itself, this one actually aids in building the character and adding intensity to them. Having seen Sanjay's past life, you see reason for his current actions. The film at no point justifies the actions but it does give you reason to go with the flow.

Even the manner in which the dialogues are written amplify the feelings and the actions of the character. Kudos to the makers for understanding the characters and not infusing forceful humour just to give the film some added appeal. The film in a sense is complete and though the length is a tad bit long, not once do you cry in exasperation. In fact, you just don't have the time to even lay your eyes off the screen. Barring two moments where the film does see a lull, the entire film flows cohesively. Ghajini is linear and honestly if it were any other way, chances are you just wouldn't enjoy it. It is this understanding of the art that needs to be credited. The film has action, romance and intelligence; in every sense is a complete entertainer.

The film though brilliant to look at and slick, does have a few areas that aren't wow. When you look at the environment of a film it is created to covey an emotion or a feeling. No doubt Ghajini in its setting does that, but instances where space could have played a crucial role in making you feel claustrophobic or could have gripped you harder and stronger, are not done. The film has been edited superbly and there is no doubt in that, the finesse is for everyone to see. The camera captures each scene with great precision and what you see on screen is rave worthy. However all said and done there are a few instances where you see what is on screen as pure indulgence and nothing more. The songs and actions sequences are extremely well choreographed and are worthy a watch.

When it comes to performances Aamir Khan blows you away! It is difficultto imagine another actor carry this off. He carries the entire film on his shoulders and enacts his character with such flair, sheer brilliance. Asin, who enters the Hindi film industry with Ghajini, is certainly poised for greater heights. She is charming, bubbly and a great actor. She too has put in a great performance. On the other hand, Jiah Khan, who gave a fantastic performance in her debut film Nishabd, doesn't quite do a great job. She looks the part but fails to act it. Rawat is convincing as the villain no doubt, but again to a great extent lives the character like a stereotyped villain. There was nothing new that he brought to the table and only the age old Bollywood villain was rediscovered.

There is no good or right way to put it. Ghajini is certainly a film that you just have to watch. It's this fantastic action thriller that comes only once and needs to be seen to be believed. Go see Sanjay Singhania, he'll teach you a thing or too about revenge.

http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=11268&page=3

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Hira

@friends_rock

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#13

REVIEW: GHAJINI

Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan

Director: AR Murugadoss

Music: AR Rahman

Anupama Chopra, Consulting Editor, Films, NDTV

At the recently held Indian Screenwriters' Conference in Mumbai, writer-director Abbas Tyrewala lamented the lack of villains in Bollywood. He said that clearly defined villains used to be our staple diet.

This was true until sometime in the mid-1990s, when happy smiling families and yuppies in designer clothes took over. Well, I'm happy to report that the villain is back.

Ghajini, played ferociously by Pradeep Singh Rawat, is the kind of villain who wears thick gold chains and rings on every finger. He is defiantly brutal - he runs a pharmaceutical company but for reasons never explained, he likes to smash iron rods into human heads and forces young girls into both prostitution and organ trade.

He has one gold tooth, wears shiny white shoes and keeps a posse of henchmen so ugly that they look like they were airlifted from Ram Gopal Varma's last film. And of course Ghajini routinely drops lines like: aise marenge ki uska nakhun bhi nahi milega and my personal favourite: short-term memory loss patient mujhe kya yaad dilaayega.

Ghajini, director A R Murugadoss's remake of his Tamil blockbuster, is a throw back to what Hindi films used to be: a three hour extravaganza of romance, comedy, action, set-piece songs and drama.

It's a standard revenge film given a fresh twist with a dash of Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed Memento. Like that film, the protagonist here, Sanjay Singhania played by Aamir Khan, is hit on the head and suffers from short-term memory loss. He cannot remember anything for more than 15 minutes.

So, he tattoos his body with instructions: the most important one being that his girlfriend Kalpana was murdered, and he must find the murderer and kill him. The film is riddled with logical loopholes but Murugadoss, who also wrote it, doesn't give you enough time to think about them.

So, you never ask how Sanjay, the fabulously wealthy owner of a cellphone company, conducts a lengthy romance with Kalpana, played by debutant Asin, pretending to be an ordinary man? Or why Ghajini, a master-thug and expert killer, doesn't have a gun when he needs it the most? Or why the key conflict, which leads to Kalpana's death, is such a random imposition on the script?

