GHAJINI: A convoluted social romantic thriller ?

First things first. I find it difficult to rate or classify GHAJINI. At the end of the movie you ask yourself whether it's a good, bad or an ugly movie ? I'm not sure how many of us can easily classify this movie. The movie gravitates from exceptional to pretty ordinary. It's like a huge wave with big crest and troughs. However, it leaves you with a void. Does it have a social message ? Is it a romantic thriller ? And maybe more such questions.

Adapted from a Tamil movie the remake works well in terms of the plot. Quite obviously the storyline packs a punch. This is what keeps the audience engrossed through the better part of the movie. However, the screenplay seems to be patchy. Perhaps, the director wanted to deliver a strong social message but the screenplay does not allow a cohesion of social message, revenge and romance. At times you feel like you are back in '80s era where any amount of villains cannot defeat the hero (likes of BigB & Dharam paaji). Some sequences like hero pierced with an iron rod standing up and killing the villian are back after a long time !! Takes me back to my school days.
Of the cast Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan) as head of mobile phone company and an amnesia stricken patient is quite convincing. But, we do not associate just good with Aamir. Aamir has set such high standards that a good performance from him is just not acceptable. It's akin to Sachin Tendulkar in cricket. When people expect century every time he goes out a good fifty will just look ordinary. In recent movies like Taare Zameen Par or RDB we have witnessed some effortless performances from Aamir even though the role was not purely author backed. This could also be due to the fact that audience tastes have changed over a period of time. Somehow with so much real violence people are averse to reel violence. It's quite refreshing to see Aamir as Sanjay Singhania the romantic. At times you feel like the movie should continue with Aamir the romantic. The same cannot be said of Aamir the amnesia patient out to take revenge. Who cares about the 8 pack body ?

The sizzler on-screen is none else than Kalpana- Sanjay Singhania's love interest (Asin). What a refreshing performance from the Bollywood debutante. She is very convincing, confident and has an excellent screen presence. And on top of it she has the X-factor to carry her forward. She has played her character (Kalpana) as Aamir's significant other to perfection. She is comfortable both as a bubbly, vivacious, young aspiring model and also as a social do good er.

Of the support cast Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat) the villian who kills Kalpana (Asin) and causes amnesia (short term memory loossssss in pure haryanvi:-)) to Sanjay (Aamir) is ok. When you see this performance you realize the value of the likes of Amrish Puri and other veterans of yore. After a long time you have a movie title in the name of a villian. Again i wonder why is it so ?
The others like Sunita (Jiah Khan) as a medical student studying Sanjay (Aamir) as an amnesia patient and Satvir as boss of the ad agency where Kalpana works are quite ok.

There are some very poignant scenes in the movie like the one where Aamir & Asin enter their footsteps in the new house which will remain etched in your memory. These are the crests i was refering to earlier. The music from A.R. Rehman is again patchy. Except for a few tracks you are left wondering whether it's really coming from the Rehman stable. This is one of the big troughs.

Finally, what do you take from this movie. This is where perhaps the biggest weakness of Ghajini lies. The climax is obviously very cliched. The message is convoluted. We agree that Kalpana died while supporting a social cause - preventing young girls from organ trading scandal, but is revenge the way to even out things ? This is not a "hulki phulki" movie. You have spent 3 hrs of your precious time on a heavy dose stuff but Mr. A.R.Murugadoss (Director) you have left the audience confused.

Sameer Tikoo