Ghajini (BD)

“Ghajini” is a Bollywood movie released in December, 2008, in the U.S. (with English subtitles) and India. I invited my friend, Rajesh Subramaniam, who has watched both versions of movie in Hindi and Tamil languages. This review is for the Blu-ray edition of “Ghajini’” released in January, 2010.


The Film According to Ranjan:
In 1972, “Sholay” redefined the Bollywood action genre with its grim representation of a dusty Indian village and bandits. Critics hailed it as an Indian Western movie. However, since then the Bollywood action genre has lost its credibility with misdirected efforts. The 80’s saw a couple of good action flicks, but nothing that could redefine the genre. In 90’s, a new style of action movies developed in which lead actors developed their bodies as symbols of rebels out to wage war against their perpetrators. Two actors single-handedly created this parallel action genre:  Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt. Sunny Deol starred in movies like “Ghayal” (“Hurt”) (1990), “Damini” (“Lightning”) (1993), and “Ghatak” (“Lethal”) (1996), whereas Sanjay Dutt played the lead in “Sadak” (“Road”) (1990) and “Khalnayak” (“A Villain”) (1993). These testosterone-driven movies epitomized well-developed male bodies that were instrumental in reshaping the action genre to some extent. Aamir Khan’s recent action movie “Ghajini” clearly falls in this macho-action genre.

In the last three years, Aamir Khan starred in the three major Bollywood blockbusters, “Tare Zamein Par” (“Stars on Earth”) (2007) , "Ghajini” (2008), and most recently, “3 Idiots” (2009), which I reviewed <a href=http://www.dvdtown.com/review/3-idiots/theatrical/7735 > here </a>). Even before “3 Idiots” became the all-time biggest hit in Bollywood box-office history, “Ghajini” was the number-one grosser, although it held its position for only a year.Unlike other Bollywood stars, like Salman Khan, Askhay Kumar, and Ajay Devgan, who work on multiple projects in each year, Aamir Khan as a matter of his work principle undertakes one movie at a time that enables him to shine in his role . This explains why some of his movies have consistently appeared in the all-time hits lists in India. Having said this, there was a lot of prerelease buzz surrounding “Ghajini,” primarily due to Aamir Khan’s transformation to a muscle man. I still remember when I watched this movie on its release day in the second row from the screen. It was a visceral and unforgettable experience, for sure.

“Ghajini” is a revenge tale of Sanjay (Aamir Khan), who is on a quest to find his girlfriend’s killer, Ghajini Dharmatma, played by Pradeep Rawat. Through flashbacks, we learn that Sanjay is an executive and owner of a big cell-phone company in India, who along the way falls in love with Kalpana (Asin). Kalpana, who works for an advertising company, is a kindhearted woman always willing to lend her helping hand to the needy. In one situation, Kaplana helps a group of girls from falling prey to sex traders who are led by Ghajini. As a result, Ghajini commands his men to find Kalpana. Soon, Sanjay gets caught in this ensuing battle with Ghajini. Later, in Kalpana’s apartment, Ghajini unleashes a divisive blow to Sanjay’s head that impairs his memory forever, while Kalpana is left alone in the pool of blood.  In the present time, Inspector Arjun (Riyaz Khan) is closely following a case involving a series murders probably committed by Sanjay. Meanwhile, a curious medical student, Dr. Sunita (Jiya Khan), helps Sanjay in tracing the whereabouts of Ghajini.

As I have never watched the original Tamil movie, I could not have guessed that the title, “Ghajini,” is named after its main villain character. Considering that some of the biggest Bollywood hits in India are mainly based on its main protagonists, naming a movie after its main antagonist is a risky proposition by itself. Even so, if the original Tamil movie was a super hit in South India, it does not necessarily translate to the same success in other regions in India, such as the North and Western regions. The underlying aesthetics, audience taste, languages, and, traditional and cultural nuances vary from region to region in India, which represents a barrier for filmmakers trying to remake a regional flick. The director, Murugadoss, who is not conversant in Hindi and only communicated in English, assiduously worked with his writing team to translate the regional aspects to this Hindi remake. Apparently, the movie through its impeccable cast, production, writing team, and near-perfect direction overcame these doubts to storm the box-office with filled theaters.

The movie grabs your attention from the first scene, primarily because of its ferocious pace and tight editing that leads to unconventional storytelling. The director wastes no time telling his viewers about the memory condition of its main lead. We don’t have thirty to forty-five minutes of unnecessary filler in the form of needless songs or forced comedy scenes. Instead, the story unfolds using both conventional and nonlinear narration.

