Movie Review : Ghajini

Ghajini

As the year 2008 (a high voltage action year), approaches towards its end and the entire country is busy with their preparations to welcome the New Year with new hope and prayer on their lips.

Bollywood’s wait for the year’s most talked and awaited movie to hit the theatre is also over as Aamir Khan’s Ghajini stormed into the theatres on the 25^th December wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year ’09.

Welcome to the Movie Review of “Ghajini”

Aamir khan is back towards the end of the year promising to give bollywood its biggest hit of the year (similar to TZP).The Movie had made enough news with the hair style, eight pack physique, tattoos etc…

And it was bound to make much more into news when it hits the theatre (whether the film is a success or not) and that is exactly what it has done.

After Shah Rukh Khan’s “Rab ne Bana di Jodi” not making much impact at the box office and the industry had not given the audience the required amount of action that the year had given them, so A.R. Murugadoss decided to do the needful, with the remake of his South Indian Ghajini (Surya Shivkumar, Asin Thottumkal in the lead), teaming up with “Mr. Perfectionist” Aamir Khan and Asin Thottumkal to give the audience a power punch treat at the year’s end.

The movie’s promotions hade promised a lot of blood shed and action which would even make Rambo, Van Damme and Jason Bourne run for cover.

Let’s not talk about the Plot of the Film as most of us must have watched the film, but here is to inform all those people who are making a gaga over the plot and the story.

Ghajini is a remake of the South Indian hit film directed by A.R. Murugadoss’s “Ghajini” which was great hit in the year 2005, which was inspired by director Christopher Nolan’s “Memento” in the year 2000.

The movie deals with the short term memory loss by Aamir Khan, his memory lasts for only 15 minutes, and it seems that director A R Murgadoss too suffered from the same while making the hindi version as he has managed to achieve and retain only about 15% of the original South Indian hit “Ghajini”.

It is good to see a makeover image of Aamir khan as an action hero; last we had seen him in John Matthew Matthan’s “Sarfarosh” in the year 1999 as ACP Rathore.

There many loopholes which weaken the film and make the audience restless:

The length of the plot is too long to hold the audience to their seats for 3 hrs and above. The Villain ”Ghajini” played by Pradeep Rawat does not impress and has been put in such a situation which he cannot handle, was there no other bad man available in the industry to match up with eight pack Sanjay Singhania.

The short term memory related to take revenge for the murder of Kalpana should have been internally linked with memory flashes or sporadic dreams.

(But hey no comment about the plot as it has been admitted to have been a remake of South Indian “Ghajini”, so let’s leave the plot as it is).

Jiah Khan fails to impress after Nishabd It has been a total loss for Jiah Khan to do either an item dance or speak Hindi, both are beyond her ability.

Well the movie is not as bad as you would think after reading my blog, there are few positive credits to it also:

A great performance by Aamir Khan, his performance is a treat to watch, the expressions, looks on his face and his eyes and the attitude with which he carries himself could not have been any better. No matter how this movie is accepted by the audience, but Aamir Khan’s performance would be remembered and would be rated as one of his best performance till date. Hats off to you Aamir, you were simply great.

All applause for A R Rehman, the music is simply awesome and it leaves the entire country humming again to the beats of Rehman.

Asin Thottumkal’s entry into bollywood could not have been any better, she seemed to have the maximum fun, she plays the similar role that she did in South Indian “Ghajini”, and she is warm, loud, emotional and beautiful. (But she will face a good competition for the “Best New Debutant” as Anushka Sharma has also given an impressive performance in her debut film “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi”).

There is a brilliant choreography of the song Behka. Also a great cinematography by Ravi K Chandran and not to forget the thrilling action sequence by Peter Hein.

There are other scene sequence which does bring a smile on your face such as, Asin been first seen by Aamir helping disabled kids, the first meeting between Aamir and Asin, the platinum card event at the pani puri stall, Asin’s proposal acceptance and her plans towards marriage and the New year party incident all these does make you smile, but on the other hand the fact that Sachin has not yet told Kalpana that he is Sanjay Singhania leaves the audience in a little saddened towards the love story.

Above all “Ghajini” is a onetime watchable movie (that too in a theatre), you can watch it for Aamir Khan’s performance and A R Rehman’s music. Don’t compare it to the South Indian “Ghajini” and please don’t have high expectations from the film else you would end up disappointing yourself.