Instead, you are caught up in the mystery of how a superbly stylish businessman becomes a killing machine who routinely cracks necks and in his introduction scene, plunges a broken tap into a man's stomach. Ghajini isn't for the faint-hearted. The violence is gory and elemental. The climax is pure man-on-man combat with lots of crunching bones.

For Aamir, Ghajini is a 360 degree turn from the sensitive teacher he played in Taare Zameen Par. With a buffed up, eight-pack body, here he is a brutal killer in a murderous rage. Watch him as he explodes with grief and then just as quickly forgets it. It's a memorable performance indeed.

Thankfully Asin is less animated than she was in the Tamil version. Some of their romantic scenes, and particularly her death are nicely done.

Ghajini isn't a great film or even a very good one but I recommend that you see it. It is, as we used to say in the old days, paisa vasool

http://movies.ndtv.com/reviews.asp?lang=hindi&id=368&moviename=ghajini

Edited by friends_rock - 16 years ago

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Hira

@friends_rock

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#14

Movie Review: Ghajini

December 24th, 2008

Review: Ghajini; Star Cast: Aamir Khan, introducing Asin, Jiah Ali Khan and Pradeep Rawat; Director: A.R. Murugadoss; Rating: 3.5 out of 5* - Not meant for the faint hearted

Sanjay Singhania (Aamir) after being hit on head suffers from a short term memory loss. He cannot recollect anything beyond 15 minutes. He has various phone numbers and names tattooed on his body all hinting at one thing, seek revenge for the murder of his girlfriend, Kalpana (Asin). The only clue he has is the name that he remembers his dying girlfriend uttered in his ears - Ghajini. What obstacles Sanjay encounters in his hunt for Ghajini forms the rest of the film.

The film is a perfect masala film, a revenge thriller, a genre which was very popular in the 80s. But what sets the film apart from a typical pot boiler is the way the screenplay has been structured, oscillating between flashbacks and present time. There is also a good balance of romance, suspense, action and comedy. Plus the biggest asset ' Aamir Khan! The story has two major flashbacks, but unlike many films where flashbacks do nothing for the film itself, this one actually aids in building the character and adding intensity to them. Having seen Sanjay's past life, you see reason for his current actions. The film at no point justifies the actions but it does give you reason to go with the flow.

Murugados's direction is terrific and the master story teller that he is, he just doesn't give the audience a moment to think even in 180 minutes running time film. Technically it definitely stands amongst the best films of 2008. Superb editing (Anthony), excellent camerawork (Ravi K Chandran) and amazing sound design (Resul) take the film to an altogether different level. The action by Peter Hains and Stunt Shiva keeps you on the edge of your seat. But some action sequences have turned out a bit too gory and not meant for the faint hearted. But with Aamir giving his everything all out in them they end up being a treat to watch. A.R. Rahman's melodies are a treat to watch onscreen having been excellently picturised. Also, none of the songs hamper the proceedings.

Amongst the sequences that stand out are Aamir's first encounter with Asin, Aamir visiting Asin's boss's party, Aamir's outburst in the hospital, Asin's murder sequence and of course the action packed climax where Aamir for a moment forgets what he is fighting for when he comes face to face with the villain!

In an author backed role, Aamir has outperformed himself, making us fall short of words in his praise. He is not only utterly convincing as a killing machine but he is extremely loveable in the romantic comedy sequences with Asin. South starlet Asin in her Bollywood debut leaves a lasting impression. Jiah though fits the part somehow pales in comparison to Asin. Her accented Hindi irritates. Pradeep Rawat brings back to Bollywood, the true villain that was missing since long time. He is menacingly good.

Ghajini does live up to the hype it has generated and is a must watch for Aamir Khan fans and also for debutante Asin and the latest addition to talented filmmakers of Bollywood, director A.R. Murugadoss.

-Abhijit Mhamunkar (Sampurn Media)

http://www.realbollywood.com/news/2008/12/movie-review-ghajini.html

Edited by friends_rock - 16 years ago

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melancholic

@melancholic

Dazzler

Posted: 16 years ago

#15

yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy i m sooo happy :)

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Hira

@friends_rock

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#16

Review: 'Ghajini' is Aamir's career-best performance!

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai, Dec 24: Aamir Khan always manages to drop a blockbuster in nick of time. Last year it was 'Taare Zameen Par', and this time it is this year's much awaited Christmas release 'Ghajini, which is sure to spell-bound the audience.

