“Ghajini” is a fascinating study of the darkest and the noblest recesses of the human mind, a monument to ultra-violence, a gripping action thriller with characters so beautifully etched that you end up caring for the protagonists and what happens to them. Deservedly the top grosser of 2008.
I wish I could have said this for ‘Ghajini’ if only because I greatly admire Aamir Khan, his acting methods, his meticulous attention to detail and his association with “different” non-formulaic commercially risky movies like 2007’s brilliant “Taare Zamein Par”.
But I just cannot.
Unless of course you hit me on the head with a rusty rod.
So here’s what I feel. Truly.
Ghajini is aweful.
Why? It’s difficult to know where to start.
Should I start with the “prince-who-pretends-to-be-pauper meets saccharinely-sweet-hearted matchstick girl” fairy tale that drags on for hours?
Or would a discussion of Aamir Khan bellowing like Sunny Deol as if his gonads were stuck together with crazy glue and his head moving fast from side to side from some bizarre reason be more appropriate?
Alternatively should I talk about Asin, the Latin root of the English word “asinine” whose hyper-animated innocent girl routine was so grating that I was cheering on Ghajini and his sledgehammer to put me out my misery?
Or should the blame lie with the Murga’s direction and his ability to reduce Aamir Khan to his “Daulat ki Jung” inga-bonga days? [A glimpse of this classic may be seen here.]
Forget anything classic or unique. I understand that Aamir Khan is not obliged to be different in his choice of movies and has the full liberty to go “full commercial”.
But even by the standards of a pure revenge drama, Ghajini fails.
For me that is. [I add the “for me” as it is very plainly a superhit].
Try as I might, I failed to find even one truly great scene of unapologetic adrenaline-pumping hyperdrama, nothing even close to Sunny Deol thundering bluster while holding the bars of his jail or Shahrukh Khan, blood oozing from his quivering lips and with blood-shot eyes shouting Madannnnnnnnnn Choppprrraaaaa before performing the first male-male full penetration act ever seen in Hindi cinema. And no there is not even anything close to Suniel Shetty when he says something on the lines of “Main tab tak naheen maarta jab tak mera dushman mujhe maar maar ke thaak naheen jaate” a philosophy that Venkatesh Prasad adopted to get his wickets—-Jayasuriya would get out to him after his hands started hurting from bashing Prasad black and blue.
Instead of such healthy goodness, “Ghajini” has boredom and predictability. As I watched the movie, my mind kept wandering —never a good thing during a fast-paced action movie. What if Sanjay Singhania’s new name after being struck on the head becomes Teelu and his doctor’s name happens to be Prem Khurana “is dhande main bahoot purana” like in “Andaaz Apna Apna”? Why does Ghajini not channel Teja and say “Main Ghajini hoon kyon ki mera naam Ghajini hain”? Is Aamir Khan the first billionaire MBA from Harvard who wears suits with short sleeves ? Did Sanjay Singhania write down the lyrics and tune of each song he sang in his diaries—the ones that the police and the most jobless medical student in history (Jiah Khan) read? Does memory-lost Sanjay tattoo “remember to change underwear” on his body?
So many questions. So few answers.
And most importantly why oh why did Ghajini keep reminding me of a poor man’s Gunda? Was it the villain Ghajini shaking the head of his dead associate with a “Naam bata uska” in the style of “Marne ka naheen Kundan” ? Or was it when Ghajini says “Usne mere maut ke tareeq tay kiya hain na, main iska maut ka time deke rakhta hoon” that reminded me of “Maine iske maut ka date fix kar dee haaaain” ?
I don’t know really. Maybe it was all of them.
But what I do know was that “aise marenge ki uska nakhun bhi nahi milega” was a most ho-hum “bad-ass” dialogue especially compared to the gold standard “Hum tujhe kisi dhandewaali ki us jaga ki kori chamri ki tarah bana denge jo phatke kha kha-ke kali ho jaati hain, har mooh pe ma behen ki gaali ban jaati hain.”
That’s essentially the problem. In order for an action masala movie to work, there must be memorable moments, epic villains, great set-pieces. They don’t have to be subtle or believable. Only larger than life. The type of things you still recount with fondness fifteen years hence, not because they were amazing pieces of film-making but because they were awesomely fun.
Ghajini in the midst of its rapid camera action, airborne bodies, angry “subaah mirchi ka achaar khaya” eight-pack Aamir Khan and Asin’s (whom Indian Express describes as “nicely curved and rounded”) chulbuli “Jab We Met” act misses that vital ingredient—-the ability to imprint itself in a positive way on our memories.
To make us remember.
A totally forgettable experience.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
“…Madannnnnnnnnn Choppprrraaaaa before performing the first male-male full penetration act..” Hilarious!!!. Also loved the Andaaz Apna Apna references. Great review GB. Nice way to usher in the New Year.
You do know that it is a blatant copy of this film right?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136397/
(no, this is not the ‘original’ tamil movie)….
I now have good reason to not watch this movie. How close is it to Memento?
Whoops. I meant this one…
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/
Check out the photo Gallery too…
Why indeed? But calling it forgettable will be precipitate. I will lie awake many a night wondering why there are such gems in the movie:
Asinine says to SS ” tum wo zameen mat bechna – tumhare khaandaan ki aakhri nishani hai”
Why does Ghajini have a Haryanvi accent?
Does Indian press never ever print the photo of an heir recently returned from videsh or does Asinine never read / see the news?
Do managers always salute their “MD” when they see him on the road? (watermelon eating scene)
A friend has promised Johnny Walker Black and goat biriyani if I go with her to watch this tomorrow.Going by your review, some of the Johnny Walker would have to be consumed before I walk in to the theatre !
BTW: Venkatesh Prasad was a pretty decent bowler , no ? Are you getting spoilt by Zaheer and Ishant !!!
Where is Kishore ? I’m sure he would have taken “serious offence” at your anti-South Indianism by making fun of Venky !
Hmm…Saved my money I guess….
@TTG: Having seen Memento when it was released and was totally blown away by its brilliance, I can say that that Ghajini is definitely not a copy of Memento in any way. It borrows its basic premise from Memento and some scenes (such as policeman being gagged) but thats about it. Ghajini is original in that respect. Whether I see that as a compliment of course is a different matter.
And most importantly why oh why did Ghajini keep reminding me of a poor man’s Gunda? Was it the villain Ghajini shaking the head of his dead associate with a “Naam bata uska” in the style of “Marne ka naheen Kundan” ? Or was it when Ghajini says “Usne mere maut ke tareeq tay kiya hain na, main iska maut ka time deke rakhta hoon” that reminded me of “Maine iske maut ka date fix kar dee haaaain” ?
This is plain Deja vu. We started discussing Gunda at the very same point. I and my friends were sitting in the front row (Christmas eve and all desis beat us by half an hour to get best seats 🙂 ). We did have our own share of fun by clapping in between the most lame scenes and some people thought we were the biggest fans of Amir Khan.
Had to see Gunda and Andaaz Apna Apna again to remove marks of Ghajini from my mind. I still wake up in the middle of night sometimes and see Ghajini in front of my door with a sledgehammer.
Ghajini is hardly a poor man’s Gunda, Arnab. Play fair. It sounds a rich, culturally confused, smug urbanite’s version of that classic. If you consider the sheer entertainment index of “Andaz Apna Apna”s ilk (despite their very great embarrassment factor, I cringe when I watch them in mixed company), the “poor man’s fare” label seems infinitely preferable to the rich kid’s malfunctioning badly copied toy.
