Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Ghajini Disappoints

While Aamir Khan shines.

An hour into the movie I thought I didn’t like it, but then I thought it was too early to dismiss it because after all, it WAS an Aamir Khan movie, and he generally chooses his movies well. After watching the movie I was quite certain I didn’t like it.

The killers : the love story between Sanjay & Kalpana (the lead protagonists), the 3 hr 15 mins running time, the misplaced songs & Asin.

First things first : Aamir Khan is absolutely brilliant in the movie, both as Sanjay Singhania the industrialist & the revenge-obsessed Sanjay Singhania. It’s amazing how at 43 he still retains his school-boyish charm. Watch the scenes where he’s with Kalpana. He’s in love, yet displays a lot of maturity & mellowness. And within minutes he transforms himself into a yelling, screaming, out-for-blood monster. There is a reason why he needed a body like he has in Ghajini. It’s not there for effect or to make women (or gay men) swoon. It’s there because the Anterograde Amnesia-inflicted character of Sanjay Singhania who is on a killing rampage (where he can knock down people who are twice his size) would have been comical had Aamir Khan not gotten himself a body like that. So a word has to be put in about the dedication of the actor. Secondly, I felt NO OTHER actor could’ve carried off the role convincingly.

Now the spoilers…

The love story between Sanjay & Kalpana drags the movie down. It’s shown in two installments & impedes the pace of the movie. I found the action parts much better (though they’re violent & gory).

The movie was way too long. The editing could have been much crisper & the length could have been chopped down to 2 hrs 45 mins or so. Maybe by removing a few songs – one where Asin is introduced, the ‘Laddoo’ song with Jiah Khan & the ‘Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gaye’ song in the end which is good but a repeat.

None of the songs in the movie carry the story forward. In fact, they pop out of nowhere & disrupt the flow. It might have been a good idea to retain just one or two songs in the movie & release the rest as part of the music CD. That would’ve helped reduce the running time as well.

As for Asin, probably the most awaited debutant of 2008 (in Bollywood that is) after Deepika Padukone….I found her quite irritating in the movie. Her character was so jaded…she’s this selfless, kind-hearted young woman who helps blind men cross the road, helps disabled children across bridges, saves young girls from flesh trade etc. I mean, being kind & selfless is all good but there’s nothing refreshing about her character. Her character required her to be loud to a certain extent but she has overdone it in the movie. She's pretty in a very Indian way...reminds one of Revathy in a few scenes...but I didn’t find her to be all that she was purported to be!

There was one innovative thing about the movie though…for the first time I’ve come across the movie which is named after the bad guy!!

10 comments:

Kalyan Karmakar said...

decided to skip this as I might still watch it. Ironically Kainaz insists that I've seen Memento while I don't remember

Scarlett said...

I haven't put any spoilers in the post. It's funny...I have a feeling I've seen a movie called 'Memento' but I don't remember it either :)

Kalyan Karmakar said...

funny isnt it (Memento). I might see Ghajini despite Kainaz's misgivings this evening. So I would be the spoiler I guess

Kalyan Karmakar said...

am still to recover from rub de

Scarlett said...

@The Knife - I watched Rub De too...lol...with my mom. She liked it. Thought it was a cute movie. Actually, she really liked SRK as Suri. I already knew the story & how stupid the basic premise was, so I thought it was a timepass watch. Was funny in parts.

Moonshine said...

I am still waiting to watch Ghajini.. so jealous that you have been able to!!!!!!!! Lol... i have had mixed reports.. positive as well as negative!! i am dyign to watch it!!

Rab ne was a horrendous movie.. i am dead sure this would be 10,000 times better if not more!!!!!

Psyched said...

@moonshine: If you haven't, don't... u'd only end up dissappointed...

Scarlett said...

@Moonshine - Don't get your hopes up so much about Ghajini. The only thing worth watching in the movie is Aamir Khan. The action sequences are straight out of a Rajnikant movie, thanks to the South Indian director. Lol :)

Kalyan Karmakar said...

Well what they are saying about it being a hit is true. We went to Globus last evening and couldn't get tickets. So ended up watching a nice movie at home called 'before the rain'. Moonshine it is set in Kerala in the twenties. The film is directed by Santosh Sivan who is also a photographer so he really made it look beautiful.

We watched Rab de in a pirated dvd so couldn't see or hear much of what was happening. Which was probably a good thing. I guess the Ghajini thing of forgetting stuff in 15 min would be useful while watching Rab De ;)

Happy new year all

Moonshine said...

@Psyched / Scarlett - Planning to watch Ghajini over the weekend.. lets see!!! I reserve my comments!!! :)At least Aamir is good right.. so hopefully paisa vasool it will be!!!

I actually met Santosh Sivan on the way to Pune this year... chtted with him.. an extremely simple person.. you wouldnt ever come to know that he is a celeb!!!