Ghajini (Hindi) - Movie Review

After having seen both ‘Memento’, and Ghajini (Tamil) in the past, I’m just out of the Cinema after seeing Ghajini (Hindi).

Short review: A must-see movie. I strongly recommend you to see the movie. Only ‘minus’ about the movie are its songs.

For more, continue reading…

About direction:
When the story is strong, director is clear-headed, and actors are honest, the result is a masterpiece. Ghajini is an example for such an effort. There has been much hype around this movie for quite some time. Such hypes in the past have contributed to historical failures. But this time, it is not so! The movie has turned out to be worth all hype. The storyline is quite different from that of Memento, with some overlaps of course. I leave it to you to see it for yourself. But I think that this change in story is much needed to present to the Desi audience at large.

About Aamir:
Aamir Khan, as usual, has done a phenomenal job. The eight-packers, and deltoids actually are not another cheap marketing stunt, rather, it is needed by the character he plays in this movie in order to make the fights look believable. (There are a few places where you get a tinge of Tamil-movies’ fights! But this is where Direcotor’s/Aamir’s level-headedness comes in to keep it in check).

About the story:
‘Sanjay Ramasamy’ played by Surya in Tamil version is played by Aamir as ‘Sanjay Singhania’, the chief of a major company, who flies in and out of the country in his private jet, and whose assistants jot down addresses on MacBooks. That rich! Even after Sanjay manages to win Kalpana’s (Asin) heart as a common man, Kalpana never comes to know Sanjay’s truth as the story takes a tragic turn, rendering Aamir with Anterograde amnesia. Rest of Sanjay’s journey-of-revenge, is the story of this movie.

About Asin:
During the first half of the movie, the theatre was full of laughter – courtesy Asin. It is to be noted that this is her debut in Bollywood, as was the case with the Tamil version in Kollywood.
(Tidbit: This Malabar girl is blessed with 6 languages in real life – Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, French and English.)

The character she portrays is that of girl making a living out of a small-time job in Mumbai. While she’s brave and full-of-life, she’s also kind, unsophisticated, humorous, and almost child-like in nature. Exactly the kind, for whom, any man would lay his life for her protection. Somewhere during the first half, you fall out flat for her refreshing character. And when she comes in the way of mortal harm, it turns the saint-like Aamir into a killing machine, equipped with just 15 minutes of memory.

About music/general stuff:
Aamir has very few dialogues, and does most with his acting, which is a delight to watch. His dialogues could probably be fitted in one side of an A4 size sheet, while Asin’s can fill up an 80 pager – 80 pages of pure fun! But while Aamir is basking in the fame, Asin has been set aside in general media at large. She's no eye-candy in this movie, but a very real character, and a very admirable performer. You cannot escape noticing her, and will have nothing but sheer appreciation for her performance.

The background scores are neat, and the visuals pleasing. However, I felt that the movie would have done just as well without the songs, which is a major disappointment (maybe, my expectations are held high after the Tamil version, whose songs had made to the top of charts for a very long time). There are other known faces from Tamil version as well, like Riyaz Khan (the police officer) and Pradeep Singh Rawat (the villain, as Lakshman in Tamil and Ghajini in Hindi).

An excellent movie, which can deserve no less than a solid 4.5 stars. Now go, watch it if you still haven’t. :)

Happy holidays!!