I agree with you totally,GB. Other than Aamir & Rahman’s music there isn’t good about this movie. I may have liked the concept of memory loss if i had not seen memento. But even if memento was released in India I don’t think people would have liked. The audience here who likes to be spoon-fed would not have understood it (They actually named the villain ghajini coz people would not get the connection to Mohammed ghazini). I watched the original Tamil one after watching this one and I thought that it had a better ending (i did not like this one’s ending as I thought that SS should die as no one goes away scott free after killing 50 ppl).
When I wrote my review of the movie, I was looking out for yours. Was totally worth the wait. Just felt like this was Aamir’s “Dasavatharam”…a huge ego induced trip laced with very little originality except for one thing (AK’s body here as opposed to Kamal’s I-am-in-10-different-places-at-once act). Kinda symbolic of the quality of crap that came out of Bollywood in 2008.
Great Bong, I’m so happy that I can finally hold my head up high to my friend who worked with Aamir Khan for the movie. Vicariously, I too have worked for Aamir for this movie and it’s publicity. I felt ashamed of the sins that I committed (and I’m not referring to the unnatural sexual acts that I commit) as soon as the posters and the trailers were sprinkled on to the media.
Honestly, I have lost all respect for Aamir. Frankly, he’s not even hot any more!
@GB
I agree with you when you say that this Hindi movie is inspired by Momento; but you are wrong to say that this movie is original. It is not. It is almost a scene to scene remake of the Tamil movie. Come to think of it, this movie is actually a step-down from the Tamil version. All it had different was a middle aged steroid popping farce of an actor in place of a genuinely good actor from the original.
@Rohith,
The same director and same actress is in both the movies. When I say Ghajini is original I mean both Hindi and Tamil versions.
The comparison to sunny deol is the main thought on your mind as you exit the theatre…
http://vineetgupta.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/the-ghajini-review/
@GB
Not to mention the same baddie. BTW have you seen the Original in Tamil?
Finally someone who agrees with me…I agree with the whole review with the exception of the fact that you weren’t caustic enough! More needs to be said about the ridiculously long the movie is, and that senior medical students (The leggy Jiah Khan included) were gathering around a professor who was telling them that the brain is the most important organ in the body (You don’t say!), and those idiots were taking notes!
Ghajini was not worth the money that we spend on it, but atleast it was better than the SRK Rab Ne melodrama. Honestly, I think AK could have done away without those 8-packs, seeing an aged person with “his head moving fast from side to side from some bizarre reason” was horrendous enough to scare Ghajini to his death. I think Dostana was a more enjoyable experience.
@ greatbong
I’m sorry to say but yet again you have a review that is only about tearing apart the plot of the movie and nothing more than that. By the way, if I talk about Memento which you were probably “bowled over” by, other than its nonlinear narrative (plus the acting by Guy Pearce), that movie isn’t so rich in other departments, so much so that it could be called a masterpiece. If you “straighten” the nonlinearity of Memento’s narrative, it would be nothing more than an average B-grade Hollywood flick. And then even Memento’s script has its own loophole which you would have definitely noticed had you seen it with the intention “Oh, I’m watching it to pick out those “loopholes” so that I can slam it badly in my review”.
That said, I think, with Ghajini, the film-maker’s objective was to create a mass-appealing and entertaining pot-boiler, rather than making the audience themselves grapple with a complex narrative (like Memento very well did).
I beg to differ but Ghajini does score big time with its own way of narrating the story. You don’t have to be genius to understand what’s going on in the movie (on the contrary, I had to watch Memento twice to figure out what actually was going on – okay I’m dunb!).
And if you suspend your disbeliefs and over-skepticisms, the performances by Aamir and Asin both are a highlight in the movie. As for Asin, I don’t think, since a long time, audience have seen an actress who has such a natural flair of comedy, is a complete natural, and is full of energy.
Sure, Ghajini has its own share of flaws, but in spite of being a no-brainer, it still packs a punch because of the unadulterated dose of entertainment it provides. And that’s where its actual strength lies.
And as to how the audiences found this movie, I think the box-office cash registers are telling the story!
Good review. I agree with you, Arnab. This Ghajini-wajini film is bilkul bekaar.
But I have a question to your readers….The original Tamil movie was called “Ghajini”, since it rhymed with “Rajini” (Rajnikanth). Even though the title makes no sense in Hindi, why did Aamir Khan stick to the same name “Ghajini”?
@Piyush
First of all, while mass appeal does determine box office success, it need not be an ultimate barometer of a movie’s technical accuracy…quite similar to the fact that while Shahid Afridi might make a lot of runs, you sit up late at night watching old videos of Tendulkar or Ganguly or the Waughs and not him. In the same vein let me ask you, would you watch Ghajini again? You did see Nolan’s Memento again, did you not? As for Asin, she seems good in some scenes while ok in others…maybe GB was a little hard on her…but as to the rest of it…come on, the villain, the action sequences and the dialogues were at least ten years old…as we are moving forward in time, we expect the suspension of disbelief in movies to get closer to reality. Here the action sequences were like a video game with the hero beating up scores of people with one punch each!
Taking a contrarian viewpoint for the sake of it is something that GB has been accused of before…but you Piyush must consider if you are guilty of that too…take care
i am disappointed by the name Ghajini. Would you have gone to watch the film if its name was say Seth Charandas!Also, in parts of the movie you have the feel of -ohh so south indianish- some fight scenes and songs were like cut paste from a south indian movie. Overall, not a bad but overhyped movie
@GB:
I think the latin root of asinine is asinus and not asin or Asin 😉
Arnab, Agree with you, however, I found the Asin – AK love story only the saving grace. Strange that in an action flick, the most memorable moments are the comical ones like “tumhare liye itna thanda kaafi hai” that was really comic man. C’mmon, have a laugh.
But ya, overall (as I said in my review) Average with its moments but what is the most disappointing that this is an AK movie we are talking about.
@tg
Asin has quoted that her name “means without blemish and pure”. She claims that “the ‘A’ in [her] name is from Sanskrit and word ‘Sin’ from English”. -wikipedia
like aarati, asfaq etc…
There’s no comparision to Aamir Khan’s previous works and Ghajini. It has its own appeal and is unique in many ways for Hindi cinema. Another reason I enjoyed watching Ghajini was because it was way better than the Tamil version. That said, I disliked the music and Jiah Khan.
Somehow the action scenes of this movie reminded me of the horrid movie ‘Sin City’ – cold, dark, and sudden.
Maybe this is why you missed the Sunny Deol style of loud action. Maybe that was the intention.
Aamir is almost like a superhero in this movie..this movie may have some flaws but it was certainly very different from the typical stuff on Indian cinema.
You have grown past the medium of movies as a source of entertainment. Quit the habit of watching movies.
You have grown past the medium of movies as a source of entertainment, quit the habit of watching movies.
***I dont know how ‘piyush’ came as the name for my comment
@Piyush
I second you, the other Piyush. 🙂
But we like and respect you GB as a great blogger. So keep writing! Your non-filmi posts are well-researched and thought provoking. 🙂
GB,
I agree in part – especially w.r.t.the villian, his goons (all appear a bit cartoonish), some corny dialogues and there being various loopholes in the plot – it could have been better even within a commercial framework.
However, unlike you, I found myself hooked through the length of the movie. I enjoyed the love story and thought that Aamir was brilliant and Asin did a good job. I also enjoyed the music by ARR although the background score was a bit too OTT for my taste.
Net net, I enjoyed my experience and am also game for a second viewing.