The film which was being repeatedly delayed due to certain unforeseen circumstances – Aamir's accident, legal hassles – has managed to 'rise and shine' this festive eve. This film is being seen as Aamir Khan's career best performance. The Tamil version was a massive hit but the Hindi remake is a stupendous work. It is being touted as 'never-seen-before' experience. Ghajini, a revenge saga, has a riveting storyline but adding to the plot is powerful treatment, mind-blowing performances and superb music. Aamir does not speak much, (Asin does most of the talking) but his body language says it all. Agreed, the film is long but it grips in every frame. Agreed that the film is full of violence but the violence is justified and one feels elated when Aamir's character is avenged.

Director AR Murugadoss, surpasses his earlier work - the Tamil version of the film. He moulds the film sequences with such finesse that viewers cannot help holding their breaths. Cinematography is stunning and the treatment is very contemporary and stylish.

The director, AR Murugadoss succeeds to keep up the suspense throughout the film. The film revolves around Aamir's character Sanjay Singhania, who has a sad past and a violent present. In the past, Sanjay was rich, succesful, famous and loved a girl, Kalpana (Asin) dearly. But in a violent incident, he loses her and undegoes a break-down. He forgets everything else but the violent incident, which lasted 15 minutes.

And then begins his journey of brutal vendetta against the killers.

Sanjay seeks revenge through pictures and memos and tattoos on his chiseled body. He meets Sunita (Jiah Khan), who initially fears him but then having learnt the truth, sets out to help him. The narration goes back and forth several times, before Sanjay Singhania looses his memory and after.

After Shah Rukh's Surinder Sahni act, it is Aamir's Sanjay Singhania, who is to rule the psyche of viewers. A winner for sure. Four cheers!

http://www.zeenews.com/Entertainment/2008-12-25/493693news.html

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Hira

@friends_rock

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#17

Memento over masala

Source- MumbaiMirror

A still from Ghajini

Asin plays the Mehmood of Ghajini. She's there to make you laugh. A small-time model, she poses as girlfriend to one Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), a telecom company's head-honcho. I'm not certain how this should help her push her modeling career forward. It does. Instantly she becomes a star in her circuit. Wannabes line up around her, just so she can recommend their names for a chaddi or baniyan ad. One of them she assumes to be a newbie model looking for help is Sanjay Singhania himself. Such is the way the two fall in love.

Singhania drives around in a convoy of black Mercs and BMW's among an army of assistants. He still remains humility personified. At a speech to his executives he says, "Confidence is when you think you can do something. Arrogance is when you believe no one else can." Singhania woos the lower middle-class heroine as a poor commoner. He never reveals to her his true identity. It's all fairly sweet actually. There is a problem when you constantly look forward to this love-story over a narrative on a person's short-term memory loss, which is truly the substance of this film.

On that subject, a typically mainstream southern sensibility is in fact the other Mehmood of Ghajini. Crazy close-ups (Ravi Chandran), a jarring background-score and sound-effects that over-inform every scene (A R Rahman), and over-the-top villains ('70s goons) won't make you laugh though. The dingy experience, but for a few crackling sequences here and there, is an unrelenting assault on your senses. This could be true for all South Indian actioners. Just that this one also comes with a supposedly engaging story-line. This is a remake of a Tamil film of the same name. Maybe the script could've been handed over to a director of another school for a less corny perspective. Mr Murugadoss is merely on masala over-dose. The closed theatre unbearably reeks of an Indian kitchen. It doesn't help the film-rolls are a ghaj (3-hours-plus) too long.

As you'd imagine, the most furiously promoted picture of the year opens with six-pack Singhania with names and numbers etched on his taut body. He suffers from what they call ante-retrograde amnesia, or a severe short-term memory loss. He cannot remember anything for more than 15 minutes. He pieces his life together into notes and Polaroid pictures. You could amusingly wonder each time he recollects the previous 15 minutes, does he also not forget that he suffers from a short-term memory loss? But that's a tricky question one could ask Christopher Nolan, the director of Memento as well. Beside the premise, this isn't Nolan's film. Memento was made to at once dazzle and confuse you with a back and forth movement of the film's scattered narrative. That unique device was its only practical purpose. Ghajini is a simplified, linear story.

