Life After TimePass Films. Review on Ghajini (2008)

“Aamir’s film” lives upto expectations in many ways and in some ways it disappoints. There is a taut story line on a definintely “hatke” theme. The performances are uniformly good and the direction is consistently purposeful. The movie starts with a murder committed by Aamir’s character after a brief introduction by Jiah Khan, the medico who is keen on studying his case history. The film’s grip only firms up as the movie progresses. Aamir plays Sanjay Singhania who is (you guessed it – a singhania can only be an industrialist) a tycoon. The screenplay lacks crispness but the flashback revealing his past is entertaining. The movie, when it moves to flashback mode sustains its grip by taking a refreshing, innocent look at love.This is where Asin steps in. She has a chunky role that was not apparent in the promos of the film.

There is something disorienting (in a nice way) about a hindi film heroine who is not obsessed with her designer figure and clothes. Even more strangely she has qualities to her that have nothing to do with aloo ke parathe. She takes up screen time without batting her eyelashes or being a victim. She actually has this social conscience. I suppose that would be the south influence – it’s a welcome relief. Asin is a more than competent actress – she is genuinely charming. Surprisingly though I felt Jiah, with her limited role was equally good. Asin and Aamir showed an unfortunate lack of chemistry which cannot be entirely blamed on the script (which focuses more on how impressed Aamir is by Asin’s individuality). But Jiah and Aamir actually look cool together. Look forward to more of her understated oomph!

Ultimately the film banks on Aamir amd his well-developed-and-shown-to-advantage pectorals. As the aggressive Sanjay, Aamir shines in this exceedingly physical role. With hardly any dialogues and in the absence of any “personality”, he seeks to convey the restless quest for vengeance that is frustrated by its own incapacity to remember the enemy. And he succeeds big time. Characterisation has always been a thing with Aamir. All his screen personas have been memorable, from their unique attitudes right down to their quirky names (Raghu Jaitley se Nikumbh tak). But clearly, playing this undefined, vague character is right up his alley too.

The climax with its one-man-army action-sequence is pretty well executed too. So no two ways about it – go watch!

The film has its share of flaws though, the most glaring one of which is that it is not pacy enough for a thriller. The love angle could have been more efficiently shown in a shorter time. As it is, even given the amount of sreen time, the vibes between the lead pair could have been more apparent. The choreography is very south and seems awkward at times. I found Aamir’s attire in the guzaarish song too fanciful and his pants(culottes??) silly. But then these are all minor points which I can’t help but notice since it is an “Aamir film”. Otherwise in this tizzy of time-pass films, here is a film that will actually tell a story that holds your interest and entertain you at the same time.