@Piyush,
Lets say I re-arrange your name’s letters Piyush to make it Pushyi, then the meaning of your name is changed. Right? Similarly if you change the order of Memento’s narrative, it becomes a different movie, a movie that is not “Memento”. In other words, it is the non-linearity that defines Memento and gives it its meaning.
And its not just about the concept. Or the violence. Or the “twist”. Memento was about a person unable to cope with loss because of a condition that takes away the healing quality of time.
This to me was a far deeper concept than is explored by most B-grade Hollywood movies. And definitely far deeper than Aamir Khan flattening a mohalla full of goons with his bare hands.
@GB
I agree that it was the non-linear narrative of Memento that gave it its distinctiveness and was part of the reason I liked it the way it was made.
However, when I read some reviews (by you, or others), often reviewers analyze and compare a Bollywood movie with a Hollywood movie, using the same “lens” which I don’t feel is justified. Because audiences differ in their tastes and sensibilities, and what might appeal to you in a Hollywood movie might not in a Bollywood movie. And I felt Ghajini did strike a chord the way it was presented, at least to those for whom Bollywood masala movies are a staple diet.
@GB:
(A piece of advice so that you don’t feel disappointed next time)
You will know a film is not good even if aamir khan is in it if hear the word ‘zimbabwe’ being crooned in chorus in a jiah khan item song.
Chak de Zimbabwe, i guess, is not the audience’s preference.
@Piyush,
Please look at my review once again. Please note that in the original post, I make no comparison to Memento even though I knew of the “inspirations”. I compare Ghajini to the potboiler action thrillers of the past made in Bollywood and find it lacking with respect to them. I never expected Ghajini to be Memento—the moment I saw five copies of Aaamir Khan clad in different Govinda-throwaway clothes dancing in the promos I knew that the criteria for appreciation would be different than what I have for Memento. So I wonder where you saw the “Hollywood lens” in the original post.
If I had the higbrow lens as you say I do, I would never have been able to appreciate the genius of a Gunda or Haseena Man Jayegi or RajaBabu or Deewana Mastana or Baazigar or Mohra….
@ GB
No, I categorically never said its *you* who use that lens. But I still find it by and large true in various reviews. Also, I found the Memento mention in one of your comment replies, and not in the original post.
That said, my point is that audience tastes differ and the reasons why you didn’t like the movie are precisely the same one which made many other like it. Also, it’s not fair to compare Ghajini with Andaaz Apna Apna. AAA belonged to a completely different genre altogether. And no matter how much you appreciate a movie like Gunda or Sunny Deol action movie, it’s again unfair to compare them with something like Ghajini. In spite of the no-brainer action sequences (that still entertained many, if not many others), Ghajini had a refreshing love story, and plenty of genuinely likeable moments. And that’s why audience are flocking into theaters. But again, I understand that you don’t necessarily have to like it just for these reasons. 🙂
I guess where the makers got it right – twice over (remember, it was a big hit in Tamil too) – was in giving something for (almost) everyone. Just going through multiple reviews of the movie, apart from those who either liked or disliked all aspects, there are quite a few who either liked the love story part or the action part but not the other.
From an economic standpoint, Aamir is straddling both segments (mass popularity and sensitive subjects) very well. After the failure of Mangal Pandey (commercially risky film), it is Fanaa (a typical potboiler) that set up the likes of RDB and TZP. Similarly, Ghajini sets up 3 Idiots and the other off beat films (Dhobi Ghat, untitled film dealing with the plight of farmers) that he is either producing or starring in. To me, that makes a lot of sense.
Hi GB,
Lets start my comment with a happy new year. Hope you have been doing well. Coming back to your blog after a long long time…from those days of khatarnaak debates with Rishi Khujur about Islam and all. 😀
Lets just say I agree with your review. I myself wrote one and almost on the similar lines. Only thing is i lacked your humour. So its not worth reading. 😛
But there is one point at which I disagree to you. Asin is pristine in this movie. She’s probably the only reason which gives you back the 75 rs out of 150 u may have spent for this one. Its really strange that the kind of action thriller it promisses to be, only the 15 minutes (!!)of romantic emotions are those that linger in your mind …
The next thing I liked is the sincity (someone already drew the comparison), like action at hte end. Also the sets…the claustrophobic alleys ?? were they unintentional? even if they were, it jsut gives a great feel…like amir roaming through a tunnel looking for something, and obscure goons(obscure memories rather) obstructing ihs progress…i know may be a far fetched deconstruction…but liked the sequence…apart from that there is very littlel good to see in the movie. Amir does look old. over all the movie doesnt score many brownie points.
@dibyo
Hey bade bhai,
In addition to criticizing venky, GB also did some serious mudslinging on Asin. Some other people also tried to insult her intelligence by questioning her explanation of her name….tsk tsk tsk…Kishor or no kishor, I think we should put this site on monitor…
I think north indian people are unnecessarily criticising the movie becaue it is south indian made.
All south indian directors and actors are very good.
The only shortcoming in the movie is that it is not shot in south india.
I think murugdas told Amir how to act nicely.
It is also wrong to criticise venkatesh prasad after he has retired.
He was the greatest indian fast bowler and bowled very fast slower balls.
Due to bias against south indians he was always sent to bat at no. 10 and could not make many runs like bhajji.
Yep, Ghajini is a failure. Its a movie that is trying to be smarter than it is. All the psycho babble about 15 mins leads to so many logical loop holes that make it impossible for u to leave ur brains outside the theater and “just enjoy!” I mean I have no problems believing that a millionaire actually cares about wat is said about him in a tabloid and goes out to meet the girl in person and the same guy roams around town in a fleet of no less than 5 cars air-force-one style. I like that stuff!!
But the exact copy of this one in Tamil with Surya was a “super-duper hit”. So may be Aamir Khan does not ghost direct his movies that much after all?
@Piyush: I don’t think anybody here is comparing Ghajini to anything else, neither Memento nor AAA. The fact of the matter is that the whole angle of Anterograde Amnesia hasn’t been exploited at all and that’s what is the most disappointing. Even in terms of a no-brainer action flick, it doesn’t hold much promise coz. the hero is only as strong as the bad guy. And Ghajini didn’t exude any awe or terror. A few chuckles maybe.
I beg to differ with your last sentence saying that it is a totally forgettable experience because some instances of the movie have etched permanently in my memory and each time someone utters the word Ghajini, that corner of the brain starts throbbing and often the pain gets so intense that I find myself pretty much like Aamir himself in the movie boiling with four-day -constipated-chilly-ass rage for having actually spent hard earned money on this epitome of stupidity.
A few questions of my own –
1. When Aamir flies to London, he undergoes a security check in the airport and in the next scene emerges out of his car. Awesome security setup and this after the heightened alert in the country of airborne attacks!!!
2. There was a tatoo with the name of Anthony and his phone number in one of the packs of the eight? Wondering if he forgot that he had a mobile phone too to store the same?
God there are so many many lapses that I wonder if to make the movie realistic,Aamir had actually made it mandatory for the whole unit to forget everything they had shot every fifteen minutes and started all over again each time.
Horrible movie but I loved the scene where a slap twisted the neck of the crony. Reminded me of a story in Chacha Chowdhary when Sabu does the same to a villian who then goes around with 10 knots in his neck !!
Hello Jee,
Ek swaal hai yaar..!!
Do u really watch movies for entertainment? OR do you actually sit through the movie so that you can put a review later on. (not only applicable to the original post)..
I mean.. somehow I feel some people here over-analysing the movie.
