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Ghajini (2008)

Rating: *****

By,

Rahul Ojha

Its one of the most hyped movies in Bollywood history and over the past eight months we’ve heard and seen it all – the hair cut, the jokes about the Aamir-ferocious-look, Aamir’s guide to get the 8-Pack abs and the brilliant marketing campaign in build up to the release, which will make for a fascinating case study for marketing students at the country’s premier B-Schools. But talking about the core product itself i.e. the movie – Ghajini, one has questions. Is it yet another cinematic masterpiece coming from the Aamir Khan school of cinema? Does it live up to the tremendous hype? Is it the best movie of the year? Unfortunately, as is often the case with over- hyped extravaganzas the answer to all these three questions is NO. But is it a bad movie? Certainly not! That this will be liked by the movie goers by and large and that it will be a blockbuster is a foregone conclusion.

First up, let’s set the record straight. Ghajini is a remake of a South Indian movie of the same name which itself is inspired (the favourite word for Indian film-makers when they blatantly copy foreign material) from Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece – Memento (2000). Therefore, you can’t credit it with any points for originality. But director Murgadoss’s ‘Ghajini’ is NOT a scene by scene copy of Memento. And how could it ever be? The film makers realise (or assume) that the average Indian movie goer is too unintelligent to grasp an intriguing, non linear type of storytelling with a twist in the end that would leave him dumb founded. Hence, to rake in the moolah, the film makers turn Ghajini into mishmash of Memento and Masala cinema of the 70’s and to add icing on the cake – action straight from the Rajnikanth School of Martial Arts. Now that is what makes for entertainment for the masses!

Ghajini’s ‘Indianised’ storyline has all the three hallmarks of a blockbuster, the 3Rs – Romance, Revenge and the Righteous ending. It has a back and forth style of storytelling which doesn’t warrant a crossword solving approach by the viewer. Sixty percent into the run time and the viewer knows what it will culminate into!

The romance element in the movie is endearing with newcomer Asin doing a great job of playing the chirpy girl next door and Aamir as the ambitious business tycoon mesmerized by her earthy ways. We break into romantic ballads courtesy dream sequences (The tracks, Guzarish and Kaise Mujhe will go down as A.R. Rehman’s best works). The romance blossoms, but the inevitable tragedy strikes and a revenge seeking animal is born.

The build up to the climax is great as the screenplay engages the emotions of the viewer making him feel the grief and pain of the terrible tragedy of the protagonist’s girl friend brutally murdered in front of his own eyes. You expect one-helluva ending, something like the ending of ‘Unforgiven’ in which Clint Eastwood left you awe-struck. But Ghajini’s climax is laughable! Aamir Khan gets possessed by Rajnikanth. Dhoom-dhaam-dhishum, bodies fly in the air at the touch of a finger! Mission Accomplished!

From start to finish, Ghajini is dominated by the one and only, Aamir ‘Ferocious’ Khan. It is the sort of role only a few can do justice to and performance wise it won’t be an understatement to say that even the toughest of men in Hindi cinema like Dharam Paaji (in his prime) or Sunny Deol couldn’t play the revenge seeking Sanjay Singhania any better than Aamir Khan! Yes, as always he successfully re-invents himself and hats off to that! But you can’t help but wonder what was his motive in selecting this role? Maybe because, its a tailor made role to get the whistles from the 'front rows' and an attempt to establish himself as the biggest undisputed superstar of Hindi Film Industry.

All the dissection done, Ghajini is an entertaining and riveting affair, a onetime watch but nothing beyond that. One expects an Aamir Khan flick to be an intelligent affair and the film-makers (Aamir included) use this image to masquerade Ghajini as a different, creative and intelligent piece of work which it is certainly not. Ghajini is conveniently contrived and has half a dozen plot holes which if given attention to insult your basic intelligence! Why the pretense? Why not sell it as a no-brainer-masala pot-boiler in the first place?

Sparks Fly!

Notorious (1946)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman

Rating: ****1/2

By,
Rahul Ojha

Sparks fly when you have the dashing Cary Grant as the egoistical lover and the vivacious but spoilt, Ingrid Bergman who in order to prove that she has mended her ways takes on a dangerous assignment of being undercover in Brazil for Cary's employer - the US Feds.

