Ghajini.

(I would like to go on record and state that this is an informal review.)

Director A.R. Murugadoss's 2005 Tamil film Ghajini takes inspiration from Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed cult film, Memento; and George Cuckor's 1960 musical comedy, Let's Make Love. Director A.R. Murugadoss's 2008 Hindi film Ghajini takes inspiration from the same, and is also a direct Hindi retelling of his former, Tamil, Ghajini. Why remake a Tamil film in Hindi? And why make it as similar as possible to the Tamil inspiration? So much so, that even majority of the cast is the same. I'll tell you why. It is simply because the Tamil Ghajini was a runaway hit in Kollywood. Before continuing to read the rest of this review, I want the reader to take a deep breath and think again about reading this piece.

A.R. Murugadoss's Ghajini is a three hour film. It's story revolves around Sanjay Singhania (played by Aamir Khan), the chairman of Air Voice, a world-famous mobile phone company; his love at first sight, Kalpana (played by Asin, whose title magically remains unspoken throughout the entire length of the film. Yes, even on the news she is referred to as Miss Kalpana. By god, methinks she does not even have a last name); Ghajini Dharmatma (played by Pradeep Rawat), the man responsible for murdering Kalpana, and also for hitting Sanjay on his head with a steel pipe, causing him to suffer from anterograde amnesia.


A.R. Murugadoss' hindi film Ghajini, also stars Jiah Khan (from Ram Gopal Varma's Nishabd, remember? The one with the long face. Yes), playing the role of Sunita. Sunita is the innocent college girl who merely wants to study Sanjay Singhania's case, she has an accent (sometimes. Other times it magically disappears), she dances at the college programme, she is a third year medical student, and she entangles herself in (does not accidentaly get entagled in) the entire mess. Sunita also warns Ghajini, making him aware of Sanjay's desire to kill him. She also wants Ghajini not to mention her name if the need comes because 'mera college mein laphda ho jayega'. However, later, having smiled and awed at Sanjay's love story she decides to change sides and help Sanjay instead.

Does not make any sense? Don't worry, dear reader, it is not meant to make any sense whatsoever. Just like Kalpana's helping every person she finds on the road, making her the epitome of all goodness in the world, but left alone at a time of need, to be warned only by Constable Vaijyanti of the hospital (who does not seem to have the brains to call the police to aid the damsel in distress) that 'woh goonde apke murder plan kar rahe the. Aur woh aapke ghar mein chhupe hue hain', Ghajini ceases to mean anything. After a mere few minutes into the film, you simply don't care. How does no one recognize the chairman of a top mobile phone company? Why is the photograph we see of Sanjay on the computer CGI? Why does the villain not kill the witness of the crime when he has the chance to? Only a few tiny details the makers might have missed. Not very significant at all.


From start to finish, A.K. Murugadoss's hindi film Ghajini never makes any sense whatsoever. Straight from the police officer (played horribly by Riyaz Khan) taking the aid of the bus conductor who had written down the calculation of the ticket change on the tiny bus ticket (how did that bus ticket get there anyways? And under a cupboard too?), to him being set free from the confines of a cupboard after Heaven-knows-how-long, only to restlessly make his way to the fridge to drink some water (I mean, does he not need to go to the bathroom instead?). Then of course there is Ghajini himself. Why call the film Ghajini? The villain is not the main point of the story, nor is the person playing his part well. He does not deserve such importance. He is some kind of a doctor who is always surrounded by South Indian goons (He is South Indian himself too, I guess); he also knows who is actually trying to kill him but still he kills everyone who is actually not trying to kill him; and after Sanjay, single-handedly demolishes 30-odd goons of his without shedding a single drop of sweat, he calls out to him 'Aa gaya? Ab tu dekh. TU DEKH!' What's the point? Oh wait. There isn't one.

The part that Ghajini concentrates on is what the point is not. The love story of Sanjay and Kalpana is given almost half the screen time. So therefore, Ghajini is actually a love story. But wait. It is not. It's a revenge story. But wait. That can't be. Through most of the film Aamir acts like a madman, not a man who is seeking sweet revenge. That is something that Guy Pearce had calmly done in Memento. Oh yes, it seems A.K. Murugadoss had forgotten that little detail. One must not make the hero of the film insane for it does not help the viewer relate to his loss or whatever. Must remember your film studies classes, Mr. Director. All you seemed to be concerned about is recording the noise of shattering glass and steel pipes hitting human heads. Oh wait. You've made a blunder there too. The human head is not made of steel. So when you hit the human head with a steel pipe, the sound that is made is not tthang! That's the sound a steel pipe hitting another steel pipe makes. What happened, Mr. Director? Lost all your notes? Shame-shame.