For me, the barometer of a movies’ good-“ness” is
a) whether I feel like getting out in the middle of the movie.
b) I actually do so
c) keep checking the time on my watch to wait for the interval or the climax.
d) start feeling un-necessarily hungry(another excuse to get out of there).
e) keep spitting out words “what the fuck”, “Bh*****d, ye chal kya raha hai”..”abe kyaa bakwaas hai” with an expression on my face like the one Aamir had in the movie.
f) and some other similar symtoms..
None of these actually happened.. so for me , its a success..
As long as it does make me aware of underlying stupidity(with making the special effort of finding it),its OK.. because at the end of the day, thats what it was made for..
Did not you know so before going to the movie? that its NOT a Taare Zameen par, IQBAL or Black, but a “GHAJINI”…
I did feel irritated at the start(mean, start showing the signs I mentioned above), when I saw that “Bachchoo” song, and those fast-forward scenes, and that inspector challenging(to himself), “48 hours ke andar…”.. and I utterly, “Saleee, typical southie movie”(Please dont take it as regional comment)..but then it did pan out well enough later on.
All the specific/special scenes mentioned above(not an exhaustive list I am sure), like people saluting MD, nobody-seem-to-be-knowing MD of the biggest telecom provider in country did raise my eyebrows etc etc.. but they were ignorable in a pure MASALA movie..
Aamir did look “justified” enough to be what he had become, ok, the treatment could have been better, there could have been more answers, like one at the end, where Aamir almost kills every goon in the town but GHAJINI himself..(only then his so called 15 minute metal alarm goes off)..basically that alarm was more tuned to director’s requirement , than the atomic clock…
But you do like AAMIR’s stone faced robotic actions at times(at least not irritated), and Asin (not a happy-go-lukcy Kareena of Jab we met), but definitely more than bearable. could have been less sweety-sweety.
See, inspite of all this , I dont feel like wasting my 200(after a long time, mind you).
Anyway, wrote enough..Good that, I had not read this review before the movie, or I might have come out of the theatre cursing the movie(which happens mooooooost of the times)..
For me, a more apt review of the movie was by CNN Muchchad Rajeev Masand.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masands-verdict-ghajini-is-dumb-and-celebrates-it/81344-8.html
PS: I did read this review before the movie, may be that has affected my watch of the movie, I will make sure I dont READ ANY review before the movie next time if I plan to watch a certain movie..
OR may be 5 years later, I reach your “intellectual level” to bisect the movie the way you guys do..haha..
Keep up GB and all others.. my favorite time pass is this blog.
Hello Jee,
Ek swaal hai yaar..!!
Do u really watch movies for entertainment? OR do you actually sit through the movie so that you can put a review later on. (not only applicable to the original post)..
I mean.. somehow I feel some people here over-analysing the movie.
For me, the barometer of a movies’ good-“ness” is
a) whether I feel like getting out in the middle of the movie.
b) I actually do so
c) keep checking the time on my watch to wait for the interval or the climax.
d) start feeling un-necessarily hungry(another excuse to get out of there).
e) keep spitting out words “what the fuck”, “Bh*****d, ye chal kya raha hai”..”abe kyaa bakwaas hai” with an expression on my face like the one Aamir had in the movie.
f) and some other similar symtoms..
None of these actually happened.. so for me , its a success..
As long as it does make me aware of underlying stupidity(without making the special effort of finding it),its OK.. because at the end of the day, thats what it was made for..
Did not you know so before going to the movie? that its NOT a Taare Zameen par, IQBAL or Black, but a “GHAJINI”…
I did feel irritated at the start(I mean, started showing the signs I mentioned above), when I saw that “Bachchoo” song, and those fast-forward scenes, and that inspector challenging(to himself), “48 hours ke andar…”.. and I uttered, “Saleee, typical southie movie”(Please dont take it as regional comment :-))..but then it did pan out well enough later on.
All the specific/special scenes mentioned above(not an exhaustive list I am sure), like people saluting MD, nobody-seem-to-be-knowing MD of the biggest telecom provider in country did raise my eyebrows etc etc.. but they were ignorable in a pure MASALA movie..
Aamir did look “justified” enough to be what he had become, ok, the treatment could have been better, there could have been more answers, like one at the end, where Aamir almost kills every goon in the town but GHAJINI himself..(only then his so called 15 minute metal alarm goes off)..basically that alarm was more tuned to director’s requirement , than the atomic clock…
But you do like AAMIR’s stone faced robotic actions at times(at least not irritated), and Asin (not a happy-go-lukcy Kareena of Jab we met), but definitely more than bearable. could have been less sweety-sweety.
See, inspite of all this , I dont feel like wasting my 200(after a long time, mind you).
Originality, well.. bhai mere liye to original hee hai.. Watchin a Momento is certainly difficult for people like me from North India,(May be with subtitles, nahi to kuch palle nahi padhtaa kya bol rahe hai sale), Never felt the “desire” to learn Tamil(and thus , NO Ghajini the Tamil version):-)
Anyway, wrote enough..Good that, I had not read this review before the movie, or I might have come out of the theatre cursing the movie(which happens mooooooost of the times)..
For me, a more apt review of the movie was by CNN Muchchad Rajeev Masand.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masands-verdict-ghajini-is-dumb-and-celebrates-it/81344-8.html
PS: I did read this review before the movie, may be that has affected my watch of the movie, I will make sure I dont READ ANY review before the movie next time if I plan to watch a certain movie..
OR may be 5 years later, I reach your “intellectual level” to bisect the movie the way you guys do..haha..
Lage Raho , GB and others.. Sahi time paas ho tum log!! 🙂
@Rakesh
Okay, maybe I was wrong when I said the review “compared” Ghajini to AAA or other movies. But does it really make sense to fathom “humor” in situations when the protagonist is out to seek vengeance (e.g., why isn’t he called “Teelu” after the accident, or the references to “Dr. Khurana”, or “Teja” from AAA)? Maybe true for GB as he confessed having rooted for the villain when he murdered Asin in the movie! But sorry and I would beg to differ, many others – who liked the Aamir/Asin love story and empathized the pain and anguish Aamir’s character was going through after she was brutally murdered in front of his eyes – didn’t feel the same. Also, is it really a matter of concern (or surprise) as to why the protagonist didn’t get “remember to change underwear” tattooed on his body?
Agreed, as GB did point out, some of the dialogs uttered by the villain indeed sounded corny. But then there were plenty of other genuinely nice and funny moments/dialogs during the romantic episode between Aamir and Asin that linger in your mind. As for action sequences, even though unrealistic, they were brilliantly shot. And although the review found it otherwise, I still believe that Aamir as a revenge seeker was many notches better than the likes of Sunny Deol or Suneel Shetty, whose antics are termed as “healthy goodness” by the review.
I agree, the movie did have its share of flaws but the flaws were worth ignoring, given the performances by its lead pair (Aamir/Asin), and the freshness of a love story which is one of its kind seen in the recent times in Hindi movies.
I watched the movie and it was pretty good. Usually when I read your review, you would have solid reasons and viewpoint, in this I didn’t find many. There is a lot of comparisons in your review but none of them proves a point. Though “asinine” was clever(Raja Sen?), Murga is of Great Indian Laughter Challenge level of humor.
The movie doesnt live upto the hype. The things that didn’t work for me.
1. If Amir had so many managers why couldnt he appoint 1 of them to find out the Ghajini characters instead of running around like crazy on the streets.
2. He could have asked one of his confidante’s to put all his story on his Iphone and show it to him every 15 mins to remind him of everything.