Singhania is after his girlfriend's killer, who goes by the name of this film. Aamir, in this character of an amnesic rotund ball of muscles, instantly reminds you of Kamal Hassan's alter-ego in the junkie-fantasy Abhay. In case, you haven't watched that flick, it was, in the words of Kamal Hassan, a Tarantino movie even before Tarantino made it. It's just not clear how Singhania, the suit, upon losing memory, also develops tremendously superior physical powers.

But that's a question you may not ask in this po*nography of violence. You just sit and watch the hero whack the backsides out of the baddies one after another, and scare the living daylights out of a medical student (Jiah Khan) who wants to research him as a subject. Aamir could at best bag for his own role quite a few popular movie awards that he wouldn't attend next year. Despite the heavy hammering from the screen, this film doesn't suit my own short-term memory too well.

Edited by friends_rock - 16 years ago

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Zareena

@Zareena

Stunner

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#18

Ghajini
Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Hammers, Water Taps, Ketchup
Direction: AR Murugadoss
Rating: **
Zip, zap. Hold on to your cap, a rusted water tap is about to be plunged deep into a lap. And whoa, the ear-deafening back-grind music breaks into reggae-'n'-rap. Nope, no bodily part is safe out here, you're brain-bashed till you feel like a pumpkin. Smashed.

Welcome to Blood Nagram or Ghajini, re-directed by AR Murugadoss from his Tamil hit which was borrowed from Memento.

Never mind. Snag: this LOUD (how the Dolby speakers quaked), far-fetched and predictable three-hour vendetta marathon is dignified by the omnipresence of Aamir Khan. Investigations indicate that he went through the method route of building a Stallone-body. So what if that suits him as much as crushed dupattas would suit Sunny Deol or Sanjay Dutt? Still, Khan is the best element on display even if you have to suspend your sense of disbelief as he punches the world's heftiest bozos into pineapple crush. Fresh.

Over, then, to the extra-muscular cell phone entrepreneur Sanjay Singhania (Khan in rolled up sleeves even in boardrooms).

Frequently, the screenplay leaves you mystified about what the heaven or hell is going on and yawn. A medical college professor (Anjum Rajaballi who screen writes on better-pen days) talks solemnly. Prof knows all about the Muscular Man
Freak Case who was hit with a 100 kilo-iron rod, became a pod and now suffers from short-term memory loss. Seriously.

A 15-minute attention span is cited for some reason. Medical treason? Anyway (lots of anyways here), Professor has Pod's entire file, phone number, height, skyscraper address but whenever something murderous happens, everyone from ineffectual cops to baddies about as menacing as panda bears, look for clues to our Poddy's whereabouts. Huh duh, that sort of stuff.

Super Bad Panda (Pradeep Rawat), flashing a gold tooth, is actually named Ghajini. Even dear Gabbar wasn't accorded a title of his own. Note please: Fizzy Book of Records. Super Bad Panda hangs around a rather grungy factory, is surrounded by toughies from all faiths (there's an African too for the overseas market), and has this fetish about a scary hammering object which makes you want to rush into the nearest aunty's arms. Meanwhile, diary after diary is being read first by a cop (Also Muscular) and then by a med student (Jiah Khan, lovely lips). The diaries actually read like a biography, starting from I-am-so-and-so-and-my-dad-passed-away, and is written in different slants and shapes of the Hindi language. Kool.

Next: Flashbacks show plenty of footage of a smalltime ad model (Asin), who gave a hoax interview to a gossip journalist (press, always blamed!). And then somehow, she had started interacting with Pod Singhania in his happier, gazillionaire days. She had the knack of rescuing kids in distress. Pod loved her, she loved him. Gasp: then Ghajini the Gabbar got her head-whacked and Pod skull smashed. Pod survived, flaunted above-the-belt tattoos (incidentally they are smudged later), and is now looking for badla, badla, badla. Jalaakar raakh kar doonga anyone? Help.

Anyway (warned you) on the tech-front, the editing opts for flashy gimmicks and turvy topsy angles associated with the Tamil-Telugu potboilers of yore. A.R. Rahman's music is remarkable essentially for the track Guzarish. Lyricist Prasoon Joshi's lyrics have to be heard to be disbelieved. And Ravi K. Chandran's cinematography ranges from the fluid to the plain cheddar.

Surely, this is the wrong film at the wrong time. Do you need to see so much gore splatter, savagery and base instincts? Also, if the director has paid any attention to details, that escapes you completely. Ever seen unmasked photos of minor kids being rescued from the flesh trade in the newspapers?

