After 24/7 promotions, continuous interviews, and giving youth the Ghajini hairstyle by acting as a barber, Aamir Khan’s most awaited and commercial movie till date, Ghajini, finally got released. Now, the hype around the movie was superb, full marks to the marketing team of Ghajini for that. So, the question is, does it leave to the hype? No, I don’t think so.

There is a lot of discussion going around if Ghajini is a copy of Memento, and believe me, it is. And we’ll talk about it in the end of the post. But first, let me give you a quick review because I’ll forget everything in 15 minutes just like Aamir Khan in the movie.

Story is about a business tycoon, Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), who is suffering from anterograde amnesia, and is looking for revenge, why? Well, because his girlfriend, Kalpana (Asin) was murdered by the villain guy, Ghajini. As you can see there is nothing special in the story department.

Let’s talk about the treatment of the movie. It’s clearly following the Tamil Cinema where action is over the top and our hero can beat anyone, no matter how many they are, you know Rajnikanth style, as popularly known to Bollywood audience. This is the very first mistake of this movie.

Director of the movie, A. R. Murugadoss, is a South Indian movie director, and he thinks that this type of stuff will work in Bollywood, but sorry to say sir, we’re not living in the 80s anymore. We want some real action, and not this non-sense.

This brings me to the villain, Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat), wearing white pants and jewelry. I mean, c’mon! When Hollywood is giving us cool villains like The Joker, here we have a moron Ghajini, who can’t even fight the hero. We really need a better quality of criminals. The scenes which were supposed to be intense drama, were the ones in which people were laughing. That explains a lot!

The main problem of Ghajini is the incorrect presentation of the disease, anterograde amnesia. The thing which is the main plot point of the story is the weakest link of the movie. There is no consistence in portraying the disease. Sanjay can forget things anytime he wants, irrespective of the limited time frame that is 15 minutes. For example; he can spend more than 15 minutes killing the bad guys but will forget what he is doing only after he killed all of them.

Biggest loophole

Story is filled with loopholes. In the movie, they show us that Aamir doesn’t remember the death of Asin and he only comes to know about it when he reads the tattoos on his body. Fair enough. But the problem arises in the long run.

Now, if we go by the disease, he should forget about her death every 15 minutes, but he doesn’t. He should remind himself every 15 minutes that his girlfriend got murdered. But NO! He’ll forget everything but not this. He’ll forget it only when he sleeps. What kind of BS is this?

And the last scene, how can he remember that his girlfriend is no more? He is happy, enjoying a birthday party, even forgetting the girl who helped her, but doesn’t forget that Asin is no more. As I said earlier, there is no consistency in the disease. Ghajini falls flat when it comes to some logic.

Music is average and songs are forced. If you leave out Kaise Mujhe, there is not one song which comes out natural. The only saving grace of the movie is the love story of Aamir Khan and Asin. It’s simple, innocent and beautiful. For me, it’s the second best love story of 2008 after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Performances

Now let’s talk about the performances. Aamir Khan did all he can do to save this film. He put all of his efforts but there is still lacking the punch. He scores 100 out of 100 for the love story part but when it comes to action, sorry to say, he looks like a Sunny Deol wannabe.

Screaming, running and beating up the guys, no emotions as such. Well, I respect Aamir for his acting and his choice of roles but this time, he got it totally wrong. I know you want to do commercial cinema, but check out some good scripts in lieu of this trash. You’re not Akshay Kumar, so leave the brainless stuff to him.

Asin the best part of Ghajini, people totally loved her. She has a great future in Bollywood because she has a great control over Hindi and her expressions are natural. There will be a tough fight for best debut actress awards this year.

Was there Jiah Khan too in the movie? Damn, this 15 minute thing is really catching up to me. Now, I can see why she was not in the promotions. No acting skills, poor dialogue delivery, another Katrina Kaif wannabe.

Comparison of Memento and Ghajini

As I promised, let’s see how Ghajini and Memento are similar. People, who haven’t seen Memento, please don’t bother replying to this part because you don’t know what you’re dealing with.

Ghajini steals all the main plot points of Memento i.e. Anterograde Amnesia, hero seeking revenge, murder of his love, maps on the wall, a girl helping the hero, and not to forget the Polaroid Camera, they didn’t even bother to change the camera, so stupid! Now if you don’t call it stealing the idea of the movie then I don’t know what you call it.

