Ahh.. The biggest movie of the year is finally here. Aamir Khan’s Ghajini brings with it the huge amount of expectations that people usually carry with them to the theatre while watching an Aamir Khan film. The full house go crazy while Aamir first appears on screen, the craze is mind boggling something that I haven’t witnessed since I started watching movies a decade and a half ago.
Sanjay Singhania is a business tycoon, who has very recently come down to India. Due to certain weird circumstances, he falls in love with Kalpana (Asin), a sweet lovable girl with a heart of gold. While Sanjay is on a business trip, Kalpana in an attempt to save girls from some dreaded criminals puts her life at risk. On the day of Sanjay’s return, Kalpana is killed by Ghajini while Sanjay is injured on his head. This leads to a mental disorder called anterograde amnesia. Sanjay suffers from short term memory loss; he forgets everything in 15 mins! His only goal though is to kill Ghajini, how he battles against all odds is what forms the rest of the tale.
Your first reaction after watching Ghajini is WOW What a movie!! You look at your watch to realize 3 hours have breezed through. You catch hold of your breathe and come to terms with a movie that has just managed to blow you away. It aint a movie that you would remember and want to watch 5 years from now, in fact it lacks repeat value as the thrill would be missing the second time. But what Aamir Khan and the Ghajini team have served is a fulto masala entertainer. It has comedy, romance, action, a typical 90s villian, great music, emotions.. Ghajini has got it all.
There are so many memorable moments and scenes in Ghajini. To describe a few..
1) When Aamir is chasing the cop and Jiah, he suddenly loses his memory. Yet tries to recognise Jiah by her rapid breathe rate.
2) The Aamir - Asin love story. He’s a business tycoon; she’s a pretty ordinary girl. The way their love story begins is sweet and extremely funny!
3) The villian! Neck and fingers filled with gold jewellery, a silver tooth, menacing look et al. Ghajini is a typical 90s villian. Almost perfect for a revenge movie. The most surprising thing was, the movie has been named after the villian, which usually isnt the case with Bollywood movies. Has a movie ever been titled, inspired by the character of a non-star villian?
4) The climax! Scintillating stuff. It seems quite easy to predict, what could happen next. But the short term memory loss makes the movie quite unpredictable.
A.R. Murugadoss directing his first Bollywood film deserves credit for his brilliant execution of the script. The climax of the Hindi version is different, if compared to the original in Tamil. The brilliant camera work and fantastic background score is one of the many other positives.
So is it too violent? The answer is No, it isn’t a very violent movie. Apart from certain scenes like the tattoos being scratched off from Aamir’s chest - abdomen and a few physical fights resulting in twisting of necks, the violence is limited to about 15 mins. Far less brutal than the CCTV captures of the Mumbai terrorist attacks that was aired on almost all news channels.
Any flaws? Yes, the songs. About 2 songs too many in the first half; Behka Main and Aye Bachchu were unnecessary.
The performances were top notch. Asin proves to be a very good actress, quite unexpected as I wasn’t expecting much from her, after those promos. Good screen presence, bubbly and charismatic.
Aamir Khan is brilliant! An actor who can never disappoint, neither with his performances nor the overall quality of his movies. He is by far the best star-actor of the decade. What with a different variety of movies like Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par and now Ghajini! All very different, but brilliant nonetheless!
Overall, Ghajini is a must watch, a complete paisa vasool entertainer. A movie that should be experienced only on the big screen. Lastly, watch it for Aamir Khan and his sheer brilliance on screen. He is to Bollywood, what Sachin Tendulkar is to cricket. A legend!
Rating:4 STARS
Other Notes - The atmosphere in the movie hall was electrifying, something that I have never witnessed. Going by the audience reaction, the movie seems to have lived upto the expectations. People were glued to their seats till the very end.
Hope you all enjoy Ghajini. Post your Ghajini reviews below. Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year from the Indicine Team!
Update - What Aamir Khan expected actually happened. In an interview, he mentioned that if people walk out with his physique and 8 pack abs in mind, then the movie has failed to connect. So yeah, the movie did connect and Aamir’s looked great in Ghajini. In all the excitement, I missed Jiah Khan too, it was a forgettable performance. Her most important scene was when Aamir gets down from the scooter to fight the goons, Jiah’s expressions while trying to stop Aamir was hard to digest!