If you look at the story from the perspective of its lead protagonist, then the narration is straightforward. Sanjay has a one-point agenda--to hunt down the main perpetrator who killed Kalpana and kill him. However, it is the nonlinear narration that delves into Sanjay’s past and his vengeful behavior. The first half of the story provides details on how Sanjay and Kalpana met, which is triggered in the form of a series of flashbacks when Inspector Arjun discovers one of the diaries written by Sanjay. The later half of the story is unveiled when Sunita reads Sanjay’s story in the remaining unread diaries. The movie deliberately weaves in and out between the past and present events to ensure viewers are always engrossed in the story and its characters, which is a rarity in Bollywood movies these days. As it turns out, there is never a dull moment in the entire movie.

All the actors excel in the acting department. Aamir Khan’s persona is appropriately balanced between that of a charming business executive and a revenge-seeking man who suffers from a short-term memory loss. His best moments are when he is portrayed as a revengeful man on a lookout for Ghajini. There are moments when he will forget what he is doing right in the middle of an intense scene, which basically means he has to start from the beginning to recapture his memory.

In these scenes, Aamir Khan displays a wide range of emotions through his facial expressions that depict the confused and disoriented states of a man suffering from amnesia. In the opening scenes, we get a glimpse into his apartment that houses a full drawn-out train map with key indicators, a camera, photos, and his tattooed body that provide a convincing background on how he deals with his memory-loss condition. Ghajini, played by Pradeep Rawat, equally matches Aamir Khan in his depiction of a multi-faceted gangster. Thankfully, the writers dropped all the clichéd action dialogue like, “Kutte, Kamine Maine tera Khoon Pi Jaayonga” (“Bastard, I will drink your blood”), or “Maa Kaa Dood Piyaa Hai to Samne Aaa” (“Come out, if you had drink your mother’s milk”), which probably formed part of action movies in the 80’s.

The movie got a fair amount of publicity in the media because of Aamir Khan undertaking a daunting task to transform his body with nine months of rigorous bodybuilding training. The added masculinity was required for his character, and it fits with the overall story particularly well. After watching him, one cannot help think that he wanted to associate himself in the same league as other actors, like Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, and more recently with another superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, who also transformed himself physically for the lead role in another Bollywood blockbuster, “Om Shanti Om” (2007).

Despite these positives, the movie loses its plot in the middle act with overextended comedy sequences. Asin is really charming in her role; however, she at times is left to exhibit the stereotypical character of a talkative woman, who unfortunately comes across as rather irritating with her constant chatter. However, she did well in the emotional scenes involving Ghajini and Sanjay. After a point the comedy scenes seemed a bit dragged-out and redundant. In addition, the writers could have kept the character of Inspector Arjun a bit longer, as he could have injected more tension to the overall story equation. Finally, the idea of a memory reset after every fifteen minutes sounds unrealistic.

In spite of minor flaws, “Ghajini” entertains us in a manner that a Bollywood movie seldom does these days. With its convoluted storytelling, the movie keeps its viewers fully engrossed during the entire duration. The actors deliver solid performances, and characters are convincingly realized on the screen. In the end, “Ghajini” is one of the top-notch Bollywood movies in recent memory.

Ranjan’s Film Score = 7/10


The Film According to Rajesh Subramaniam:
Whenever a movie is remade, it is natural to draw comparisons to its original. A very few times does the remade version surpass or at the least equal the original.

The original “Ghajini” (Tamil version) is itself loosely based on the Hollywood flick, “Memento.” Though the lead characterization and the plot may be identical, very few similarities can be drawn from the movie as a whole. The screenplay is completely different in “Memento,” where the story goes in a reverse order from the present to the past, and it is definitely not a romantic revenge story. This racy thriller is about guy with a short-term memory loss who hunts down his girlfriend’s killer. His memory is reset every fifteen minutes, and he has to start all over again. While he is busy trying to recollect the identity of people who claim to know him, he has to solve the puzzle of locating the killer whose face he does not even remember.

However, “Ghajini” (Hindi version) is not only an honest remake (except for the slight twist in the climax) of its Tamil counterpart, but has also excelled in some technical features. I draw comparisons in the four areas of both these blockbusters.

First, the music was a success in both movies, but A.R. Rahman’s tunes in Hindi were a greater hit. Many people consider this his best work in the past few years. The background music, however, was well conceptualized in Tamil, and went along well with the scenes. Harris Jayaraj’s score keeps the audience engrossed during intense scenes. The background music clearly emerges a winner in the Tamil version.