3. When the heroine was in the closet hiding from the bad guys, she could have SMS’ed Amir about the situation, so Amir wouldnt knock and alert the goons when he came to her house after seeing her call.
4. Which CEO searches for locations for putting up his hoardings himself ?
5. Why does Asin remind me of Monisha of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, even her mannerisms and penchant for cheap things ?
6. Amir gives the Thele wala his credit card(to show he doesnt use real money), but duly gives the change to the rickshaw wallas all the time
I preferred Rab Ne more than Ghajini. Atleast it had some character I could root for with some heartfelt emotions than senseless violence. I guess they tried to copy Memento, but couldnt put in so much effort with the logic, so veered on to making a south indian masala flick
I’ve seen the “original” Tamil version, and went to see Hindi Ghajini with a hope that Aamir must have corrected the loop-holes and mistakes in the plot.
But I was utterly disappointed when (apart from other dumb bloopers) the symptoms of anterograde amnesia was explained as: he lost *all* of his memory, and can only remember things for 15 minutes of so.
This is incorrect and actually ends up hurting the core premise of the movie – REVENGE. If Sanjay doesn’t remember anything from his previous life (except few moments from the ‘incident’) then his NEED/WANT for revenge is undermined to a great degree.
PS. A patient with anterograde amnesia, as correctly shown in Memento, actually retains all his memory before the incident.
My goodness, did TTG just suggest that Greatbong didn’t know this was inspired from memento?
Wonderful review. You always find a way to articulate what bothers me about the mvoies I don’t like. Gajini the villain was a disgrace. I think major blame goes to Murugadas. I doubt he gets Hindi that well. Anyone who did wouldn’t settle for the nakhun line (am wondering how Amir did). He also did’t develop the chemistry between Asin & Singhania that well, and if you watch Tamil movies you know that chemistry is not really needed as long as you can get someone to say “i love you” the second time you meet the person.
Aamir Khan as always was seeking to push the envelop with this movie – a typical masala movie, something one doesn’t associate him with. He wants to do what you don’t expect him to do. And he did that. He didn’t succeed much.
In the day and age of some 5 business channels in India it is hard to believe the CEO of a big telecom company just disappears and no one knows about him.
So you go to alert a guy that someone might be planning to kill him, and you are sitting in his living room, 5 to 6 weird looking men stand behind him. I don’t know about Asin, but I would really have a few questions about that in my mind.
For those who wonder how the head of a billion dollar business can go unrecognised, how many of you know who the head of the Times group of publications is? Or, how many of you know what Tulsi Tanti looks like?
i mean jiah not asin.
Ghajini was pretty terrible in many ways, and yes, I was strongly reminded of the Gunda marne-ka-nahin moment as well. It was not overtly violent either. I scare pretty easily, but the action sequences were not even remotely cringeworthy. I did not get why Amir travels to London on a Schengen visa, why their whole romance has him acting like a coy, shy schoolboy and Asin acting like the man in the relationship. I am told, Surya pulled off a much better performance in the Tamil version, and let’s not even get into how much better Memento was! The only scene I liked – when Amir walks up to Ghajini cowering behind a pillar and with no clue as to what had just transpired. The way Ghajini jumps out of his skin made me laugh. Although, was the scene meant to be funny in the first place? Hmm…
Whatever all of you says here (criticism or compliments), Ghajini is already a BIG SUPERHIT !!!
Hmmmmm, Ghajini wasn’t that bad. After all, it was meant to be a Bollywood masala film.
I haven’t watched Memento but I guess a scene-by-scene copy of it would have bombed at the Indian box-office.
And thanks to Ghajini’s superhit status, Asin has a good innings in Bollywood ahead of her.
GB,
Chhodo yeh sab movies yaar….review those amazing 90’s flicks like Deewana Mastana and Haseena Maan Jaayegi and all Govinda-David Dhawan comedies. They deserve their own posts, don’t you think!?
I did not dislike Ghajini as much as you did, I did find it watchable. But yes, it is far from a good movie. In essence it is a Sunny Deol movie only structurally slightly complex. Actually, the brand Aamir Khan gave it a different standing, had it been Sunny, Akshay or Sunil Shetty the critics would have viewed it differently.
Go easy on “Daulat ki Jung” – that was actually a very watchable light-hearted adventure caper with pretty competent performances by Juhi Chawla and Aamir.
If you have to list the turkeys that Aamir has acted in over the years, there’s actually a pretty impressive roaster you can cite –
Love Love Love
Deewana Mujhsa Nahin
Tum Mere Ho
Awwal Number
Mela
Mann
and many more.
Let’s get a few things straight first…
Ghajini is indeed a totally forgettable experience and a complete wastage of time & money (for the audience, not for the makers). Most of the reviewers have not said this directly only because it’s Aamir Khan movie. A paid reviewer might have other obligations too. Thanks to GB for this very “matter-of-fact” review, but I would like to remind him that it’s also equally pointless to reply to people who send you IMDB link of ‘Memento’ or who claim that barring a few technicalities ‘Memento’ is same as B-grade bollywood flick. Aamir tries to do different things with each of his movies; but this time I totally missed the surprise element. B-grade movies are not new for him, probably this time he tried to show that he can carry off B-grade carbon copy of a south Indian movie and still able to generate huge return of investments. I hope we will get back the real Aamir Khan in Rajkumar Hirani’s “3 Idiots”.
@Sayandip: Ghajini is meant to entertain the masses. It doesn’t claim itself of being intelligent cinema like Memento. It provides entertainment and provides it in ample doses.
@PIYUSH ..
” since a long time, audience have seen an actress who has such a natural flair of comedy, is a complete natural, and is full of energy.” ???????????? *** BAAARFFFF *****
You can’t be serious!!!!!
Her (non)acting in ghajini is the most irritating , overacting pile of crapola i’ve ever sat through.
Only other actor who has managed to achieve her level of overacting annoyance is SRK.
Great Bong Mahashay,
A simple question for you:
Which was the last hindi film you actually enjoyed and didn’t make fun of?
Though amir is good. movie does not offer anything different from typical hindi movie formula with unconvincing memory loss thing thrown in. completely agree with u……
i dunt do this often (simply because i watch rarely), but with ghajini i left the movie midway…just about where the horrible “stickly” jia khan started her complimentary dance performance…its a diff matter that my friends tell me that the latter half (or quarter) of the movie is almost bearable, a definite far cry from the first “half” and its sleep/coma inducing love story with the high-on-red-bull and incredibly hopeless asin, and the well pointed out corporate-giant-with-short-sleeves-shirt (coincides with the newly acquired 8 packs and biceps 🙂 ) which moans on and on till u feel like melting away in ur seat just to escape the tremendous torture…
funny thing is amir khan does one movie on average in a year or two, and if this is what he delivers after waiting for that much..its not so much his loss as ours…after rang de basanti, the hope of light had been tare zameen par, and its back to ground level with ghajini.
Ghajini is a typical masala movie as most South Indian action movies are….I ‘m sure everyone knew this before stepping into the cinema hall to watch Ghajini….I watched it for sheer entertainment and pretty much liked it…I think Mr. Bong you have started watching movies now not for its entertainment value rather its seems you watch it so that you can analyse in details, write in your blog and present yourself as a person whose perception is different then the masses!! WHen I read your blogs on Gunda, one which you have refered countless times, it is clear that you thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t help mentioning it again and again….dude have you stopped enjoying mindless action flicks now?
