Boooo hoooo hooo! The-man-who-can-do-no-wrong has messed it up. Maane tu yaa maane naa, Ghajini is a step backwards for the person who made Taare Zameen Par. Aamir Khan, you did not want to do that. Particularly not now. Hope the Academy members do not get a print or copy of your new movie. In any other case they’re certain to have a short-term reminiscence loss about India’s probabilities on the Oscars this 12 months.
Is not it ironic that the movie that modified the way in which films have been made in Hollywood has been changed into a 180-minute showcase of primitive movie-making in Bollywood? The mom of all mind-benders, Christopher Nolan’s cult basic Memento, has been decreased to a vegetable – a phrase they forgot to translate from the unique. What hurts most isn’t the inspiration bit however the full lack of intelligence within the script.
Unimaginable as it could sound, coming from the little large man, Ghajini is not more than a B-grade masala revenge drama from the 80s. Those the place the dying particular person whispers the villain’s title to the hero simply earlier than going kaput. Or the place the flashback dissolved in from the pages of a diary. Or the place the villain and his merry males with flower-pot hairdo roamed the streets with metallic bars. In reality, there are such a lot of of these bars, we marvel how an iron and metal firm did not make it to the model tie-up listing.
Ghajini’s trump card is, in fact, the Memento bit – Aamir’s Sanjay suffers from anterograde amnesia. He can keep in mind issues for under about quarter-hour and you’re reminded about this each 15 seconds. Sure, that is the principle drawback with the movie. Not solely does it dumb down proceedings, it takes its viewers to be dumb, explaining the identical factor again and again.
In any case, Aamir could not perceive Memento! So what if the tattoos on his torso are in reverse to be learn within the mirror? So what if he walks round with a Polaroid digital camera to click on snapshots of individuals and provides a private caption for future reference? So what if he’s avenging his spouse’s dying, has a person to kill and is helped by one other lady? So what if the one twist in the long run is yet one more memento from Memento?
Yeah, yeah, Mr Khan sweated it out until Mr Mind turned Mr Physique. However did he actually need to? Maybe for the promotion and advertising bit, positively not for the film. A petite Uma Thurman might kill Invoice and beat the shit out of his military. The roar within the “roaring rampage of revenge” ought to have come from inside and never from these eight pack abs. Aamir performs it method over-the-top, which suited Surya within the Tamil model, however seems to be hysterical right here.
Is there no redeeming issue by way of the three hours? Sure there may be, and the title’s Asin. We’ve had a few excellent debuts this 12 months in Prachi Desai and Anushka Sharma however Asin is the very best Bollywood discover in an extended, very long time. Her character’s catchline within the movie goes : “Kalpana jadoo ki chhadi hai… Yun ghoomti hai aur sarkarein badal jaati hain.” Do not know in regards to the sarkars but when Ghajini is to remain afloat after the four-day festive weekend, it must be due to Asin.
In reality, the Aamir-Asin romantic monitor within the flashback is the one time you’ll discover your self laughing and smiling. Aamir because the suave enterprise tycoon is way extra relaxed however it’s Asin who steals the present and offers the movie its greatest moments – the primary assembly with Aamir, the serving to of the handicapped youngsters, the Ambassador sequence. She is refreshing, simple on the attention and a bundle of infectious vitality.
Ghajini’s irony would not finish with Memento. In its personal little method, it’s an anti-thesis of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. There the frequent man disguised himself as a cool dude to woo the woman. Right here the cool (and wealthy) dude disguises himself because the frequent man to woo the woman. Whereas Aamir’s frequent man is nowhere near SRK’s Suri expertise, when the unique chocolate boy hero says “I really like you”, it nonetheless resonates the loudest in Bollywood.
After all, he will get some assist from the very best folks within the enterprise to specific his love. A.R. Rahman and Prasoon Joshi ship but once more with Behka, Guzarish and Kaise mujhe being the passwords. Regardless of the very south Indian really feel of issues – extras prancing round in magenta jackets! – Ravi Okay. Chandran makes the songs look fetching, contrasting sufficient to the very-sombre very-green revenge monitor.
That brings us to the title character. Pradeep Rawat performs Ghajini, the man Sanjay has to “discover and kill”. Sadly, Rawat (the Sikh pacer in Lagaan), would not deserve the honour. Even Sholay wasn’t referred to as Gabbar. And right here you’ve gotten the old-school villain, together with his rod fetish, mouthing inane strains (dialogues by Piyush Mishra) underneath his breath and making an attempt his greatest to look evil. Jiah Khan is the opposite casting fake pas. She is so irritating that loud background music is commonly used to drown her strains.
Ghajini’s managed a U/A certificates however it’s not a good suggestion to take the youngsters alongside. Sure, a lot of the metallic motion is off-screen however the our bodies mendacity round straight out of The Exorcist, heads rotated 360 levels, do not make a reasonably sight. The motion (Peter Heines and Stun Siva) is hands-on however after Bourne and now, even Bond, it is once more a case of been-there-seen-that.
Absolutely, most of you keep in mind December 25. However do not be stunned if inside quarter-hour of your leaving the theatres, you go: “Ghajini? What’s that?” As a result of because the sensible line in Memento goes, you “cannot keep in mind to neglect” the movie.
