Ghajini

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!!