For those who’ll say that the treatment is different in Ghajini then let me give you an example. Consider an exam and one student is copying answers from another student and then suddenly, teacher catches him. To his defense he says that, “Teacher, our answers maybe same but our hand writing or presentation is different.”

This is what the director and Aamir Khan is doing. A. R. Murugadoss said that he just read the plot line of Memento or saw the trailer and then wrote his script. Well sir, tomorrow you’ll also say that you just heard the name of Memento and wrote a script of your own and surprisingly, it had a lot of similarities. Give us a break!

You can just totally copy “Hitch” and make it “Partner” or thousands of other Hollywood movies into Bollywood but not Memento. Memento is an all time classic and people from all over the globe respects it a lot. Check out imdb.com rating for Memento, you’ll find out yourself.

I’m pissed off because it’ll give such a bad name to Bollywood when people from other countries watch it.

I’m more worried about Christopher Nolan, the guy who made Memento and The Dark Knight. This movie will surely make a bad impression about Bollywood on him. Ok, fine, you copied the movie then at least have the decency to give the credit to Nolan brothers for working so hard over the script. Shameful!!

One thing to Mr. A. R. Murugadoss, you can copy the movie and claim it to be yours but you can never match the respect that Nolan has, not even in your wildest dreams. And please, don’t come to Bollywood with this trash.

Verdict

Ghajini is your total masala film, with all the elements in one package. The script is fully flawed and makes no sense. Aamir Khan really tries to save this film with his superb acting but Ghajini works only because of Asin. If you take out her from the movie then there is nothing left in the movie. A. R. Murugadoss really needs a movie making lesson in Bollywood otherwise there is no future.

In short, Ghajini is dumbness at its best.

For those people who think that this movie is too good then do yourself a favor and watch Memento. You’ll come to know what real movie making is all about. I’m giving the link to IMDB page of Memento below the post so that you can check out the reaction of the public and the ratings.

IMDB Page – Memento

Rating –

Cast – Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan

Music Director – A. R. Rahman

Movie Director – A. R. Murugadoss

Post your comments, reviews and suggestions in the comment box below and I’ll reply to them and vote in the poll.

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63 Responses
  1. Amit Kumar V says:

    Comment by newsdose on December 28, 2008 7:13 pm
    Well, movie is average, moreover it’s a copy. Let’s see how it scores during second week.

    Ghajini Grosses A Huge 17 Crore Over Second Weekend

    Monday 5th January 2009 13.00 IST

    Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network

    Ghajini grossed a record 17 crore nett over its second weekend to take its tally to nearly 82 crore nett. The second week should record record business in the region of 26 crore nett.

    The film continued with excellent business all over India in its second weekend. Mumbai circuit grossed over 6 crore while Delhi/UP was just under 4 crore.

    SECOND WEEK IS NOT COMPLETED….ITZ JUST COLLECTION OF 3DAYS IN SEC WEEK
    Crappp review……dont erase my message…….

  2. 15mins says:

    NewDose …
    You refer Memento (yes it is a very good movie) and then loopholes in Ghajini (yes this is a copy and I hate Indian movies for this reason; at least one should have courtesy to mention or give credits but then it will mean money so it is no no here …!).
    But, I will suggest that when you review movies then judge all with same criterias.
    Also, Memento also has many loopholes which you might have over-looked.
    TC

  3. farrukh says:

    Truth is Truth…

    Ghajini is all time masala movie n ….it’s main plot n idea picked up from The Great..Memento

    Memento is a classic piece while Ghajini to me is a Disaster ( sorry n do not mind it the Ghajini lovers)

    i love Amir khan very much as he gave us movies like….Lagaan…Sarfrosh…Ghulam…Rangeela…Raja Hindustani…Qayamat S Q Tak…Taare Zameen per n my all time favorite comedy..Andaan apna apna n many more…

    But….

    i m amazed when i saw Ghajini promo n then Ghajini…i still not believe that Amir did this kind of BUllshit cinema….

    he is known for his acting but not for marketing but with Ghajini now he will known for marketing n not for acting….

    and apart from kaise mujhe A R Rahman ….lost hi style in 2009
    Behka could b much more suitable if it was sung by Shaan who also sung ( main aisa kyun hun )

    i hate Ghajini n the whole team who made this crap….as m also a lover of Good Cinema…

  4. Uday Hegde says:

    Ghajini is a good movie, Amir & Asin are good. Guzarish song is superb, other songs are waste. Feed back to AR

  5. Ratan says:

    Chill out guys. Ghajini has broken all the records and its a slap on reviewer’s face (the one and only SRK FANATIC, Newsdose:P) though he never admits that…:P