On the acting front, Jiah Khan's role is sketchy. And why was her dance piece — something about a spinning lattoo — reduced to ribbons? Asin makes a confident debut and is especially impressive in a Wait Until Dark-kind of sequence in which she is terrorised. Aamir Khan is good, as he always is but it's certainly not his most unforgettable performance yet.

In fact, you'd like to give Ghajini a long-term memory loss. Kya, kyon, kahan? Murugadoss.? Aamir? Asin? Who? Got to jog my memory... maybe after 15 minutes.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=c5211c57-b313-4110-ace4-8ff40a4d93f8&&Headline=Ouch%2c+call+ambulance!

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Zareena

@Zareena

Stunner

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#19

Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan
Rating:

Aamir Khan suffers from short-term memory loss in Ghajini, a cerebral disorder by which his memory lasts only for 15 minutes. Seemingly director A R Murgadoss suffered from the same while deriving from Memento, for he seems to have retained only about 15% of the original masterpiece and fabricated the rest as per his formulaic sensibilities.
So while you still have the Polaroid camera, post it notes and a tattooed body from Memento, the nonlinear narrative and conspiracy theory is compromised for a prolonged romance track and exaggerated revenge drama. Sadly gimmicks like 8-pack abs or trimmed hairline can't cover up loopholes of a flawed script.

Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan) has been hit on the head which gives him recurring bouts of amnesia, almost every fifteen minutes. He is hunting for a person named Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat), and to remember his target, he has inscribed his initials and related clues on his body, has pasted post-it notes all across his apartment and carries a Polaroid camera to click pictures of people important to him.

An investigating officer gets hold of his daily diary that gives a background account of his character. Sanjay is an affluent industrialist and falls in love with a girl named Kalpana (Asin). The diary changes hands from the inspector to a medical student (Jiah Khan) but the flashback account continues to stretch from the first half to the second with a long-drawn-out love story between the two. With ample song-dance-romance, the story is Indianized but that's the only redeeming factor for the director fails to exploit the psychological side of the story.

Don't cry a spoiler when I say that Ghajini killed Kalpana since that is awfully obvious from the very start with the tattoos on Sanjay's body and his quest to kill Ghajini. And if you still expect a twist in the tale for some suspenseful impact, be prepared to know that this one just ends up being a regular revenge drama. The action sequence in the climax is shamelessly stretched, as long as Sanjay can sustain his memory, for fifteen literal minutes.

At its core, Ghajini is essentially a romance track culminating into a revenge drama. Only externally it is sewed up with the memory loss syndrome which could have been the highlight. And even the memory loss isn't sensibly justified in the script. The major flaw of the film is how Sanjay remembers Ghajini's sidekicks and traces them from nowhere. Almost every scene seems to have been written to cover up the earlier penned scene.

The length could surely have been trimmed for the extra runtime doesn't add to the conviction like in a Lagaan or a Jodhaa Akbar. A R Rahman's music is melodious and songs are choreographed with typical South Indian flamboyancy. Strangely the background theme piece sounds like Sare Jahan Se Acha.

Aamir is not bad but one expects more from the actor than Rajnikant style amplified-action sequences or anger bouts reminiscent of a hysterical Kamal Hassan from Abhay. Asin is pleasing and Jiah Khan is decent. Pradeep Rawat hams in the title role.

If you are expecting an intelligent psychological suspense thriller, watch Memento. If you are looking for an intense desi action masala watch the Tamil Ghajini. For the Hindi version doesn't show much difference other than trimming the twin villain from the original into a single baddie. By now we are prone to digesting the exaggerated action in south cinema. It would still take some time to accept Aamir Khan doing the same. Rather, the question in first place is, would we ever want to accept Aamir in such avatar?

http://movies.indiatimes.com/moviereview/3888289.cms

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Zareena

@Zareena

Stunner

+ 2

Posted: 16 years ago

#20

Forgettable

MR BRAIN BECOMES MR BODY BUT HE FAILS TO PACK A PUNCH

Boooo hoooo hooo! The-man-who-can-do-no-wrong has messed it up. Maane tu yaa maane naa, Ghajini is a step backwards for the man who made Taare Zameen Par. Aamir Khan, you didn't need to do this. Especially not now. Hope the Academy members don't get a print or copy of your new film. Otherwise they are sure to have a short-term memory loss about India's chances at the Oscars this year.

