Ghajini - Asin special

A comment on Ghajini, Hindi, 2008 follows.

I was amazed at Asin's performance - it is an unbridled, hands on rendering leaving me flattered. All her earlier films don't seem to have allowed her to free her self - if ever she needed a significant bookmark for her career, this is it. Not only does it mark her entry into Bollywood but also makes her known for the awesome role she needed to portray: a chirpy, bubbly girl with all the world at her feet.

Amir Khan had to be play two characters - and he delivers. Pavi was complaining that the romance wasn't as special as the Tamil version; I too felt his love scenes with Asin were not expressive enough - it could be a deliberate play to have a dumb look on your face when talking to a girl because you are insanely rich and have never known love, or Amir didn't do much acting.

He does compensate, though, in his memory-loss role. The anger, bewilderment after the '15 minute' period and action scenes are simply amazing. Amir's gym-body provides the perfect excuse to beat all villans of every size to pulp and gather strength after substantial blood loss and immense pain.

While Surya played a psycho-like character, Amir is closer to the Memento guy than Surya. Though Ghajini is no Memento(Memento, with the non-linearity removed, is still rich in storyline because the loss in memory is not 'announced', like in Ghajini - I will say the alarm clock was not for Ghajini but for the audience to be reminded this guy has a rare medical condition) only the present-day-story is taken from that movie. A perfect example is towards the end, where Amir stares at his nemesis not knowing what to do.

Riaz Khan, sorry to say, still is the aberration he was in the Tamil version as well - a role limited for him to tell everyone he too has a muscular build and can run faster than the wind. But where did Amir disappear from that bus? The villain, by the way, seemed more at home having to speak a language he had a command over....

The flashback scenes are excellent and serve the purpose of taking us away into a parallel universe, one of fun and ironies. I'm sure the screenplay is slower for the Hindi version - the flashback scenes did go along much slower than they did in the Tamil version - I guess it could be to lengthen the film or to match the length of the 'present-day' part.

Boy, can Asin speak Hindi. I was very apprehensive about her foray into Hindi films, partly because she is not as thin as she used to be (ref: Telugu M K s/o M) and her unknown spoken Hindi. Well, now on it will be delightful to watch her future projects, given her successful debut.

Rahman's music didn't seem to be very special, but I sense it has a lot of North Indian traits (especially Guzarish) which will make it a hit with that crowd. Also, listening to the songs alone have no effect: they suit hand in glove with the moment in the film. Kaise Mujhe especially, where Amir is swept off his feet by Asin's show of compassion when she gives him the money after selling her car - is particularly effective in stirring up emotions. Behka, toward the end with the breathless singing was apt to bring all the Amirs together at once.

I loved Asin's short hairdo in her opening song where she appears on the runway - it is just amazing, though she looks ugly in the black dress and red lipstick - yuck! After seeing a promo of this song I thought the story of the movie was going to be different with Asin being a fashion model rather than an ad film actress.

Jiah Khan recreates Nayan Thara: stupid and irritating at the same time, without the extra pounds and blemishing nose ring, though. Thank God for not including a nose ring!

A few notes...

The guns in Asin's intro song made me uncomfortable, because they were toy Kalashnikovs, that too just one month after the tragedy at Bombay.
When Amir enters his bathroom, it is written 'Remove T shirt', which means he usually sleeps with a T shirt rather than a buttoned shirt.............?
Amir's executive dress with sleeves near his shoulder do not look good. They look different, though.
I wonder how he was allowed to take Rs. 1 lakh thiry-something through the airport - also, I didn't know corporate jets could fly intercontinental.

All in all Ghajini is a winner because it combines a tale of a heart wrenching yet too-good-to-be-true fairy tale and one of dark, action-packed vengeance: all credit the the crew, especially A R Murugadoss. Shahrukh better start doing something useful with his talent, rather than remaking the same old hot air or he risks losing to those with actual skills.

Asin's done even better than the Tamil version(drooooooooool............) Well Ghajini has been special to me plainly because of the flashback and how the hero could not tell his love who he really was... How a girl mistook the actual person for the person she faked her love for.. The ensuing hilarity.... That gullible cute girl..... and now I have two good movies to serve my feelings.