The worst thing is, Ghajini is horribly miscast. No sympathies to the man playing Ghajini (he sucks. This is an informal review remember?). The role of Aamir Khan should have been played by Rajnikanth. Ghajini has Rajnikanth written all over it (A.R. Murugadoss is South Indian, I believe. So is everyone else in this film, I guess. Except the 'sometime' accent Miss Jiah Khan). You can just imagine Rajnikanth beating up all those goons, making there heads turn 180degress and walking ahead without a scratch, making his way to the main villain. Once there he goes 'Yanna Rascala. Mind it!' No offence to Aamir Khan. He has bulked up nicely for this role, but it just isn't him. It does not involve much acting. All he does is scream and shout and beat people up. Asin is given the duty of making the viewers laugh, which she does cheaply, speaking of things like cchaddi's and khujli. Plus she comes nowhere near to being as captivating as Anushka Sharma was in RNBDJ. Jiah Khan is just there, spilling over her cleavage, acting like the good girl who does not want any laphda, and dancing to some stupid song that goes lattoo lattoo lattoo. Main uspe aye la la la la.

One more thing. I do not get the reviews I have read of this film. The supposedly outstanding critics of Indian cinema have given this film 4 and 4.5 stars out of 5. In that case, films like Good Boy Bad Boy and Race and Tashan are our joy. Let us forget everything and send these films to the great Film Festivals of the world. Ghajini is the boiling point. It is three hours of torture. Even the songs aren't good enough, not to mention uncalled for. The best bit comes at the end, with a two minute panning of camera between Aamir and Asin, concluding with a beautiful shot of Aamir staring into a magically formed valley. It's pretty, and also, it's the end of the film. I simply cannot write anymore about this sorry excuse of a film without abusing. I'm sorry.

Must see. Just for how bad it is.
Highly recommended for people who are willing to pay for self-torture.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

I paid 210 rupees to watch this film. And entering the theatre, I had no clue what to expect. I had seen just a few promos on television. I knew nothing about the storyline. Unlike other times, here was a film which I knew nothing about before watching it. I had heard the songs a few times. Never really paid attention to them. And as I stepped into the almost full house first day first show of Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi at Inox Swabhumi, I felt highly uncertain.

Rab Ne.. starts off with just random shots of Amritsar. The place where the whole story unfolds. As the opening credits appear on screen we are made familiar with an everyday morning in the city. People slowly starting to make their way to the Golden Temple, workers cleaning the streets, grandmothers making their way to their house roofs to worship the rising sun, vendors cleaning their carts for the day's business. It establishes a city waking up. In the midst of this bustle we are taken to the Amritsar train station where the focus is on a man deboarding a train. The man, probably in his early 30's, is dressed in a full-sleeved shirt buttoned up all the way to the wrists, plain trousers, and white running shoes. His hair is well-oiled and combed, he has a moustache which looks very well maintained. He wears plastic rimmed glasses. Your average middle-class working man. Behind him, a beautiful woman, much younger, wearing a beautiful red patiala. She sports an expression of uncertainty. It is assumed that they are married; a fact that we are made sure of a few scenes later. And so the story begins..


Rab Ne.. is, quite simply put, a love story. The simplicity of its story is clarified by its tag-line- 'There is an Extraordinary Love Story in every Ordinary Jodi'. Expect the unexpected, but not so much as to make the film an unsatisfactory watch. It could indeed be the story of an ordinary jodi. Firstly, what this film does not do is show something absolutely over the top. There are no outrageous and frustrating twists and turns. It is a very straightforward story. Very cutely constructed. The circumstances of the marriage between Shahrukh's character Surinder, and Anushka's character Taani are very believable. The instances that follow, are also the same. This is the story of an ordinary middle-class man who falls in love with a simple family girl. They get married the day after they meet each other for the first time, their marriage is the result of the sorry happenings of one day. What follows is a story involving a makeover, a dance competition, incidences of uncontrollable joy over a yellow tiffin carrier, and figuring out what love, really, is all about.

This is a film for the entire family to watch. Rab Ne.. is a love comedy/drama. It has most of the elements of your average Bollywood film. There is the song and dance routine, there is the melodrama, there is the action brought about by the word bitch, there is even time for some male bonding. For the entire two and half hours, its hard not to either smile or feel sad about the characters on screen. One thing it successfully establishes is characters. It centres around the characters and characters only, never giving way to unnecessary details.


