GHAJINI : A Solid, Hard-hitting, Violent but Gripping Thriller. (Movie Review By Bobby Sing)

If its Aamir, then it has to be big and something first of its own kind. It’s really commendable how Aamir has emerged as an icon synonym with quality and success in the last decade. There is a huge gigantic difference in his initial movies and the current world famous epics namely, ‘Lagaan’ & ‘Taare Zameen Par’. His latest offering “Ghajini” is also as expected based on a novel theme, which is a first in Hindi Cinema.

I called it a first as in the opening few minutes only you are introduced to a disturbed hero who is a hardcore killer. He is shown brutally killing a person and just after his cruel Kill-act he goes still and stands wondering why the person lying on the floor is killed and who killed him. Certainly the Indian (Hindi) viewers have never witnessed this kind of sequence before, so the audiences are simply awestruck looking at the proceedings on the screen. And with a rock solid performance by Aamir, the film starts impressing you as it moves ahead.

“Ghajini” is said to be a remake of a South Movie with a similar name, but I was a little disappointed as I found it all inspired and quite similar to the original English Flick, “Memento”.  Though it’s not entirely a lift but no doubt certain sequences got their inspiration from the original and there should be no denial to that. The basic plot is surely inspired with some Indian elements and sentiments added to the recipe. In fact I was expecting Aamir to declare this himself with dignity and honesty but he chose to take the other way instead.

“Ghajini” is a well crafted product technically and holds you tight in the first half hour. But as the love angle of Aamir and Asin is introduced, movie becomes light and usual. The songs in this part work as a drawback and could have been avoided. The grip returns whenever the evil persona of Aamir is on the screen and that is the strongest merit of the movie. Looking at Aamir, you can feel that he has gone deep inside the character and is truly living the role with all his efforts. That’s why he is called a perfectionist. It is purely due to Aamir’s passionate performance that “Ghajini” becomes a worth watching flick.   

The movie is simply a revenge thriller with the hero killing the villain and his associates. The turning point is that the hero has a short term memory loss problem due to his head injury caused by the villain. Interestingly, he can only remember the last 15 minutes of his life and has to be reminded again of his friends and enemies. He is a millionaire owner of a cell phone company but poses to be a simple man in front of his love Asin. Asin looks fresh and provides the required emotional depth to the screenplay. Unfortunately she is killed by the villain “Ghajini” in front of Aamir and in the incident he also gets a serious head injury leading to the memory loss. A college student, played confidently by Jia Khan, helps him in his revenge, knowing his mental condition.

Apart from the lead characters, all the supporting cast entertains in the right dosage but the choice of villain could have been better as he was not able to generate the right amount of terror on the screen. His language and way of rendering the dialogues also were not that impactful. I remember how intensely the villain was introduced in the movie “Gardish” featuring Jackie Shroff. Something of that sort was needed here.    

Musically I found only two songs equivalent to the name of A. R. Rahman. Rest all songs were not enjoyable at all. Moreover in my opinion such an intense movie should be a songless one, because songs work more as an obstacle in the otherwise tense and gripping screenplay.  Another strong point of the movie is its background music and sound effects which add another dimension to the thrilling sequences.

This time there are some flaws in this Aamir movie which was hard to digest because Aamir is known for his detailed work on every element of the script.

Firstly, why and how Aamir simply vanishes from a moving bus when the Inspector was chasing him?

Secondly, why the movie has been titled with the name of its villain “Ghajini” and why there is no explanation given for this particular name or title chosen.

Thirdly, how Aamir manages to escape the Law after making so many killings? He is not caught even when many know that he was the killer. Was this possible because he was a rich person having private planes and a huge status in the society.  

If you can just ignore these flaws and want to watch an intense, gripping, violent and hard hitting revenge thriller then “Ghajini” will not disappoint you. You may have seen umpteen revenge thrillers before but “Ghajini” has certain new elements which will keep you glued to your seats. The first one is no doubt the amazing body work done by Aamir and second is the truthful dedication with which he enacts his part in the movie. He simply looks engrossed in the movie from head to toe and that makes the performance superlative than all others in the business.

Most of the film-makers make movies to please the viewers and earn money but Aamir is more interested in amazing his viewers and enjoys making movies to satisfy his inner urge. That’s what gives him a cutting edge over and above his contemporaries.

Summing up, “Ghajini” is not a regular stuff for all and some may love to dislike it. But there is only one thing you will remember after watching it and that is “Aamir Khan” and his love for the craft. Period.       

Ratings : 3.5 / 5