To me, off late Aamir khan comes across as a pretentious guy who feels the need to show off at every opportunity he gets. For all the things srk does, one thing is that he does seem genuine. Whereas, Aamir needs to take digs at people taking potshots at people and all. This is a regular potboiler movie borrowing the main concept from memento, but since the non-linear narration of that movie is not palpable to indian audience(or so they thought), they ironed it out and made the narration almost linear, added some non-nonsensical naach gaana and romantic sequences and voila, you have Ghazini. What actually baffles me in this whole thing is that audacity of director, even when confronted by press that this is a ‘freemake’ of a particular english movie, they blatantly deny it. Another case is ‘God tussi great ho’. In an interview of the director Rumi jaffery
What is God Tussi Great Ho about?
It is about Arun Prajapati [Salman], who is fed up with life, as everything he does goes wrong. He gets very upset with God, and holds Him responsible for everything.
So God decides to meet him and talk to him. After a chat, they reach the conclusion that Arun will be God for a day. Arun is very happy and tries to do good for everyone. But whenever he tries to help, it backfires on him. So he realizes that whatever God has given us is the best for us.
Is the film a copy of Hollywood film Bruce Almighty?
No.
What then is the inspiration for the film?
It has been inspired from a folk tale.
Yeah, folk tale, my ass
It’s a different story that the end result is usually crap.
I like it A LOT…
And Asin was a refreshing change to Katrina Kaif and Aishwarya Rai…
It’s definitely not a film an “intellectual” can enjoy but whatever.
GB- If possible,try to get your hands on another masterpiece by Christopher Nolan.It’s called “Following”.
Think Aamir Khan is getting back at us for Taare Zameen Par. In TZP Aamir Khan gets screen time post the interval. Ghajini is just law of averages catching up.
AK must be saying “missed me? here I am”
Seriously … the most idiotic reviews I’ve ever read in my life … u shud remember:
1. U R WATCHING A HINDI MOVIE – You can cannot bring logic into each & every thing – like does he remembers to change his underwears” WHO CARES …
2. Did Sanjay Singhania write down the lyrics and tune of each song he sang in his diaries – Songs make the Indian movies unique? What the author is so critical about it now? Did he ever think that when a couple sings a song Indian movies, whr does the music come from?
I agree, the movie may not be as good as TZP or RDB …. It’s a commercial movie for the common, normal people like us …. Maybe abnormal ones like the author should just skip it for our good 🙂
I am an aamir khan fanatic.. no doubt i was looking forward for this movie for such a long time( dec 21st 2007, after catching FDFS of TZP)… to say the least it dissapointed me..
i will say only this: aamir rocks and there is no doubt about his acting capabilities and we all know he is the best we have.
asin is also a very fresh face in the saturated industry with katrinas and kareenas around.. she looks very honest..i also like her coz she looks a lot like my girlfriend.
ghajini the villain was pathetic.
music was really lousy.. ARR was clearly underpaid.
direction was the worst of all..
in short ” joto dosh, MURGA-DOSS”
@Thalassa: Don’t forget Atank hi Atank. But I agree Daulat ki Jung was pretty watchable.
learnings from ghajini:
* dont ever watch a tamil directors debut hindi film..
* dont write everything and anything in ur diary so if u get cought ur mom will know that u like to wear yellow panties at nite
* after doing MBA from harward dont give it on the english language- write ur dear diary moments in hindi.
* when u know u have to kill a guy named ghajini u better take a chill pill coz u know they will NOT have a single gun with them.. they all come home early to watch cartoon network.
* clearly dont ever take pills from GD pharmaceuticals. they might add 0.5 M arrogance and 50ml studip dialouge deliveries at all wrong places with ur sleeping pills.. Its beyond any doubt that Mr. Ghajini knows anything about pharma industry.
* when u r given a choice if u want ur medical case to be made for private viewing ( for friends)or public viewing( for everyone) please click on private viewing radio button.
* if u loose ur memory tomorrow watch any news channel around the world anytime… u’ll feel u r way better like this than the whole freaking world.
@Piyush: That’s what we are talking about. Isn’t it strange if the most memorable moments of an Action flick are its comical ones? I did like the Aamir / Asin angle and GB didn’t like it. But that apart, it was supposed to be an phsycotic action thriller and it failed badly there.
And no there is not even anything close to Suniel Shetty when he says something on the lines of “Main tab tak naheen maarta jab tak mera dushman mujhe maar maar thaak naheen jaate” a philisophy that Venkatesh Prasad adopted to get his wickets—-Jayasuriya would get out to him after his hands started hurting from bashing Prasad black and blue.
Priceless 😀
@amreekandesi:
“Somehow the action scenes of this movie reminded me of the horrid movie ‘Sin City’ – cold, dark, and sudden.”
Whaaaaaat? You didn’t like Sin City? Wow. Goes on to prove how people’s tastes differ, I guess. Which is why review posts always garner so much passionate opinion. For me Sin City was an amazing experience, and I can’t wait for parts 2 and 3 to come out! What technical virtuosity! What style! Robert Rodrigues rocks.
But you hate it. So there.
__________________________
I also agree with some of the ppl who wrote they liked the love story. I actually thought it was sweet and funny and Asin didn’t grate on my nerves as it did on Arnab’s. I quite liked her model-grabbing-an opportunity-to-become-famous act.
Oh and it is a stretch to say that the head of a Telecom company should be immediately recognizable. Not every one is as media hungry as Anil Ambani. I have no clue how the Vodafone head looks like. I will also not even be able to recognize Sunil Mittal if I saw him in the street. How many of you would?
Ghajini was disappointing mainly because it was an Aamir Khan movie. We expect better fom him. But I suppose he has to do a Fanaa and Ghajini from time to time so that he can give us RDB and TZP. I’ll take that. That’s more than I get from all the other stars put together.
And one genre that Aamir has not cracked so far was the action hero one. He had tried in Baazi (pretty good movie btw) and failed. So this is his proof to himself that he can bellow and snarl with the best of ’em.
Maybe the next masala movie he chooses to do will be a horror flick! 🙂
“Is Aamir Khan the first billionaire MBA from Harvard who wears suits with short sleeves?”
Ha ha ha…I think he’s aping Tom Hanks, which he tries desperately to do quite often…
I had a simple observation while watching Ghajini.
When Momento was made in year 2000 digicams were not so prevalent and the best option the protagonist had was to use that instant shoot and print camera which he carried all the time.
But c’mon this is 2008 and you have 1000s of digicams and smartphones which you can carry to click and take notes. Who would carry that kind of cumbersome camera in this age !!
Does it mean that this movie is so much inspired by “Momento” that such a simple thing escaped their mind ??
Tom Hanks wears suits with short sleeves? Granted I’ve only come face to face with Mr. Hanks once in my life, but he seemed quite impeccably dressed (and so were his adorable kids). No short sleeve suits.
Thanks Arnab for a Ghajini review which I could relate to. Missing an Aamir Khan movie is not an option for me. I did not go to the movie to watch a believable plot. I had suspended my disbelief. Still I could not sit through the movie. I found it so bad.
However I must add that a couple of my friends found the movie real entertaining. The movie is a hit already. Goes on to show how synched with people am I.
I would still watch all the Aamir movies and will not allow this one datapoint to corrupt my behaviour.
I guess its time you introspected as to what your objective of watching a Movie is! This piece over analyses.
“Did Sanjay Singhania write down the lyrics and tune of each song he sang in his diaries.”
What better example than the above lines! lol. By the same logic you could also rip apart every damn movie ever made! Nah! Every shot ever shot in Bollywood!
