The Indian Blogger

Definitely Not A Love Story

Aamir Khan is back with his traditional out of the box cinema, although this time in a not so Aamir-Khan-y style. There is no message, no moral-of-the-day. And there are a lot of bulky, pumped up body shots, and of course the eight pack abs. The action strongly reminded you of the South Indian inspiration.

Yes, Ghajini is a love story. For the routine Bollywood audience, however, it’s something new. There were the love songs, the happy dance-around-celebrations, the classic romance. But the movie is essentially about pain, about agony, about vengeance.

Sanjay Singhania is a rich businessman, the CEO of the leading telecom company of India. Kalpana is an animated lady, bubbling and simple-hearted. She is an aspiring model at an ad agency. Through a strange sequence of events, Sanjay and Kalpana meet each other and fall in love.

Enter Ghajini, the local goon whose trafficking racket is busted by Kalpana. Ensues a series of extremely violent scenes leading to Kalpana’s murder and Sanjay’s short-term memory disease.

Sanjay, on realization of his loss, swears to kill Ghajini. Taking aid of body tattoes and polaroid photographs, he ensures he’s constantly reminded of his mission, despite his memory lasting only a mere 15 minutes.

What I really liked in the movie was the perfection with which it was finished. There were no loose ends, and almost no loopholes, even when I tried hard to look for some. Every part of the movie had clearly been very finely smoothened.

The direction was awesome, although the frames were more or less completely ripped off the South Indian version. Aamir Khan’s dedication worked for him once again, as far as acting was concerned. He was flawless. So was Asin. Her character was brought out exceptionally amazingly.

Which brings me to my next point, the story telling. However strong the plot may be, the most important ingredient of a successful thriller is always the story telling. Here, it was beyond appreciation. The movie was moving. Throughout.

AR Rahman’s background score was, as usual, wonderful. The music touched you. Although some song and dance sequences were place very randomly in the movie, however pointless to the plot they may be. Evidently, a small bribe for the Indian audience.

What was pathetic? Jiah Khan’s acting, for one. She was terrible. And I say that in the true sense of the word. Secondly, the violence went a little overboard in some parts, and became disturbing. Steel rods and skulls, apparently, isn’t a good combination.

Overall, I would give it a 4/5. I don’t say you’ll love it. But, a movie like Ghajini in Bollywood is not something worth missing.

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