    Ghajini rocks !! Aamir kicked srk’s ass so srk fanatics cannot tolerate this and r writing this kind of reviews…

    Ghajini and Aamir won the race by miles..!! srk should better do movie serials like saas b kabhi bahu thi, like shoba kapoor ekta kapooor family drama, he is king khan of NOTHING:P…

  6. Ratan says:

    See now, newsdose never talks about collections.. collections are record breaking and its clear that ppl r liking the movie….I actually saw ppl yawning during rnbdj…

    Ghajini has stomped all other movies and aamir kicked out so-called kings and crushed them very badly…

    ANd of course watch out for SAMPAT in GHajini who is SRK look alike:P

  7. newsdose says:

    Well, I know it’s doing great and it’s good for Bollywood since 2008 was really bad in terms of money. But, one point that you’re missing here is that Ghajini is going through more drop than Rab Ne in second week. Check out BOI and see Indore collections. And why do you guys have to compare SRK, Aamir, or Akshay? Why can’t you be happy with your star? lol

    If you really want to compare then Aamir won for the first time, SRK has been defeating Aamir for more than 16 years, remember Rangeela and DDLJ? :P

  8. newsdose says:

    And why are you calling me a fanatic? You’re an Aamir Khan Fanatic yourself and a SRK hater, can’t you see that? Lol

  9. Vinu says:

    Mr.Newdose

    All your review comments became total waste with Ghajini crossing Rs.200Cr in second week. It is also such a big fun to read you telling directors how to direct and type casting directors in the name of south and north. Film critic is some one who needs to have a open mind to cultural differences. Hollywood reviewers do not condemn any movie that is different from their cultural style. From comments it looks like this more of fight for SRK than a justified movie review. I am not a fan of either but what I know for sure is that Ghajini’s commercial success has trashed your narrow minded review.

    Thanks

  10. balthazar says:

    Kudos to Newsdose…
    With this review you have got it BANG ON !!!

    I saw Memento few years back and was blown away.This was an intelligent film with repeat viewing qualities.No matter how many times you see the film you will not get bored.And every time I realised that I was discovering something new.

    Back to Ghajini now.With record prints and simulteneous release in several Western Countries inlcuding New Zealand and US..we have again made ourselves look like cheap imitators in front of foreign audiences.Why ? its not the film but the ‘ Copy – Paste ‘ nature of the film from a brilliant and well known original masterpiece.

    I am tired of listening to Bollywood Directors and Producers claiming copied foreign films as their own creations.The reviewer is bang on with his comments comparing that of a cheating in a classroom and saying that the handwriting style is different..hence the answer script is also different and his own.

    With Nolan under limelight for all the right reasons for The dark Knight, Bollywood with its multi million budget and extravagant promotion worldwide has again embarassed us with another plagurised version.Aamir now has a good reputation abroad post Lagaan and Taare Zameen Par success..atleast he should be careful while selecting copied storylines.Atleast these guys should acknowledge and mention something like ‘ Based on …. ‘ but that would be too embarassig for them.

    As if this is not…when majority of filmgoers abroad will realise that its copied from Memento and will start drawing conclusions about Bollywood.My problem is not that much with the film as most people will like it first time in India where the original might not be so well klnown..but the problem is with the stealing ( oops thats too strong ! ) ..sorry copying part of it.We have again made our look like assholes in front of International audience !!!!

  11. MNA says:

    @above

    that was really a Yawning post man.. Are you newsdose (the reviewer) or any of his frnd??:O

    Anyawys, bad news for u both, Ghajini crossed 200 cr mark and made a history:P

    If movie was bad, no one wud have gone to watch it….Collections show that ppl like it…it automatically proove my point:P

    One good news too, All the awards must go to srk….ENJOY GUYS>>>!!!

  12. Anish says:

    Well in simple words, Ghajini was complete trash…I would actually have preferred it, if they had just kept it as a lovestory and not copied the Memento part…i literally cringed in my seat every time when Aamir came onto screen with his over the top performance and screaming in literally every frame…god we know ur angry, but birds are dying because of your screams….And Rab ne Bana di Jodi wasnt a great film either…mediocre, however SRK and Vinay Pathak made it worth watching, simply due to their heartfelt performances…How much ever one says Ghajini isnt a copy of Memento, in the end you”ve stolen the best parts of the original and dummed it down so much that we’ve got an eye sore instead….

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