Ghajini: The Movie Review with a twist!

One more “Ghajini” review? I know, we are not interested. Then what is the need of having one – probably to explore the “what if” phenomenon, and then to discuss how did the movie fare. So don’t expect this review to discuss the story and its aptness, music, cinematography and a whole lot of other stuff that a typical review is expected to cover.

Ghajini is one of those rare movies wherein we like the characters and performances and the direction and the technical brilliance and the concept (although copied) and the action and the romance and a lot more, yet feel that something somewhere was actually missing to create the magic of Cinema that we are used to associating with someone like Aamir Khan – the multitalented actor, director and producer who is known to look beyond the oblivion in his movies – irrespective of it being his own production or not.

Ghajini works in portions – the highpoint being not the revenge but the easy to eyes and heart love story as was told in the flashback. Asin more than just makes you smile – she has a character which talks oodles about the potential that this new kid on the block (for Bollywood) has and is hard to miss on the screen. Her biggest achievement lies in the fact that she has been able to leave an impression and is in no way overshadowed by the convincing performance that the “thinking” Khan delivers yet again. Part of the credit also goes to the way her character has been developed – Jiah certainly did not have the luck and luxury of such an evolved character and delivers an uninspiring performance which is a culmination of the failures.

It being a review, it would certainly rate the movie – yes a very generous 3/5 and let’s dwell upon why. First things first – the movies isn’t about bringing a social revolution – so stop comparing it with TZP or RDB right away; it just won’t be a fair comparison. It is not meant to change our worlds.

If you want to understand that why did the movie deserve an extra point instead of a 2/5 – please think and picture this. Sanjay Singhania – the entrepreneur could have been equally well played by Shahrukh Khan; though his performance as Singhania in life after Kalpana would have been disastrous to an unimaginable extent. What Aamir did to his body and mind makes you respect him – there was no other way you could have imagined a man with the mind and strength of a wild boar. That is exactly what he was supposed to be to do what the story expected him to.  Compare this to SRK’s six pack abs and more importantly its need in the movie – Om Shanti Om and you know how cheap rest of the Bollywood can get for publicity – and mind you, it went on to become the biggest hit of 2007 – shame on us!

That apart – Singhania post the memory loss is a man of few words – it’s his eyes that do the entire talking – try finding a Bollywood contemporary who would be able to deliver anything even close to what we see in Ghajini – and you know why the movie is special. (Let me not even think about an Akshay Kumar or Sunny Deol for that matter).

Asin as Kalpana edges out the cute-girl-next-door Anoushka as Taani in a memorable performance. (Sorry, but this comparison was obvious: Anoushka as Taani was actually convincing enough in RNBDJ – although the two characters were entirely different.)

Ghajini is a classic example of less than perfect Cinema which still makes a compelling watch – as it dares what others feel shy of – unless you appreciate an effort, you can never expect it to ever reach where it should have been. There isn’t a point being stuck up with clichéd ideas – let’s dare to watch and let Bollywood dare to produce “different” cinema. Someday, different would also be great! Cheers!!!