Second, the cinematography fared much better in the Hindi version with the cinematographer displaying more versatility. The thrilling scenes were shot in dark and green shades, and the romantic scenes had a pleasant blend of blue and white, to cite a few examples. This was anticipated, as the later version was released more than a few years after its original. Three years is an ample time for technological advancement in the movie industry.

Third, both the lead actors, Suriya (in the Tamil version) and Aamir Khan (in the Hindi version), have done a tremendous job portraying a suave, cool businessman and a killing machine with a memory condition. They have shown very a good transition between the two vastly different characters. The ever-perplexed looks due to the short-lived memory and hunting down his own identity every fifteen minutes and his girl friend’s killer were well crafted by both the protagonists. Though it is unfair to compare a seasoned legend and a lesser experienced versatile actor, I would have to give it to Suriya solely due to a very original portrayal of this character. Unlike Aamir, he would not have had too much reference material to prepare for the role. Suriya has proven his acting prowess in the past with a number of multidimensional roles, and this movie is a big feather to add to his cap. I am sure Aamir himself would agree with this and let the youngster who idolizes him take the honors. Aamir Khan, however, looked more threatening than Suriya. His killer physique chiseled with washboard abs was the talk of the town in India. Asin essayed the role of a chirpy, young aspirant actor in both versions. She has ever since been the most sought-after female lead in the south and has also hit the pot in Bollywood.

Lastly, another integral and highly talked about part of the Tamil movie is the chemistry between the two lead actors. The elegance of Suriya hiding his identity and the unsuspecting innocence of Asin falling for his charms are etched out nicely. When their romance abruptly ends due to unfortunate circumstances, you really feel for it, and that’s what a good chemistry portrayal does to the audience. Unfortunately, this was clearly missing in the Hindi version. It is very hard to point out what exactly was missing, but you just don’t feel the chemistry between them.

The director, Murugadoss, who directed both versions of the movie, has himself mentioned that he has tried to correct a lot of flaws he had committed in the original. He also used a lot of crew members that he used in the Tamil version, which means a lot of improvement can be expected. Ghajini (Hindi version) has excelled in the technical department but has shortcomings in the other areas. One common feature between both versions is that the intensity of the plot is never lost. It remains a racy track, and never at any point in the movie would you feel it slowing down or going off track.  Few movies surpass or even equal the originals, but “Ghajini” in Hindi is definitely one of them.

Rajesh’s Film Score = 7/10


Video :
Big Home Video presents “Ghajini” in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 in an AVC encode averaging at 30 Mpbs. I have to say that I am impressed with this pristine, 1080p transfer. Being a colorful Bollywood movie, the color palette is filled with bright yellows, reds, and blues that immediately pop out in this hi-def edition. The transfer shines specifically in the song sequences where the locations, the natural beauty, and the clear blue sky add a dimensional vibrancy to the visuals. Having said this, the movie has a gritty aspect to it during the nighttime scenes. In these scenes, the blacks really hold up well with deep blacks and a balanced contrast. A bit of grain is evident in nighttime scenes that give this movie a film-like appearance. Similarly, skin tones are true and lifelike. In a nutshell, this is an excellent transfer.


Audio :
Matching perfectly the video quality, we get a lossless audio option in an aurally vibrant, Hindi DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The power of Aamir Khan’s punches during the climax is powerfully reproduced in this track. Apart from this, the dialogue gets a boost when switched from Dolby Digital to this lossless track. More so, the dialogue is perfectly clear and crisp, with a consistently excellent tone. During action and dance sequences, the LFE kicks in with a heavy bass. Overall, this track provides an engaging and immersive experience that one expects from an action flick like this.


Extras :
There is only an option to play the five songs in the movie; plus, this Blu-ray gives one the choice to view movies with English or Spanish subtitles. It is disappointing to note that the extras from the two-disc edition are not carried over for this Blu-ray release. Nor is there a theatrical trailer.


Parting thoughts :
“Ghajini” is a visceral experience in which Aamir Khan delivers a tour-de-force performance. It is a goal-oriented movie that moves at a brisk pace with its tight script. It is a fast 180 minutes of entertainment, packed with fantastic dance numbers, good production, drama, action, and a love story. Aamir Khan’s tattooed body and the signature scar on his head have become cultural icons in India. In addition, this Blu-ray disc excels in both audio and video quality. Viewers looking to experience Bollywood cinema should definitely check out “Ghajini.”
Note: There is a lot of violence in this film that might be unsuitable for certain viewers.


Final Ratings
Video = 9/10
Audio = 10/10
Extras = 2/10
Film Score = 7/10