Watch it with Popcorn and treat yourself at the year’s end with this action flick.

And if you are still not satisfied with it and want some thing more on the short term memory loss, some good and original work than watch Christopher Nolan’s “Memento” and for desi and original “Ghajini” watch the south Indian “Ghajini”.

Movie Review: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

“Did you ever think that every individual has a love story of his/her which is special and extraordinary?”

Well, if you did not think than wear your thinking cap and do the required brain storming, because any individual can have a breathtaking and inspiring love story to tell.
Love does not differentiate between the ordinary and exceptional, the uninteresting and interesting, the unattractive and attractive. Because love knows no distinction.
Love can happen to anyone and once it does it engulfs us into it completely and gives us those miraculous experiences that only love can yield.
Well, I know that I am sounding like a Love Guru…but hey this is what the most awaited movie of Yash Raj banner wants us to know, think and believe.

Welcome to the Review of Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, starring Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, and Vinay Pathak.

After a long hibernation period of 8 years, Aditya Chopra wakes up to take the bollywood with a storm to give it one of the biggest hit of the year and taking his list of directorial films to a hat rick.(Other two films directed by him are Dilwale Dhulhaniya Le Jayenge and Mohabbatein.)

The film plot is a love story of a simple man Surinder "Suri" Sahni and his wife Tania "Taani" Gupta whom he has married after her marriage was cancelled because her fiancee was killed in a bus accident on the wedding day, and her professor father suffers a massive heart attack, he asks her and Surinder his favorite student, to marry so that Taani will not be alone after he is gone. The couple agrees, and Taani finds herself in a routine and loveless marriage in Amritsar.
Tanni joins a dance class, which would also help her to participate in the competition with the reality television show “Dancing Jodi”.
Surinder with the help of his friend Balwinder "Bobby" Khosla gets a make over into "Raj" to impress his wife and let her know how much he loves her. She fails to recognize him (as he shaves his mustaches and removes his glasses, and with a different hairstyle, clothing and demeanor), eventually she beings to feel that Raj's personality and nature are more in tune with hers.

Does it not sound familiar to Amol Palekar’s Golmal….(Look change over)…..

Raj is a loud, rude, outspoken and fun-loving person. He joins the dance class and by chance/ divine intervention becomes Taani's partner in the competition.
Well than begins the journey of their love story and the rest you all know as you people must have seen the film.

The positive part of the entire film is its simplicity. The simplicity of the cast (three main characters), the simplicity of the location and of course the realness of Shah Rukh Khan’s innocent shy character. The idea of “ordinary” was perfect; hats off to Aditya Chopra, this simplicity could not be achieved any better.

The biggest flaw is the twist Aditya Chopra attempts which is “Raj”. This is the typical character that’s been in almost every Yash Raj production. A handsome dude who shows the heroine a new way to live, and matches up with the qualities that the girl wants in her hubby.

The problem with the film is its length and a part of movie looks unrealistic when Suri turns into Raj very fast and it is unbelievable.
The movie moves in fine tune for the first hour, Surinder’s interaction with Taani is entertaining and interesting. As Raj steps in, the film moves away from the track and enters into the path of a typical Shah Rukh film.
The storyline after certain duration becomes predictable, but the dialogues hold them in place.
The music is composed by Salim-Sulaiman who has also composed music for Aaja Nachle, Chak De India and Roadside Romeo.The music of the film is good and the songs are shot beautifully and the locations look fresh. But the only song which is imposing is “Haule Haule”, rest all songs are also good but seems to be forced into the film at the wrong junction which spoils the rhythm of the story.

Shahrukh Khan continues his popular trend of introducing a new female faces to the big screen (Amrita Rao in “Mai hoon Na”, Deepika Padukone in “Om Shanti Om” and now supermodel Anushka Sharma).

Performances from the three lead actors were carried out well. Shah Rukh’s simple common man trying to get things right for his wife keeping her happy by asking her out for movies, getting a new car, allowing her to join dance classes so that she is happy is acceptable and also loveable and charming, though the Raj character was overplayed many times (the age factor too shows up on his face at times which indicates that its time for him to drop his lover boy image).
Anushka Sharma is definitely one of the best debutant actresses of this year and has displayed maturity in her character which would certainly make producers stop at her doorstep. Vinay Pathak’s role is well executed and effective as Surinder’s best friend.

