Ghajini

So the dust is beginning to settle for A. R. Murugadoss' Ghajini starring Aamir Khan, given that it had broken, and is still continuing to rake in stellar box office receipt records for a Bollywood movie around the world. For me, it piqued my interest enough to revisit his 2005 Tamil version starring Surya Sivakumar in the lead role, with Asin who also starred in both versions as Kalpana, and Pradeep Singh Rawat as the villain, curiously not called Ghajini here, but Laxman.

I shall leave comparisons with Christopher Nolan's Memento unmentioned because I've done so with my earlier review of Ghajini (2008).Instead I shall focus more on the similarities and differences in the Murugadoss films, since he crafted both the screenplay and dialogue, and directed both movies with predominantly the same leads, save for the protagonist Sanjay Ramasamy (Surya Sivakumar) inflicted with short term memory loss.

The opening credits stayed similar, and for the first half hour, I thought I would be watching the same 2008 movie all over again. I see the same policeman (Riyaz Khan) going through the same investigations and employing tactics seen before, and even the scene transitions relied on the same time lapse technique already seen. The structure of the story remained for at least two-thirds of the film, and especially the romance between Kalpana and Sanjay, except for distinct differences such as the knowledge of who the chief villain is with the possession of the all important polaroid, and spending some time showing how Sanjay had tattooed himself with the clues.

While it may be easy to work on a remake, given that you're basically rehashing what you've done before, and more so with experienced actors in the same role again, it is easy to free fall into complacency and to go through the motions with your own remake especially. But kudos to Murugadoss for identifying plot loopholes, and to make changes for the better in the Hindi version, rather than to import such flaws wholesale into the new movie. Obviously the production values were ramped up significantly from this version, but that's not the only thing that had improved. as was the editing.

The pace here is pretty much slower, and had plenty of fat which were removed in the latest version. Tweaks were done for the better in the latest, especially so in the editing department to gel scenes together much more effectively. Here, you get abrupt jumps and cuts, so the narrative turned out to be a bit choppy at times, especially so when it's time for the rudimentary song and dance sequence which pops out from almost nowhere. Sorely missed were the daily routine that Sanjay would have to relive everyday, which I thought was an important scene to reinforce his difficulty in trying to hunt down the gangsters.

The final act turned out to be an all out whackfest without too much thought put into making this film more plausible, opting instead for a pseudo-terrorist hostage situation. You could tell from the onset at this point that there were a few scenes Murugadoss would have elected to do differently, such as to avoid having Sanjay as a muscled and skilled fighter from the onset, with exaggerated Kollywood styled prowess to boot too. These were toned down for Bollywood, and having Aamir show off his six-packs from extreme training also helped to make it believable.

Murugadoss also decided to downplay and eliminate the complicated finale battle here, which made use of wire-fu, and his decision to change the that battle to that seen in the Hindi version, is much appreciated for creating a stronger sequence altogether. Even the very last scene of his reworked version fared miles better since it sent home some very strong emotional chords to the audience, rather than this version here which actually was quite creepy (my first thoughts were of reincarnation!)

Music wise, with all due respect to Haarris Jayaraj for his work here, I thought A.R. Rahman's actually worked better. The music here, while still effective, was a little downbeat, and the picturization (if that's what it's called) could have been vastly improved, many times being something like watching a tacky 80s made music video. Compare Guzarish and Sutrum Vizhi (which is my favourite song of the lot in this film), and you'll see what I mean. The placeholders for music to come on were pretty much the same, save for this version having what I thought was 2 distinct pieces reworked or removed totally from the remake for pace purposes. Sutrum Vizhi has this really hypnotic, head-banging beat to it.

My frank opinion would be to watch the Hindi version not because it's vastly superior, but for its production values as well as a more coherent story reworked for a much better result. This version is still valuable in terms of seeing how far everyone had come, and for fans of Asin, this is the film that provided her that breakthrough in her career.

The Region Free DVD by Venai Holdings is presented in matted letterbox format. Visual transfer is average at best, seemingly done off a VHS quality source. Toward the last hour there's this curious green tinge at the top right hand corner, but wasn't irritating enough to mar the enjoyment of the film. At times there were some pops and cackles in the visuals as well, but nothing too serious. Audio quality is in stereo and in the original language track, with English subtitles as an option. No other extra features contained in the DVD. Guess I shall wait for Ghajini 2008 to see if it comes with a special edition of sorts for some making of documentaries. Given the box office success, I don't see why not.

