Plays it safe..doesnt mentions anything about the music...
He gives it 3/5
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http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masands-verdict-ghajini-is-dumb-and-celebrates-it/81344-8.html
Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan
Director: AR Murgadoss
Watching him in Ghajini, I don't think I've seen Aamir Khan having this much
fun as an actor in a long time.
It's an old-fashioned entertainer with a half-convincing plot, packed with
enough gratuitous violence to qualify as a B-movie really; and like the most
popular B-movies ever, the biggest strength of Ghajini lies in the fact that
it's a fast-moving roller-coaster ride that seldom gives you a moment to stop
and think how stupid it might actually be.
In a premise clearly inspired by Christopher Nolan's Memento, Aamir Khan plays
Sanjay Singhania, a hot-shot industrialist who turns into an obsessed killing
machine dedicated to tracking down his girlfriend's killer. Having been hit on
the head with an iron rod, he suffers from short-term memory loss and can't
remember anything for longer than 15 minutes; as a result he must tattoo his
body with instructions that will lead him to his prey.
Abandoning Memento's fantastic non-linear narrative and opting for the more
conventional flashback device, writer-director AR Murgadoss throws in an
engaging back-story in the form of leading lady Asin (playing smalltime model
Kalpana) and a love story brimming with originality and the kind of gentleness
that you don't see at the movies anymore. It's a romance that takes you by
surprise, and to an extent puts the film's intense action into perspective too.
Faithful remake of the director's Tamil blockbuster, Ghajini is over-the-top
and exaggerated in its comedy, its action and its drama, but what irks you most
are the half-dozen or so creative liberties and coincidences that the makers
resort to, in order to bail themselves out of tricky screenplay situations.
Here's a little sample - you're expected to believe that Sanjay Singhania is a
well-known millionaire industrialist, and yet no one has seen him in pictures
or in person.
Logical loopholes like these would be the albatross of any half-decent film,
but Ghajini works despite its shortcomings because it's a reliably dumb film
that is unpretentious in its intentions. Unlike many dumb films that take
themselves way too seriously, Ghajini is a dumb film that celebrates its
dumbness.
Of course much of the film's appeal lies in watching leading man Aamir Khan
approach his role with an unmatched fervor. Whether it's beefing up for the
part, or oozing that schoolboy charm, or then the manner in which he explodes
in rage each time he's reminded of Kalpana's brutal death, you can't take your
eyes off the screen when he's up there.
He finds a worthy nemesis in Pradeep Rawat who plays bad guy Ghajini, your
stereoptypical 80s Bollywood villain, complete with gold chains, white shoes
and menacing sneer. Rawat is decidedly loathsome, especially in the scene in
which he enjoys watching our hero writhe helplessly as he offs his girlfriend
in front of his eyes.
At the emotional heart of the film is Tamil actress Asin making her Bollywood
debut as the mischievous, happy-go-lucky Kalpana, who benefits from a
superbly-written character that is hard to get out of your head even when the
film's ended. Asin has undeniable screen presence and such joie de vivre that
you can immediately relate with the hero's anguish over losing her.
In a thankfully small role as the medical student who helps our hero achieve
his goal is Jiah Khan who has a screechy voice and a forgettable presence.
Ghajini isn't a particularly good film, but entertainment it delivers by the
bucketful. At a running time of 3 hours, the film seldom drags and therein lies
its victory. For the Singh Is Kinng generation, here's another time pass
entertainer.
I'm going with three out of five for director A R Murgadoss' Ghajini, this is
Aamir Khan's way of telling us, 'Anything that Shah Rukh or Akshay can do, I
can do just as well.'
Watch it for the ride.
Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
