Ghajini (2008)

Ghajini: Directed by A.R. Murugadoss. With Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan, Pradeep Singh Rawat. A short-term memory loss patient sets out on his journey to avenge the death of his beloved girl.

“The tattoos on the body, the Polaroid snaps, the notes scattered around the house, and the smoking gun evidence? Short term memory loss, happening every 15 minutes. If this doesnu0026#39;t seem like Christopher Nolanu0026#39;s masterpiece Memento, then I donu0026#39;t know what does. Written and directed by A.R. Murugadoss, I donu0026#39;t see much of a nod of acknowledgement to Nolanu0026#39;s work, and in almost all literature, it only falls back on the fact that this is a Hindi remake of Murugadossu0026#39; own Tamil movie of the same name Ghajini, produced in 2005 (Nolanu0026#39;s was in 2000), which joins the ranks of films having their titles named after the chief villain.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn any case this isnu0026#39;t the first time that we see very obvious similarities in premise and characters being adopted for Bollywoodu0026#39;s own productions, and the shot-in-Singapore Krrish comes to mind as well, as they had the entire setting of John Woou0026#39;s Paycheck incorporated into that film. But of course in any version some merits could be found, but I believe some form of acknowledgement would be in order, other than, in this case, a quick flash of a very wordy disclaimer about Ghajini being gleaned from various short stories and material (and another paragraph which I missed given the fine print, and short duration on screen, but Iu0026#39;m pretty sure no mention of Memento).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWell, there are some reasons why I chose to watch this. First up, the musicu0026#39;s by A.R. Rahman, and for all the good publicity heu0026#39;s getting for his work on Danny Boyleu0026#39;s Slumdog Millionaire, I just had to experience yet another piece of his musical magic on a film, besides one that Iu0026#39;ve watched much earlier this year in Jodhaa Akbar. One just cannot imagine how his musical talent will be put to good use in a film which looks and feels like Memento, and this being the next best thing. u0026quot;Guzarishu0026quot; is a track used in the trailer, and it is currently my new ear worm.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnother reason is of course, Aamir Khan. Yet another prolific actor with a penchant for perfection, it was interesting to see how his take on the protagonistu0026#39;s short term memory loss, would rival that of Guy Pearceu0026#39;s. Iu0026#39;m embarrassed to say Iu0026#39;ve only seen him in action in Lagaan, so this would be yet another opportunity to witness his ability which can be measured against a benchmark. But donu0026#39;t expect the same though, because Pearceu0026#39;s version was more of a thinking man who questions and second guesses himself, while Khanu0026#39;s version was in two parts to serve the story, one as a raging hulk monster who tears through his opponents with savage violence fueled by anger and hatred, coupled with the hurt he experienced and recalled (Hulk producers take note, in case Edward Norton decides against any more sequels, look in the direction of Aamir Khan), while the other as mild-mannered Sanjay Singhania, CEO of a telecommunications company in Mumbai.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYes, Bollywoodu0026#39;s version naturally comes with built-in song and dance, which for once I would have thought looked quite out of place in the movie, if not for A.R. Rahmanu0026#39;s score and music. While half of the movie might be seen as a copy of Mementou0026#39;s premise and character, the other half served more to allow the audience to share the pain with Sanjay. Nolanu0026#39;s version had you experience the frustrating condition of the syndrome through its narrative presentation, but this one junks the reverse chronology, and plays it out flat and builds a rich back story for Sanjay, so much so that youu0026#39;ll root for him as he goes on his rampage of revenge. Youu0026#39;ll find yourself entrenched in the romance between Sanjay and his lady love Kalpana (the stunning Asin, who reprises her role from the 2005 version as well), whou0026#39;s a model awaiting her big break, and a girl with a genuinely good heart. The plot never fails to give her numerous moments to showcase her good nature, and itu0026#39;s no surprise why anyone would not fall in love with her instantly. Factor in plenty of lovey-dovey moments of comedy and pursuit (under the guise of a different identity, like Shah Rukh Khanu0026#39;s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) which makes it perfect for a date movie, but with hindsight that you know this love is doomed from the moment it began, which actually makes it quite sad to watch the events unfold since you know what will eventually happen to her.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGhajini doesnu0026#39;t adopt or try to adopt those very cerebral mind-f* moments from Memento, but as I mentioned plays it out more like a straight forward action thriller, with a handful of inevitable moments of watching our protagonist get taken advantaged of because of his condition. No other structural styles are used besides flashbacks, where the purpose of two characters in the movie are to read the diary of events so that it could be translated visually onto the screen. However youu0026#39;ll still be kept in the dark for some time as to why the designated thugs of Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat) would want to exact their mettle onto Sanjay and Kalpana, and youu0026#39;ll be held in suspense for almost 2 hours before the reasons get shown.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI can only imagine the flak that this film might receive because of having to adapt, and not properly acknowledge perhaps that itu0026#39;s not original material, save for the romantic spin on it. But if you would look past those ramifications and treat this like a re-imagining of Memento in more straight-forward terms, that this would still serve as an entertaining thriller done Bollywood style.”