Ghajini - 2 on 5

My Hindi teacher in school used to always say 'Nakal may bhi akal chahiye' which translates to: 'Imitation also needs intelligence' (for the benefit of my American blog readers :P). It couldn't be more apt in this case. Trust Bollywood to copy a classic English movie and make a complete hash of it. And Memento is one helluva film.

Ghajini starts off extremely well and maintains a good pace till the first half hour. But after that it just falls flat and becomes so predictable. The movie is a bit like soda, which after it loses its initial fizz, is just bitter water! Ghaijini is ridden with flaws and leaves you with a thousand question marks. Even if you ignore the technicalities, a lot of basic inconsistencies leave you puzzled, to say the least. Fifteen minutes, which happens to be the duration for which Amir Khan can remember things, on one occasion is as short as half a bus ride and on the other is so long that he can go through two entire diaries, travel half way around town on a scooter, beat 23 bad guys, before he forgets what the hell he is doing there! The movie is never ending, much like Asin's hips (what more can you expect from a South Indian starlet?) It could easily have been at least 45 minutes shorter and each of the songs were as unnecessary as Amir Khan's show of cleavage in those very songs. To top it up, you can guess the ending even before the movie actually gets underway and that is the biggest let down.

Having said all that, the movie does have its moments, though they are few and far in between. Amir's brilliance, in combination with some tidy sound effects makes your heart skip a beat on more than one occasion. The chemistry between the lead pair is sweet, before it gets overdone. Ghajini does have its share of laughs, which is a welcome diversion from its gory violence.

Of the cast, Amir is excellence personified in the first half but then, like the rest of the movie, he cools off too. He overdoes the climax and reminds me of a young SRK in Baazigar. Asin is refreshing. She is meant to look cute and does just that. It is the kind of role that Juhi Chawla was born to play. Jiah Khan acts badly, looks worse. And the biggest disappointment is the villain (whose name I dont know, nor wish to) He just doesn't evoke fear and speaks with an accent similar to my local Rajasthani grocer. Amir Khan auditioned scores of girls for the lead female actor (actress, I hear is a banned word!) Surely, he could have done better with the villain.

To sum it up, Ghajini is long, boring, violent and ya forgettable!

P.S.: I do plan to post some Christmas pics on my blog. But that can only happen when my sister finds the time to upload them on the computer!