Ghajini, I thought was passable and entertaining for sure. As for plot loop holes go, this ones surely a collectors delight. And I liked the romantic angle as well and thought Asin was quite likeable. Overanimated at places, but I think thats how her character was inteneded to be.
When i visited this blog post last time, I hadn’t watched the movie (as I am not the sort of “first day first show” girl.
but now as I have watched the movie, i can comment on here.
I say you are ridiculously wrong about the movie.
I say the movie is perfectly valid on the standards of entertainment and justification.
I say Amir khan proved again that he is a class actor and even in commercial works he can perform much better than any Shah Rukh shame on khans, or Sunny deol.
The major thing was,all of the violent acts of the movie were justified.
he did not attacked/hurt anyone in any manner which cannot be reasoned out.
Even when Amir beats the police Officer and chokes him out, it was JUSTIFIED, and for me that was the best scene of the movie.
No matters he was police officer or he had perfect evidences of Amir being the killer, Logically the police officer had no right to enter his house his property, and not only that, that officer even attacked and harassed Amir. and in return, Amir taught that officer well, about the importance of “property rights”.
But to be fair, I really liked this part of it! ROTFL.
“Main tab tak naheen maarta jab tak mera dushman mujhe maar maar thaak naheen jaate” a philisophy that Venkatesh Prasad adopted to get his wickets—-Jayasuriya would get out to him after his hands started hurting from bashing Prasad black and blue.
And yes to be added, all the killings Amir (Amir doesn’t matter,lets say the story hero) did, were valid and the killed characters deserved death.
be it the first scene of Amir in the movie, he kills one of the person who was involved in killing of his girl friend and almost killed him too. it was valid to kill him. Overall, he killed 5 people and each of it was justified.
In fact, the violent acts of Ghajini were more justifiable than the violent act of Rang De Basanti. In Rang De Basanti, they killed the Minister, ignoring the fact that no matters how corrupt the minister was, but the fighter planes were testified by the technicians first before the deal and the report of the technician was submitted to the air force too.
So if the planes were faulty, and still they were brought without any opposition, then it was fault of Technicians and the pilot themselves and not the minister.
An addendum – I have watched Memento and was able to figure it out albeit at the end – thanks to my interest in non linear flim making and various other concepts including the interesting likes of the German hit ‘Run Lola Run’.
But, for all your raving on Memento, If I was you and was scrutinising the movie, I could lay bare a few loopholes there as well! (It quite well documented by quite a few Movie sites)
“Ghajini” is a fascinating study of the darkest and the noblest recesses of the human mind, a monument to ultra-violence, a gripping action thriller with characters so beautifully etched that you end up caring for the protagonists and what happens to them. Deservedly the top grosser of 2008.
I was shocked at your judgement when I read these first lines. Sanity was restored later :). Aamir prances like The Hulk in his action scenes. Awful movie.
I wouldn’t say the movie was so bad… but what makes it suck real bad is the music… the lyrics and timing of the songs makes no sense… but the music… especially behka behka… trying to understand the lyrics and the rhythm gave me a headache..
Ghajini was a piece of crap, just like any other bollywood masala movie with a little bit of everything mixed with hyper aggressive publicity. Thank god I did not have to pay to watch it. I think it is the hype because of which may people liked it. Another reason lots of people like it is because they don’t want to miss the opportunity of liking a movie which is this big a hit (Just like some people vote for the stronger party). The action was pathetic, the romance was fake and the comedy was for a five year old. I don’t see why this movie is any better than Jimmy. In fact this weekend when we were thinking about which movie to watch (out of Jimmy and Ghajini), I and my friends unanimously voted for Jimmy and I enjoyed it much more than I did for Ghajini. Your references to Gunda were expected as I also felt this movie was hugely inspired by it (just like it was from Memento) but not everybody can recongnise.
Let me say something to posters who have asked to “ignore” the flaws while watching the movies. Well, the problem is that I will have to ignore the whole movie in this case. The scene where Amir Khan enters the apartment and finds Asin dying, I was wondering why was she so calm that the hero could not realize it until he actually sees the knife in the back. Was she on the villain’s side and was trying to make sure hero comes in the room so far inside that he can not escape. Why could not she just tell him to run away. Of course he would not leave Asin but at least he would be more alert and would not become a victim of Ghajini so easily.
Hey GB,
First of all, thank you for writing a review that this senseless collection of film reels actually deserves.
Second of all, I started watching the Tamil version a while back and couldn’t sit through more than a half hour. The only thing that got me to watch the Hindi version was Aamir Khan, and sadly, his version being almost a scene-to-scene copy of the Tamil version, was absolutely un-sit-through-able.
And I had thought Fanaa was his lowest point (not to mention Mann). This is even worse. It just makes me wonder if Aamir Khan has run out of funds; is in desperate need of money, and if this is his version of a la Amitabh-Bacchan-starring-in-Suryavansham.
And finally, coming back to the movie, a few more points to note,
– No comparisons with Memento please.
– Asin’s role was unbearable.
– to all those cmon-yaar-its-a-hindi-film-leave-your-brains-behind posters, my friends and have done that in the past for movies like Jaani Dushman, Jimmy, Mr. Prime Minister, Main Solah Baras Ki (the list goes on..) and even _that_ didn’t help Ghajini. This movie, for me is in the same bucket as Karan Johar’s KANK.
I disagree. The music was very good in my view. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it is typical of most of ARR’s songs that they grow on you rather than click the first few times you hear them.
I agree the placement in the movie made little sense – except for Kaise Mujhe & Lattoo – however, it was not grating enough to make me dislike the movie.
hey have written a similar article have a look
http://abeshostel.blogspot.com/2008/12/ghajini.html
have written a similar article have a look
http://abeshostel.blogspot.com/2008/12/ghajini.html
Thank god! And it seemed to me like I was the only person around who wasn’t saying how wonderful the movie was!
I was laughing helplessly during the ‘climax’ of the movie; just couldn’t help it! What was that dungeon-cave that Ghajini was living in?? And how come they only have iron rods and no guns at the end??
Sigh, after Taare Zameen Par, I had too many expectations, I guess/
Couple of things..
1. Ghajini, as I know means “fearless” in Tamil and nothing to do with Rajnikant.
2. Asin = A Sin, as in pure.
3. Would not be watching Ghajini, anyways.
4. Same story, director, heroine, not same hero as Surya would not be saleable in North but why not the same music director? Harris Jayaraj’s music was so much nicer than what Rahman has dished out… Kishor should agree on this hopefully.
5. Thalassa, please add Mangal Pandey to your list of Aamir greatest, maybe Baazi, without the song in drag.
6. Wait for ‘Chandi Chowk to China’ … watch ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye’ if you havenot yet.
And rolled up sleeve with slim tie jacket is actually the 50’s Beatnik look, which is fashionable right now worldwide.
m actually curious now……GB…pl put in an entry saying the sun rises in the west……lets c how many of ur ardent followers second dat……!!!!!!
Things I learnt from reading through the review and the accompanying comments.
1) CEO s from Harvard have a standard dress code to adhere to. It doesn’t matter if you lead/own a company, kindly ask GB for the correct dress code.
2) After you do an MBA from harvard, forget your mother tongue. Even if sometimes the natural inclination to use your mother tongue arises, don’t.
3) Actors and actresses sing their own songs, actually fly to Switzerland and New Zealand as part of the movie to then sing them. If it is anything close to a fantasy, it is a horrible piece of film making.
4) When you have an incident leading to memory loss you forget the basic things in life like wearing your underwear.