Long time back I watched Memento, which was a masterpiece in the thriller generation. It was (and is) one of my all time favourite thrillers. After watching it I became a great fan of Christopher Nolan who also later provided us two Batman movies so far. Now after a long time again I had to see Indian version of Memento. Here Indian in the sense doesn't always mean of Hindi film industry Bollywood. It can be of any industry, and let's take here Tamil film industry Kollywood since Ghajini is originally made in Tamil as well dubbed in Telugu.

I must admit that I caught this Ghajini just by its subtitle since I cannot understand any of Southern Indian languages. Just after learning that it was inspired from Memento I decided of watching it, but neglected again and again. And so now I am commenting on this impressive title Ghajini after finally grabbing it.

In Memento Christopher Nolan used a unique storytelling technique which was not used before by any other director, and made me to watch it thrice to understand the whole story. But although Ghajini is not exactly a carbon copy of Memento, it has the similarities of the lead role suffering from 'anterograde amnesia' and following the incidents of written notes & tattoos corner by corner in his body as reminders. Still then the main theme was on taking revenge of his lover's murderers. The rest of the story is from itself.

Murugadoss did a memorable job by making an Indian version of Memento in his own way by using his own talent and not fully depending on Hollywood. Nevertheless, Surya Sivakumar is really impressive in both roles – as a rich, cool and romantic businessman lover as well as a serious amnesiac running after murderers for revenge. And most important to mention is the name of Asin who performed a tragic but marvelous role as Kalpana. Pradeep Rawat's double role was so boring, and I guess it was created just to spark in the running story, nothing else than this. I watched him first and last time in super hit Sarfarosh as illegal weapon supplier Sultan, and now again.

I equally noticed some unnecessary issues like police officer's role performed by Riyaz Khan. His role was not that important for the story but he appeared in the movie as if he is born simply to die from an amnesiac patient. After his first appearance I expected as if he has a strong significance in making the story sharper. Besides, many songs were also not important for showing the tragic romance between Sanjay and Kalpana, and could easily be avoided.

After all I wish to give only 7 out of 10 for lacking of originality in the action scenes. During running of the movie only the fact that made me bored were the action scenes by which I felt as if I am watching some cartoons in Cartoon Network or Pogo. I know most of the Indian action scenes are made in this sense just to turn a superhero for some time. That's why Ghajini could have been a superb heart-touching and entertaining if important action scenes are presented more realistically than they are.

It's remake was happened in Hindi but it's original is always very good than the remake.

It is a impressive story told in a very inventive manner. Surya steals the show. Be it the romantic and rich Sanjay or the struggling man out to seek revenge, Surya is simply original and expressive.

He has really bent his back to make the action sequences sizzle. Sizzles, he also with Asin. The two some really make a pair. Asin is full of vibrant energy. Nayantra is okay-okay.

The film could have done with a little more of humor. Harris Jeyaraj's music is again brilliant. He lifts the film to a new high with his smart rerecording. Rajasekhar's camera work is also another high point of the film.

Kanal Kannan's stunt choreography needs special mention.

Thanks a lot for Murugadoss for showing that masala movies need not be inane or insipid.

Ghajini works, big time.

Gajini, Directed by A.R.Murugadhas is a action movie, this time with a story. Murugadas, RD. Rajasekar, Antony above all Kanal Kanna are the real hero's of the film in Story, Camera, Editing and Stunts respectively.

The highlight of the movie is the climax stunt between Surya and the Villain – absolutely fabulous. When I saw alavandhan (movie) I thought what else can you do to beat this kind of stunt (remember kamal vs kamal) but the vision of the director, stuntman and the visual effects is really amazing and surprisingly perfect (It took 10 days to complete the climax).

Surya has performed beautifully in both the characters. Surya, Asin pair in the movie looks fresh and good. Nayanthara trying to be sexy looks ugly in her attempt but her character is the pivot in the movie. Harris Jayaraj is looking confused in many places in the background score, he gives you a feeling as if you are seeing his earlier movie (anniyan, thotti jaya) but he has made it equal with songs specially "Sutrum Villi Sudarae" is beautifully choreographed and filmed.

A.R.Murugadhas has done the story (The knot was taken from an English film Memento), screenplay and direction very well, but the two songs (Nayantharas and the climax song) are definitely the show stoppers as they bring down the phase and the impact of the story in a descending order, must have been avoided (remember Ramana where we has effectively only 2 songs) Gajini a movie worth watching.