Overall the movie is limited to the first hour and a few scenes in the middle, other than that it’s two and a half hours of a weak storyline. The Khan-Chopra tagline will catch one like wildfire and the monetary return could favor the distributors, but don’t expect this to be a Dilwale Dhulhaniya Le Jayaenge or even a Mohabbatein, Adi we expected something better from your directorial bag…………..

Overall, It’s yet again another disappointment from the Yash Raj banner……

Movie Review: Dasvidaniya

Dasvidaniya

(The Best Goodbye Ever)

As the song from the band Agnee says: “Kabira jab paida hue toh jag hasa hum roye, asisi karni kar chalo hum hase jag roye…”

Knowing the fact that you are suffering from cancer and have only few days to live and enjoy all that the world has to offer to you. So you want to make everyone happy and live life to its fullest……!!

Well, this would seem very familiar to most of us as this storyline is heard as well as seen on screen.

Remember, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's “Anand”, where Rajesh Khanna tries to make things merry and jolly all around himself, knowing the fact that he is suffering from cancer, similar act was carried by Shahrukh Khan in Nikhil Advani’s “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, also Rob Reiner’s “The Bucket List” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.

Shashant Shah’s Dasvidaniya starring Vinay Pathak is just another well executed film, which keeps the audience attached to their seats and moves them along with the rhythm of the film leaving them just praising the work of the actors, scriptwriter and the director.

Though the movie is inspired from Rob Reiner’s “The Bucket List”, but it is not a crime to get inspired from a movie (though the out come of both films were different).

“Dasvidaniya” derives its name from the Russian word for ‘goodbye’, (a fitting farewell to the hero from the film’s only Russian connection.)

The name of the movie is a pun on the list of ten things to be done and is derived from the Russian phrase “do svidania”, meaning good bye.

Vinay Pathak, best known for his simpleton act in the hit comedy "Bheja Fry", plays Amar Kaul, a 37-year-old timid and lonely bachelor living out a humdrum middle-class existence in a Mumbai suburb, whose existence is forgotten among the millions of people in the pool of Mumbai’s ever-increasing population.

This story evolves around a man who makes a list of things to be done every day, finds himself diagnosed with stomach cancer and the last three months of his life, laughing at him. He then makes a list of things that he has desired to do in life, but could not do them, so he finally makes a final list of ” Thing to do Before I Die.”

The List made by Amar Kaul :

• A new car
• Guitar
• Boss ka boss
• Neha
• Foreign Trip
• Mumma
• Rajiv
• Love
• Photo on the front page
• Vivek

The music given by Kailash Kher is worth a treat to the ears, especially Alvida, Mumma.

The pace of the film does slacken in the second half, but brilliant acting by Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, and poignant dialogues make up for its shortcomings.

The movie’s best scene can be considered to be the love proposal made by Amar Kaul to his childhood love Neha.

Amar Kaul leaves behind gifts for his loved ones, which leaves lasting impression and a smile on all the audiences, and they would be able to relate to themselves and think of the if they were in Amar Kaul’s situation.

Amar Kaul is well linked with the common man who has always wanted to do things but kept them on hold, due to the regular struggle in life. This is exactly what the common man wants from the movies which they can relate it to themselves.

Life is a precious gift from God and we humans are simply lucky to cherish this gift, but are we making the best use of this opportunity given to us.

Every general person spends half of their life earning bread and luxury for their family and the remaining half of their life is spent in the struggle to achieve it for their families.

So, where does he/she have time for themselves, all that he/she has dreamed or desired to do is kept himself and buried with him to his grave.

Therefore here is a question to all those holding onto their desires within themselves:

“How do you want to be remembered when you are gone from the lives of your loved ones, just leaving tears in their eyes or driving them back to the memories which will make them smile over all the memories spent with you.”?

Think and make your LIST of Things that you want to do, which you had been holding within yourself. Reach out for those desires and dreams and make all efforts to achieve it. Remember there is no such word as Impossible because the word Impossible itself says I-M-Possible………

Sayonara, Adieu, Goodbye, Alvida, Khuda Hafiz are just words that we often use. But we need to do things for which we have been longed to do in life, for which our loved ones will cherish us with a smile on their face not tears in their eyes.

So there all the viewers go and enjoy it as it is a worth treat of 2008!! , and all the producers this one’s for u all:

"Big budgets and Star cast don’t make a good movie — good scripts do…."