Shahrukh Khan, playing the role of Surinder Sahni, our average middle-class working man; and also the role of Raj Kapoor (Yes, you heard that right. To know more you've got to watch the film), is a gem to watch. What he did in Om Shanti Om he does once again. He makes us laugh, and he makes us cry, telling us again why he is the Khan of the industry. He tackles both roles, one of Surinder, and the other of the flirty and flamboyant Raj, churning out one one-liners after the other, with absolute ease. The contrast between the two is amazing. One wearing the plain shirt, trouser and shoes; the other with the body hugging chain-around-the-neck t-shirt, designer jeans and cowboy boots.

Vinay Pathak is another gem in the cast, playing the role of Surinder's best friend Balwinder 'Bobby' Khosla. You will not believe the fact that it is actually him the first time you see him with his back turned to us, knocking on Surinder's front door. And then there is new-comer Anushka Sharma. Top model. And Rab Ne.. would not be what it is without her. She is a natural. A treat to watch. There is something about her smile that makes you want to smile. With every smile, she lights up the screen. She speaks with her eyes, those perfectly soothing stretched eyes. She has unbelievable screen presence. And the chemistry between her and Surinder, as well as her and Raj is perfect. One, where they sit at either end of a huge family table and have their dinner talking about how nice the food is; the other where they are going neck-and-neck in a golgappa eating competition. Even the chemistry between Shahrukh and Pathak is perfect. It is all about characters.


Rab Ne.. is also a film about moments. Small insignificant moments perhaps, but ones which mean the world to the characters. When Surinder discovers the small yellow tiffin carrier his wife has given him, filled with food she herself has cooked for him, his joy is uncontrollable. This is followed by one of the cutest song and dance routines of recent times. Haule Haule could be a short film by itself. With two excellently choreographed sequences within it, both amongst the hustle and bustle of busy Amritsar, this could be the story of a man exploding with joy about the fact that someone he loves has cooked a meal for him and packed it with love and care. There is also the small gesture of rubbing rang on his cheek in the same song. Then there is the song and dance of Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte. It will remind you of Dhoom Tana from Om Shanti Om, having the wordings and settings of famous hindi songs of old. Shahrukh Khan brings out comedy even when he is dancing. There are several other such instances, involving a sumo-wrestler or the Dhoom-like bike face-off, to name a few.

Taken without complications, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is still a love story. An Extraordinary story, about a very simple couple. Don't judge this film too much. It succeeds in being outrageously funny, very soothing and feel good, all at the same time. Rab Ne.. is all about feeling, realising, deciding, and most of all, about loving. It will make you sad, it will also make you as happy as Surinder was when he discovered the yellow tiffin carrier. Do not forget to stay for the closing credits. This is a very-very cute film.

SMILE :)

Mongol.

When it comes to the historical epic, Hollywood has not had much of a successful run over the past few years. Big budget productions from directors like Wolfgang Petersen and Oliver Stone have left a bad gash on the historical epic genre. Leaving apart the historical accuracy of the films which could stir up elaborate debates by themselves; Troy was far from satisfactory, and Alexander was just plain sad. The only exception was Zack Snyder's beautifully stylized 300.

Mongol is an offering from Russian film-maker Sergei Bodrov known for his Academy Award nominated work Prisoners of the Mountains, nominated for the Best Foreign Film category. That perhaps is the only similarity between these two films of his. Mongol was nominated in the same category in 2007.


Mongol tells us the story of young Temudjin, of how he became the great Khan, Genghis Khan. The major part of the story is a telling of his early childhood and his growing up by Temudjin himself, now in captivity. Being a story of his growing up, most of the emphasis lies in lessons, learning the ways of life. To fear, to be brave, to defy, to make friends, and so on and so forth. The film shows us Temudjin's slow transformation from being the oppressed son of a Khan, awaiting death once he his found by his enemies who want the crown of Khan, to his becoming the great Khan himself.

The film's lead Tadanobu Asano, playing the role of Temudjin is considerably good. But the one deserving more credit is Sun Honglei who plays Jamukha, Temudjin's 'blood-brother' who became his enemy. Sun Honglei is a revelation. He commands attention with his screen presence. His role is a lesson in how to control the glare of the camera. Apart from some solid acting, the film has a brilliant background score, often haunting; and some top notch cinematography. The fight sequences are exceptionally well-made, and some of the landscape shots are beautiful. The camera tracking in the war sequences toward the end of the film deserve special mention.


Recalling Troy and Alexander, Mongol is a far superior film, from all angles. It shows everything it wants to in graphic detail in its mere two hour run-time. It has an extremely fast-flowing narrative which ensures that the viewers are never tired or bored of what is going on on-screen.

Mongol is only the first of a trilogy on Genghis Khan, and it is a very very good start to what promises to be an epic story. The second installment, The Great Khan is due out in 2010.

8.5/10.
Worth it.