5) Even if the original Ghajini (i mean the tamil Ghajini before people start jumping saying memento as if on some alien cue) had been made a year before Jab We Met and Asin merely does the same routine in the Hindi version, it should be noted that her act is a take off on Kareena Kapoor and not the other way round.
6) Typical masala movies are the sole propriety of south indian cinema. Such things are a taboo in Bollywood.
7) You may watch the second and onward movies of a south indian director, but never watch his first. Else you would have possibly committed the biggest sin on earth.
8) You loose your memory, you don’t lose it.
Blessed am i to have learnt so many of life’s truths by just reading one blog and the 100 odd comments following it.
Lest people accuse me of being preposterous, the last line was supposed to read 8 ) You loose your memory, you don’t lose it. Forgive me for the smiley.
This one is the return of Great Bong to me.. I was dieing for this master piece from you for sometime now. And , yes, I definitely agree with you. The south indian element in the movie has made it a comedy and I thoroughly laughed all through the movie.
HUL, your fine comment is wasted on this space.
GB just needs masala Hindi movies to fill his blog with some half-decent ‘humour’ with an eye on the best blogger prize.
Unfortunately, his form recently is as good as Matthew Hayden’s.
The romantic portion of this movie, where Sanjay Singhania masquerades as a struggling model and woos Asin who in fact is lying about being a girlfreind of the said industrialist is a ripoff from the Mithun-Rati Agnihotri starrer “Pasand Apni Apni” directed by Basu Chatterjee. How very corny……..
Having watched the tamil and hindi film – 1 thing 4 sure..
Hindi film missed the music of Harris Jayaraj. His music for the tamil original was a cracker. add to it the cinematography – editin combination of RD Rajasekhar and Anthony.
The comedy part came out extremely well in tamil but falls flat in Hindi.
Overall, a bad film in Tamil. tht deservedly got a worse film in Hindi.
now, according to the prevailing standards, bot the movies are hits.
I jus wonder – Tamil Gajini got released in 2005. Now, more than 3 years later, tamil mainstream cnema has seen a sea change in terms of quality – audience have been inundated with extremely good films which alos go on to be come superhits.. starting from kathal, Imsai arasan, chennai 28, saroja, katrathu tamil to the last one – Subramanyapuram.
A Gajini might have bitten the dust had it been a 2008 film, in Tamil.
But in Hindi, in a world which is ruled by crapolas like singh is kinnnnng and rab ne paka di jodi, Gajini is the king !!!!!!
Did you guys read this interesting take in the Times of India on the Ghajini movie and Kalpana (the character played by Asin). Its by socio-political journalist, Tarun Vijay:
‘Oh! Asin’
hey
check out for more
http://abeshostel.blogspot.com/2008/12/ghajini.html
I remember the delightful “Pasand Apni Apni” directed by Basu Chatterjee..I do wish Mithun had acted in more of such films…like Shaukeen,Pasand apni apni…
I watched Ghajini and must say, liked it. It has got a thousand loopholes and doesnt pass the logic tests, but as an ordinary viewer who usually leaves his brains behind while being in a theatre, it sure was gripping. Maybe i did not watch the moviw with a notebook trying to note down all the mistakes and thats why it was a decent watch. Given i choice, i would cut down 25% of all Indian movies and Ghajini would be no different, its just that all indian directors and producers do carry 25% (Un necessary songs and random comedy loops) flab to ensure that their movies are as as risk free as possible and to include masala to make all SEC-A/B/C segment viewers happy.
Also, most of blockbusters India have seen are typical-Sholay, Gadar, Hum Apke Hain Kaun, All Shah Rukh Movies..so why castigate Ghajini in particular.
So my take is, if u are one who would like a normal hindi movie, chances are that you will like Ghajini as well (provided u are okay with a bit of violence). If u are the type who would like movies with a bit more snob value, please rent out a DVD of Momento. If you really like “pink”/”romance” movie dealing with similar subject, watch “50 first dates” with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, which deals with a simalar issue, only a much more fun/romantic level.
GB, the review was true, and i dont disagree with it. But out there, there would be millions who would like it but i guess they are not the ones who would be reading your Blog regulary..
I don,t know what is happening with movie viewers and critics nowadays.
They hailed Ghajini and it is the highest grossing Indian film ever.I thought it was pretty average Sunil Anna type of movie.
They hailed Slumdog Millionaire (got 4 golden globes and ranks 37th in imdb).To me it was a normal bollywood Manmohan Desai type of potboiler.
I saw Gran Torino today. Though it was not a bad movie it was nothing out of the ordinary to have 125th rank in imdb. This movie too was very bollywood-ish.It was Bhootnath meets Baghban (with the ending of Jannat)
I think Eastwood’s character was inspired from Nana Patekar.
10 years down the line Ghajini will be considered as one of the worst movies of Aamir.Like we laugh at Daulat ki Jung now.Infact the basic premise of the movie(writing notes,taking photos,short term memory)inspired from Memento offered a lot of scope for a good and innovative story.Instead what we get is a remake of one of the innumerable Sunil Shetty-Mithun-Ajay Devgan revenge dramas.
totally agree. I think Ghajini is lousy movie and absolute waste of time !
ghajini = demento
Completely loved your post and i must say can’t agree more.
Asin tries her best to be the next genelia and fails miserably.
Ah Great Bong, your posts inspire me to learn Hindi more even than the great lyrics of Sahir Ludhianvi so that I can truly appreciate ALL the humor in them instead of only understanding half of it (which is still enough to keep me coming back for more).
You are just hilarious man!!!!I got introduced to your blog n I am stuck with it….Awesome!!
Aamir Khan bellowing like Sunny Deol as if his gonads were stuck together with crazy glue
Madannnnnnnnnn Choppprrraaaaa before performing the first male-male full penetration act
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA
If u guys r so upset with d movie ‘Ghajini, go n watch ‘Chandni Chowk 2 China’. May b u’ll like. When u say something, just compare wid other movies also.
Though I do not want to spoil all the excitement above, I can not help but say that given the kind of tone, style, and thoughts, displayed in the criticism above, it hardly qualifies to give one proper critical point on the quality of the film – for or against it. When it is obvious that it is not a film that is time defeating, it is also very much true that it is not only worth seeing but also worth cherishing. If Memento is the president, Ghajini is the Secretary of State.
Ghsjni is lovely movoie no doubt.
About criticizing things, some people are good at it. Some people although criticize but lacks any substance. They do so just for namesake.
I just watched Ghajini…and I really like the movie.I am entertained by Ghajini twice..Once in your review and twice at the movie theater….(My next comment may sound selfish…but for reading review like this..I will love to be called selfish)…I pray to the Movie God,who ever that might be,to make more movies that you dislike and I get the opportunity to read the reviews!!!
Man you rock!!!
One technical correction, u wrote :
“Ghajini is aweful”
what is aweful? There is no such word in english language.
Awe means ‘an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration’.
Even if aweful is used in this context, it would be contrary to what you are trying to say in the rest of the post.
@Ankit
One technical correction, you wrote :
“One technical correction, u wrote”
What is u? There is no such pronoun in the English language.
U means
1 a : the 21st letter of the English alphabet b : a graphic representation of this letter c : a speech counterpart of orthographic u
2 : a graphic device for reproducing the letter u
3 : one designated u especially as the 21st in order or class
4 [abbreviation for unsatisfactory] a : a grade rating a student’s work as unsatisfactory b : one graded or rated with a U
5 : something shaped like the letter U
Even if u (something shaped like the letter U) is used in this context, it would be contrary to what you are trying to say in the rest of the post which is, blog posts should have impeccable diction and perfect spelling.