~~~G-H-A-J-I-N-I Blockbuster of 2005~~~. Review on Ghajini - Tamil Movie

Cinema is pure fiction.Though there are some movies which are made from real life stories like the recent blockbuster ''Kadhal'', it is a general practice to add commercial elements into the movie to make it an overall product. But again, the commercial ingredients must not overshadow the theme of the movie. The most awaited movie of the year ''Ghajini'' which got released 2 months back with a spectacular opening is a ''Blockbuster'' with the figures rising day-after-day. It is definitely a commercial entertainer and despite this fact, the movie has a underlying message of ''female empowerment''(which is not very hard-hitting) in the society. More in the review.....

A.R.Murugadoss is a fine storyteller and a hotshot director and his last movie ''Ramana'' which talked about corruption was considered his Best. His latest offering ''Ghajini'' starring Surya and the latest heart-throb Asin is a thriller and is inspired from a hollywood flick ''Momento''.

Story

Sanjay Ramaswamy (Surya) is a billionaire and the CEO of Airvoice Mobile company. Kalpana (Asin) is a small time model who acts in advertisements. Sanjay and Kalpana fall in love in a very interesting manner (Everyone will love their love story) but fate has a different game. Kalpana gets killed and Sanjay suffers short term memory loss while trying to save her from the villain. He forgets everything that he learns in 15 minutes, and so he has a polaroid camera using which he takes pictures and tatoos informations all over his body. But what he cannot forget is the scene when Kalpana is killed and the face of the villain and his assistants. He is on a MISSION to completely wipe them out.... will he succeed?

The story unfolds in 3 parts (flashbacks) and it is nail-biting because everyone knows that Sanjay is short-term memory loss patient and Kalpana is killed. But How did this happen gets unfolded in 3 flashbacks through Sanjay's diary.

Flashback #1

Sanjay is introduced as the CEO of Airvoice Mobile. The story introduces us to Kalpana (Asin) who is an extra in Advertisements. The way Kalpana and Sanjay meet, their slow but steady love is what makes this part an interesting watch. On New Year Eve, Sanjay Proposes to Kalpana and the flashback ends. So we have to wait to see if Kalpana accepted his proposal.....

Flashback #2

Chithra (Nayanthara) is a medical college student who wants to do a research on Sanjay's medical condition. On visiting sanjay's house, she tumbles upon those polaroid images/diaries and informs the villain that his life is in danger. On coming to know this accidentally, Sanjay tries to kill Chithra. But the cops come at the right time and arrests him without knowing Sanjay's ailment. Chithra reads the diary.

Kalpana do accepts Sanjay's love and the way she tells Sanjay to wait is too funny. Kalpana is actually a SOCIAL WORKER and she always helps people. Handicapped persons, blind person, whoever needs help, Kalpana stands out first to help them. It is this quality in her which actually impresses Sanjay. Together they make plans for their life when Sanjay leaves to London and Kalpana leaves to Mumbai for an Ad shoot.... With that the information in the diary also ends.

Flashback #3

This is the most tear-jerking flashback of all. Chithra tries all the sources to find how Kalpana was killed and how Sanjay became like this. She finds out a bitter truth that when Kalpana leaves to Mumbai, she rescues a group of innocent girls from rowdies who were selling them to a some dreaded dadas. Kalpana saves all those girls with the help of military people and becomes the Villain's target. The scene where Kalpana and Surya are attacked is the most deftly handled scene in the movie. There is so much expression oozing out from the lead pair that it should be watched rather than written.

Back to present

Now chithra helps Sanjay achieve his mission. Will Sanjay be able to kill the villain forms the climax (which was actually disappointing).

Why Female Empowerment?

The main enterprise in the movie was the scene where Kalpana saves the innocent girls. Nowadays it has become such a common factor to sell innocent girls from village off to some city red-light areas. Iam not exaggerating but still there are some places where it is still happening. This point has been raised in the movie and the scene when Kalpana saves those innocent girls and scenes that follow are really the ones which throws light on how a small fraction of the rural female population is treated.

Thumbs Up

• The way Surya and Asin fall in love slowly has been portrayed beautifully.

  
  




• Scene at the signal when Surya watches Asin helping the disabled.

  
  




• First Encounter of Surya and Asin.

  
  




• Scene when Surya proposes to Asin is realistic.

  
  




• Surya and Asin doing the house-warming by stepping on the wet cement slab. (This was too romantic).

  
  




• Scene when Asin saves the helpless girls.

  
  




• Asin's encounter with the villain for the first time and her dialogues.

  
  




• The scene when Asin is killed by the villains is a gory-ending to a life.

  
  

On the downside...

• Nayantara as chithra is the BIGGEST minus point in the film. She slows down the narration with an unwanted character fit. It could have done by anyone. Even a male character would have done justice to that role.

  
  




• The climax in the ladies hostel is cinematic rather then realistic.

  
  




• Projecting the villain in a dual role is not justified and looks kiddish. But there should be some twists and turns to make a movie interesting but this was tough to digest.

  
  

Performances

Surya as the short-term memory loss patient speaks more with eyes and action. He has very less dialogues compared to the lead heroine but he still speaks with his eyes. Watch out for the scene in the signal when he falls for the heroine on seeing her helping the disabled. The way he smiles speaks a lot. I wrote this review for Asin and she was an absoulte delight on screen. Any scene that she comes is a whiff of fresh air. There is not a single scene where she overacts or underacts. Every scene is worth watching for her sheer acting capability. I would say that it is her lifetime role and she has lived the role of Kalpana. The other characters lend able support and the villain is just okay.

The music by Harris Jeyaraj is outstanding though he has started rehashing his own tunes. Rangola, Oru Maalai and Rahatulla has been picturized and choreographed aptly. Suttum Vizhi is magical. The cinematography for the entire movie is good. Director Murugadoss has hit the bull's eye for the movie is a BLOCKBUSTER.

All said, Ghajini is a movie to be watched and not missed.

Rating

Comments and Ratings are welcome.