Isn't it ironic that the film that changed the way movies were made in Hollywood has been turned into a 180-minute showcase of primitive movie-making in Bollywood? The mother of all mind-benders, Christopher Nolan's cult classic Memento, has been reduced to a vegetable — a word they forgot to translate from the original. What hurts most is not the inspiration bit but the complete lack of intelligence in the script.

Incredible as it may sound, coming from the little big man, Ghajini is no more than a B-grade masala revenge drama from the 80s. The ones where the dying person whispers the villain's name to the hero just before going kaput. Or where the flashback dissolved in from the pages of a diary. Or where the villain and his merry men with flower-pot hairdo roamed the streets with metal bars. In fact, there are so many of those bars, we wonder how an iron and steel company didn't make it to the brand tie-up list.

Ghajini's trump card is, of course, the Memento bit — Aamir's Sanjay suffers from anterograde amnesia. He can remember things for only about 15 minutes and you are reminded about this every 15 seconds. Yes, that's the main problem with the film. Not only does it dumb down proceedings, it takes its audience to be dumb, explaining the same thing over and over again.

After all, Aamir couldn't understand Memento! So what if the tattoos on his torso are in reverse to be read in the mirror? So what if he walks around with a Polaroid camera to click snapshots of people and give a personal caption for future reference? So what if he is avenging his wife's death, has a man to kill and is helped by another woman? So what if the only twist in the end is yet another memento from Memento?

Yeah, yeah, Mr Khan sweated it out till Mr Brain became Mr Body. But did he really need to? Perhaps for the promotion and marketing bit, definitely not for the movie. A petite Uma Thurman could kill Bill and beat the **** out of his army. The roar in the "roaring rampage of revenge" should have come from within and not from those eight pack abs. Aamir plays it way over-the-top, which suited Surya in the Tamil version, but looks hysterical here.

Is there no redeeming factor through the three hours? Yes there is, and the name's Asin. We have had a couple of very good debuts this year in Prachi Desai and Anushka Sharma but Asin is the best Bollywood find in a long, long time. Her character's catchline in the film goes : "Kalpana jadoo ki chhadi hai… Yun ghoomti hai aur sarkarein badal jaati hain." Don't know about the sarkars but if Ghajini is to stay afloat after the four-day festive weekend, it has to be because of Asin.

In fact, the Aamir-Asin romantic track in the flashback is the only time you will find yourself laughing and smiling. Aamir as the suave business tycoon is far more at ease but it is Asin who steals the show and gives the film its best moments — the first meeting with Aamir, the helping of the handicapped children, the Ambassador sequence. She is refreshing, easy on the eye and a bundle of infectious energy.

Ghajini's irony doesn't end with Memento. In its own little way, it is an anti-thesis of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. There the common man disguised himself as a cool dude to woo the girl. Here the cool (and rich) dude disguises himself as the common man to woo the girl. While Aamir's common man is nowhere close to SRK's Suri experience, when the original chocolate boy hero says "I love you", it still resonates the loudest in Bollywood.

Of course, he gets some help from the best people in the business to express his love. A.R. Rahman and Prasoon Joshi deliver yet again with Behka, Guzarish and Kaise mujhe being the passwords. Despite the very south Indian feel of things — extras prancing around in magenta jackets! — Ravi K. Chandran makes the songs look fetching, contrasting enough to the very-sombre very-green revenge track.

That brings us to the title character. Pradeep Rawat plays Ghajini, the guy Sanjay has to "find and kill". Unfortunately, Rawat (the Sikh pacer in Lagaan), doesn't deserve the honour. Even Sholay wasn't called Gabbar. And here you have the old-school villain, with his rod fetish, mouthing inane lines (dialogues by Piyush Mishra) under his breath and trying his best to look evil. Jiah Khan is the other casting faux pas. She is so irritating that loud background music is often used to drown her lines.

Ghajini's managed a U/A certificate but it's not a good idea to take the kids along. Yes, most of the metal action is off-screen but the bodies lying around straight out of The Exorcist, heads turned around 360 degrees, don't make a pretty sight. The action (Peter Heines and Stun Siva) is hands-on but after Bourne and now, even Bond, it's again a case of been-there-seen-that.

Surely, most of you remember December 25. But don't be surprised if within 15 minutes of your leaving the theatres, you go: "Ghajini? What's that?" Because as the brilliant line in Memento goes, you "can't remember to forget" the film.

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