Perish the thought- Ghajini is not a remake of Memento...... not even close. The similarity ends with the protagonists of both the films suffering from anterograde amnesia or short term memory loss. While Memento intellectually teased us, daring the audience to figure right from wrong, Ghajini is a straightforward revenge drama. Calling it a psychological thriller would be doing the term a disservice.
Without the ghost of Memento weighing down on it, Ghajini turns out to be good, enjoyable Bollywood masala fare. You don’t get too many of them now- I can’t remember the last time I saw romance, drama, comedy, action et al together in a Bollywood film. Ghajini has all of it and none of it seems forced. The pacing is just right and the performances are good.
Aamir puts a good act which in totality is credible- his grunts, screams and bloody eyes, which initially seem weird on him, gradually segue into believable character. And as the pre-amnesia business tycoon, he rocks- he’s irresistible. I’ve never gushed about Aamir’s looks but damn the guy is cute.
Asin is breezy, giggly and looks beautiful. This role is no testament to her acting abilities though and I’d love to see her in more challenging roles considering she’s an established star in the south. I wish there was more of Jiah Khan in the movie- from what I know her counterpart in the Tamil movie had more screen time than Asin. She gets a bit of a raw deal- her song is also truncated. It hardly made sense in the movie but the girl is a looker.
The eponymous villain is a bit of let down though- one expected a bit more mystery to him. At the end it all seemed too simple- we knew who the killer was and that he would be killed. With the kind of cinema we are used to today, a little cat and mouse game would’ve been good. Therein lies the main flaw of the film. Or maybe with better editing and screenplay at least an illusion of suspense could’ve been created. Some characters are randomly inserted- what purpose was served by the police inspector? Plus other than the end of the movie, the break in the protagonist’s memory is never really shown. What happens when he’s in the middle of something and the 15 minute memory period is over- how does he reboot? The only such break is placed at a rather convenient point in the climax. But I guess that wasn’t the point of the movie anyways.
The songs are good but not really integral to the movie. “Guzaarish” and “Kaise Mujhe” manage to linger on. All in all a good, watchable movie to enjoy your Christmas and New Year weekends.
P.S.: Aamir Khan doesn’t use a mobile but endorses one. Hmmmmm...........
and read Qalandar for more insight into the movie
Without the ghost of Memento weighing down on it, Ghajini turns out to be good, enjoyable Bollywood masala fare. You don’t get too many of them now- I can’t remember the last time I saw romance, drama, comedy, action et al together in a Bollywood film. Ghajini has all of it and none of it seems forced. The pacing is just right and the performances are good.
Aamir puts a good act which in totality is credible- his grunts, screams and bloody eyes, which initially seem weird on him, gradually segue into believable character. And as the pre-amnesia business tycoon, he rocks- he’s irresistible. I’ve never gushed about Aamir’s looks but damn the guy is cute.
Asin is breezy, giggly and looks beautiful. This role is no testament to her acting abilities though and I’d love to see her in more challenging roles considering she’s an established star in the south. I wish there was more of Jiah Khan in the movie- from what I know her counterpart in the Tamil movie had more screen time than Asin. She gets a bit of a raw deal- her song is also truncated. It hardly made sense in the movie but the girl is a looker.
The eponymous villain is a bit of let down though- one expected a bit more mystery to him. At the end it all seemed too simple- we knew who the killer was and that he would be killed. With the kind of cinema we are used to today, a little cat and mouse game would’ve been good. Therein lies the main flaw of the film. Or maybe with better editing and screenplay at least an illusion of suspense could’ve been created. Some characters are randomly inserted- what purpose was served by the police inspector? Plus other than the end of the movie, the break in the protagonist’s memory is never really shown. What happens when he’s in the middle of something and the 15 minute memory period is over- how does he reboot? The only such break is placed at a rather convenient point in the climax. But I guess that wasn’t the point of the movie anyways.
The songs are good but not really integral to the movie. “Guzaarish” and “Kaise Mujhe” manage to linger on. All in all a good, watchable movie to enjoy your Christmas and New Year weekends.
P.S.: Aamir Khan doesn’t use a mobile but endorses one. Hmmmmm...........
and read Qalandar for more insight into the movie
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