CREDITS *FILM:* Ghajini *LANGUAGE:* Hindi *RELEASE DATE:* 24, December, 2008 *STAR CAST:* Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan, Pradeep Rawat, Khalid Siddiqui, Tinu Anand, Vibha Chibbar, Kunal Vijaykar, Kunal Kumar, Anjum Rajabali & Others *DIALOGUES:* Piyush Misra *CHOREOGRAPHY:* Ahmed Khan *LYRICS:* Prasoon Joshi *SINGERS:* Javed Ali, Sonu Nigam, Suzanne D'Mello, Benny Dayal, Shreya Ghoshal, Karthik, Praveen Mani *MUSIC COMPOSER:* A R Rahman *CASSETTES & CDs:* T-Series *EDITOR:* Anthony *SOUND DESIGN:* Resul Pookutty *STUNTS:* Peter Hines & Stunt Shiva *CINEMATOGRAPHY:* Ravi K Chandran *STORY, SCREENPLAY & DIRECTION:* A R Murugadoss *PRODUCERS:* Madhu Mantena & Tagore Madhu *BANNER:* Geetha Arts JUST… INITIAL THOUGHTS
G*HAJINI* has one of the easiest backgrounds, being the remake of a Tamil blockbuster with the same name. *Aamir Khan* is clearly trying to prove himself as a commercial moghul that *Shahrukh Khan & Akshay Kumar* are claiming to be. Although, Aamir has been hugely successful, he is yet to be proven as a box office moghul… We have already predicted that Ghajini is gonna be the Biggest Blockbuster in 2008 as well as in *Aamir Khan's*career. PLOT OF THE MOVIE *Aamir Khan* might try to deny as much as he likes, but the truth remains that Ghajini (Tamil) as well as Ghajini (Hindi) have a skeletal structure of *Memento* (2000) directed by *Christopher Nolan*. The protagonist suffers from Short Term Memory Loss as a hoodlum kills his beloved and also heavily injures him. Then starts the relentless pursuit for the villain named * Ghajini*, to seek revenge. In the process he takes the aid of photographs and tattoos to keep himself informed. So, if the plot is not copied from * Memento*, then Ghajini (Hindi) is not a remake of Ghajini (Tamil). - The first and the foremost thing that strikes about *Ghajini* is that the title of the film is not titled after the protagonist and rather it is the name of the antagonist. How many commercial films in recent times can boast of this welcome change. - *Ravi K Chandran* has made this mediocre script into a pleasurable viewing experience with his amazing span in cinematography. There are numerous instances that come up with utmost quality and innovation. Be it the *Behka* track, or the simple and yet effective still shot from a corner… showing time lapse over a dead body… Ravi is all over them. Hats-off to this genius. - *Anthony* also plays a major role in the success of this flick. Without his precise editing, this movie could have turned into a boring saga of flip-flop revenge drama with an uneven pace. Editing is very crucial when dealing with multiple flashback episodes. - *A R Rahman* has always had the habit of composing to the quality of the project that he caters to… irrespective of the money that he is offered and the star that he works for. So, his music for stars like *Rajinikanth * might be less appetising than his music composed for a typical *Mani Ratnam* movie. Likewise, finding himself in the midst of a mediocre script of *Ghajini*, he delivered pucca commercial tunes which might be less appetising than his absolutely brilliant score for *Slumdog Millionaire*. But in any case the tracks are way superior to the regular bollywood fare which tend to be just a bunch of loosely concocted strings of copied hooks and riffs. *Prasoon Joshi's* lyrics might sound easy but in fact, are thoughtful. The words used enhances the progression of the movie's plot. For example, *Guzarish*… is a track that comes in the anticipation of *Asin's* (Kalpana) answer, *Kaise Mujhe* is a track that comes when *Aamir Khan* (Sanjay Singhania) realises the audacity of Asin's character, * Behka* is a track that comes when Aamir realises that he is falling for Asin. All in all, a brilliant soundtrack given the mediocre quality of the movie. - *Asin* has lifted this unidimensional script into an enjoyable fare. In fact, the role offered to her is a typical do-gooder heroine with chirpiness that was the norm in the 80s-90s. But she elevates the character with her performance tremendously… so much so that… we genuinely feel for her and the turmoil that Aamir goes through in the aftermath of her killing. She is an already proven actress in South Indian Cinema… so she has nothing to prove further. She has a long and bright future ahead in Indian Cinema. - *Aamir Khan* has also provided enough starpower and also his efforts in gym come though on the screen. But that's about all… I liked about his performance. - *A R Murugadoss* has made this film into a xerox copy of his Tamil version… except for the last 20 minutes or so. I definitely liked the elimination of the *double action of the villain* and the *random killing of girls in hostel* episodes of Tamil version. They were the weakest links of the Tamil version. But more than *Ghajini*… I am awaiting *Ramana (Tagore in Telugu was directed by V V Vinayak)* to be remade into Hindi… which is certainly one of the best, original and yet commercial scripts that I saw in the last decade of Indian Cinema. It was also directed by *A R Murugadoss*. It is time for Bollywood to turn to some serious subjects from the idiotic comedies that they dish out on a weekly basis. GHAJINI - *Aamir Khan* features top in the list of lowlights. As I already said that I really liked his efforts in gym and sundry… But, I would rather focus now on his acting skills. Well, Aamir is probably the best star actor that Bollywood has as of now. But he is not even close to being the best in Indian Cinema which has stalwarts like *Kamal Hassan, Surya, Vikram, Mammootty, Mohan Lal and even a very young and yet brilliant actor like Arya *among many others. What was utterly disappointing is the performance of Aamir as the patient suffering from *Short Term Memory Loss*. *Surya* (in Tamil Ghajini) gave the best possible expressions that could give us an insight into the turmoil and confusion that the character goes through. But Aamir was mostly unidimensional with almost no turmoil coming through his expressions. All he did was to search for the photographs in his pockets and go beserk a couple of times shouting his lungs out. And when he was not a patient, he looked too old to play the part. He also had a constant mystique expression (?) while he was not even a patient, that almost seems like… he knows what is in store for him and that he fears it too much. These are just my understandings of good commercial cinema. Your sensibilities might be different. But all said and done, *Aamir Khan* more than makes up for the dearth of acting talent by leading stars in bollywood. One should also understand that anyone like me tends to analyse something when there is some good body of work done that needs to be analysed. So, the commercial outcome of Ghajini is not effected. - *A R Murugadoss* has written the screenplay in a commercial format that has too many loopholes. He tried to control the damage in Hindi version as the Tamil version had just too many of them, especially in the last 30 odd minutes. The most disappointing aspect of this film is the lack of freshness in the pattern of screenplay. It was too linear with just routine flashback episodes that are reminiscent of 80s-90s… only a bit stylised. *Memnto's*brilliant non-linear screenplay was not even tested. NOT SO… FINAL THOUGHTS G*HAJINI* is not an entirely satisfying film… but would suffice as of now as a welcome change of the trend of Bollywood towards a bit more serious subjects. Aamir Khan disappoints while Asin shines. Producers are would mint money while the audiences would have a rollicking time after a lull at the box office. http://www.indianfilmdom.com/ghajini-2008-hindi-movie-review-by-kalcha -- regards, Vithur