Ingrid Bergman as Ms Huberman with her tantalizing beauty is even more appealing than Ilsa in Casablanca and that, trust me is saying something! Cary, on the other hand, is restrained and intense as the jealous lover with all his passionate feelings bottled up. It is perhaps, Cary's best role and as far as suavity in a character is concerned, it comes next only to Humphrey Bogart's role in Casablanca. The dialogs are the crispiest and wittiest ever written and the exchange of flirtations between Cary and Ingrid at the lunch table and a later scene at Ingrid's hotel room where they have a tiff is a testimony to that.

And while I make repeated references to Casablanca, Notorious is not just a passionate romantic story. True thats the crux of it, but it is a great suspense thriller directed by the wizard, the one and only, Sir Alfred Hitchcock. There is a haunting eeriness in the second half of the movie which reminds one of 'Mandarlay' in Hitchcock's Rebecca. Perfectly executed, at the end of it you have only one word in your mind, the clichéd - MASTERPIECE!!

This one's got to be watched all cuddled up with that special someone on a sparkling romantic night!

An Overcooked Recipe

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)

Rating: *****

By,

Rahul Ojha

What happens when you over cook the best recipe? Result is a cuisine that you eat when you are hungry without relishing it. The most awaited movie of the year - Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (RNBDJ)is just like that overcooked cuisine which the audience is expected to digest just because it has the magic ingredient, the Badshah of Hindi cinema Shahrukh Khan starring in it.

The plot is about the unrequited love of a geek, meek and a shy small town man who marries a pretty punjabi girl in unexpected circumstances. How will he win his love and make the only woman he has ever loved, love him in return? This interesting plot premise, despite taking off well in the first 20 odd minutes is battered, thanks to shoddy writing which lacks both conviction and logic.

The only well written and endearing character is of this geeky guy – Surinder played by SRK. The new actress Anushka Sharma comes across as beautiful, confident and charming. She fits perfectly in the role of a Punjabi girl, giving a decent but low impact performance. Raj, the cool, clean shaved and hip Jatt guy again played by SRK is a bad caricature of the romantic image of ‘Rahul’ and ‘Raj’ created by SRK and Yash Raj over the years. After the initial interest, this character too fails to make the storyline any interesting. So there you have it , when in the script two out of the three central characters are ineffective, you know it’s time to fasten the seat belt as this flight is in some trouble.

But this flight somehow doesn’t crash. What saves it is SRK who gives it his all to make Surinder and Raj as endearing as possible. He is the sole reason keeping you on board. SRK tries hard and succeeds to engage you emotionally in some sporadic scenes just like the small and few chocolate pieces hidden in a big plain biscuit. Also, the success of a romantic comedy is determined by the number of magical moments the lead pair have on screen. In RNBDJ, unfortunately these moments are almost nonexistent. But right from the last few minutes to the end of the credits the film ends on a creative, humorous and feel good note which again spares it from the wrath of the audience.

The film has only four main songs, Haule Haule and Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte being the highlights. Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte is a tribute to the great romantic heroes of the yester years and has five leading ladies of Bollywood dancing in five different segments. In segment one the duo SRK and Kajol dancing together once again shows us why they were and are still the best looking pair in Hindi Cinema. And In the same song in segment five, Rani Mukherjee looks totally out of place. Nevertheless this track is an extremely entertaining affair. The title track, Tujhe Mei Rab Dikhta Hai is a huge disappointment with the way it is picturised. Though the movie is shot well and has good production value which one expects from Yash Raj. The Amritsar setting looks very authentic.

So all in all ‘Rab Ne…’ is a watchable but underwhelming affair. Aditya Chopra is below average in his duties as script writer, dialog writer and director. Infact, after Mohabbatein, he has plummeted to a new low. There is a lesson to be learnt for directors who lack a great script and expect SRK to deliver the goods for them each time no matter how puerile the plot. And SRK needs to watch DVDs of Swades and Chak De and remind himself of what he is capable of, and in future choose roles of substance. RNBDJ is not going to be a highlight or milestone in his successful career.