Ghajini --- Movie Review

Ghajini is exactly what I was expecting and probably even better and before you jump to any conclusions let me tell you that I was expecting Ghajini to be Masala film with lack of logic and some mindless action . And this is what I got , a big disappointment . I was still hoping against the hope that may be there would be just mindless action and still it would have an intelligent story but as it turned out it just had mindless and logic less action with a story that had been borrowed from west and some Indian Masala added to it . Do you remember those old action films of Amitabh and others of that era that had that typical Revenge (Badla) plot with hero running after the villain and in the end beating 50 odd people on his own and taking his revenge . Well , Ghajini is exactly that kind of formula cinema .

What has struck me even more is the fact that Critics like Rajeev Masand (IBN) and Mayank Shekhar (Mumbai Mirror and TOI) have rated it much higher than Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi . Most of the critics argued while reviewing RNBDJ that they found it hard to believe that Anushka doesn't identify his husband just because he shaves off his moustache . And those critics probably left their brains at home while watching Ghajini which from start to end has a long list of logical flaws in it which don't make sense at all . Those critics didn't even keep in mind that at least RNBDJ had an original plot and not an inspired one whereas Ghajini has many similarities with Memento . I mean how biased are these critics , leave aside Taran Adarsh (of IndiaFM) who thinks Ghajini deserves 4.5 stars out of Five . Mind You , he has given Taare Zameen Par 4/5 and Chak De India a mind boggling 2 out of 5 .

Leaving the critics aside , I thought that Indian films and audience were finally getting more intelligent and liked only those films that were a little different and didn't have that formula feel to it . But I was maybe wrong because the films that worked in 2008 like Race , Singh is Kinng , Golmaal Returns etc. are all masala entertainers having all those emotions with very less emphasis on story . Though Ghajini has been marketed as an Action film but let make it very clear that it is a Masala film with a little more of Action .

Frankly speaking , Ghajini is not even worth comparing to Memento . If Memento was a brilliant film then there is no shade of brilliance in Ghajini . Any young upcoming Director from south could have made this film who has grown up watching films of Rajnikanth in which he is always a superhero with no superpowers and yet he beats a group of people to bring justice . The only similarity is the basic theme of the protagonist and rest all is Indian Masala that too with a lot of inspiration from South Commercial cinema .

The film in the first place jumps from Romantic angle to Intense angle almost suddenly many times leaving a mixed feeling . The worst that suffered from this was the Romantic super hit song Guzarish . The song almost starts instantly after an intense situation where audience is in a thinking mode . There is no Romantic build-up before the song and hence the only good song in the film also got a little wasted . Leave aside the other songs which were more of item numbers with no link to the film . Can you believe Jia Khan does an Item No. sort of song (Lattu) at a College Function in very glamorous costume which by the way is a Medical College . Jia becomes a detective from a doctor and all of sudden starts investigating Aamir's case . How real is that ? Well , I can mention several such loop holes in the film but I don't want to , you can see them yourselves . When I heard Kaise mujhe on the album I thought it would be in more of a sad situation but Aamir is all happy when this song is there . The song didn't go along with his mood but the Lyrics did .

Asin is a pleasant surprise and acts quite well and has good comic presence . Though she acted well but I felt that she was just overdoing in some of the scenes which is quite a turn off . She can act but the Director would have to make sure that she doesn't start over-acting . Her role was adorable but not so much believable . In any case the whole film is a bit over the top so you won't mind Asin's acting also . She was cute but didn't make such a good pair with Aamir and the chemistry was a little less . Jia doesn't have much of a role and hence was kept out of the publicity .

One more thing that makes it a typical Formula film is the length of the film which is just about 3 hrs and the pace with which it moves is also of the 80's and 90's . The hammering background score makes sure that no one gets asleep while watching the film . In some parts the score is good but for most of the parts it is a bit over the top . There is also a vague Character of a Police officer who serves nothing in the film or story apart from adding a little bit of action .

The only one positive was the Cinematography which was great and Ravi K. Chandran needs to be applauded for that . The director A.R. Murugadoss also does an average job and he at least made sure that film doesn't become unbearable and kept it a little entertaining . The art direction didn't impress me that much but was still not that bad . I hope Murugadoss comes up with a little less commercial film and more of an original one , the next time .

At last coming to Aamir Khan who according to several critics acted quite well and it is completely his film . Well , there is no doubt that it is completely Amir's film but the acting part isn't that good . I am also an Aamir fan and I've seen him act at least Ten times better than what he did in Ghajini . Such roles first of all don't suit him and I hope he never selects such a character in the future . I am sure nobody would remember Aamir in Ghajini in the future . They might remember Ghajini because of Aamir's 8 packs though . Aamir can do so much better than what he did in this film . Shouting and Killing like an animal doesn't suit him that much if you ask me and for that matter it wont suit any actor of today .

There is no doubt that Ghajini would be blockbuster and you can also watch it to see Aamir in a masala film for a change . But I just hope that with the success of films like Ghajini , Golmaal Returns and Singh is Kinng the producers don't get encouraged to make such cinema more often because it took almost three decades to come up till hear for the industry and I hope it doesn't push itself back to its roots . If this trend continues then we would get to see Superstars getting together and pulling off a blockbuster for a similar story every time .

Movie Rating : Two and a Half out of Five Stars ; Aamir in a Masala film to its core is one thing that I don't want to watch .