Ghajini Movie Review - Amir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan

I saw a fantastic Aamir Khan film the other night, one where his obsession with a pretty woman led to him being clubbed on the head with a generic looking rod. The blunt force trauma led to amnesia, or so claimed Khan's character, leading to a wickedly fun plot, rife with both misunderstanding and subterfuge. Awesome stuff, Andaz Apna Apna.

Then, on Monday, I watched Ghajini,and an Andaz Apna Apna this ain't.

Before going into what it is, let us first dispense with the Memento talk.

The film's makers have ludicrously attached a disclaimer that says that because their film's protagonist suffers from a little-known medical disorder called anterograde amnesia, there is a likelihood that their story could feature elements common to other stories and films. Riight. Must be easy to be a specialist in the field then, a doctor who just needs to check the patient for a series of tattoos.

And while Ghajini might feature Aamir Khan going through the exact same condition Guy Pearce does in Memento yet -- despite the tattoos, the polaroids, and the vengeful hero with a penchant for post-its -- this is a pretty original desi picture, yes sir.

For director AR Murugadoss doesn't take that 'story' credit lightly: He's taken the Memento plot, set its non-linearity into chronological order, taken out the actual investigative intrigue and replaced it with a series of convenient coincidences and -- this one's the clincher -- added a full-blown backstory about how the hero met and fell in love with the murder victim, complete with a bunch of songs. It's hard work making good masala, for God's sake.

And Aamir Khan knows it well. It's dubious as to just how much that body needed to be beefed up -- heaven knows Guy Pearce didn't resemble a steroid commercial -- but Khan's dedication is impressive, no question. As Sanjay Singhania, the killing machine dedicated to tracking down his lover's killer, the actor plays a frenzied killing machine, clinical yet with a twisted, macabre fondness for gore. And he does really well.

His anterograde condition kicks in every fifteen minutes, which means he has to now restart investigation, scribble refreshed notes, and get back on track. And he's very well-versed in habit; at a point when he's suspicious despite having no self-scribbled clue to guide him, he analyses breathing patterns. It's a role that requires much consternation -- and Khan is truly wonderful when his character is bewildered -- as well as much over-the-top, frothing at the mouth rage.

That would have been it for his job description had this been a standard, well-produced action movie, but there is a hardcore filmi romance smack bang in the middle of it all -- one that has possibly a few minutes more screentime than the action section. And while Khan can still pour out the smitten-schoolboy charm at 43, the entire romantic part of the film is so depressingly obvious that it doesn't work at all, and only serves in slowing down the momentum of what would be an entertaining action film.

A large part of this blame must be assigned to the leading lady. Granted, Asin is straddled with a character that begs the suffix -ine to be tagged onto her name, but a strong performance could certainly have salvaged this half of the film. Her Kalpana is one of those do-gooder heroines soaking in earnestness and sympathy, the kind of character that went out of style back when Juhi Chawla a heroine, and it needed much verve to actually make this work. She doesn't
deliver -- her chirpiness is most painful -- and resultantly this rather stereotyped he's-rich-she-doesn't-know romance always seems underwhelming.

Even with the romance getting in the way, Murugadoss' version of the amnesiac killer could have been a very compelling watch.

There are times when they take huge departures from the original film, and the what-if possibilities are most intriguing.

Until, you discover, that nothing is done about them. In a chilling scene, the villain's goons strap Khan down and, after painting over his meticulously graffiti'd walls and his investigative charts, take out a tattoo gun and crudely rub out all his tattoos, the clues he's investigated for so long.

This sets you up beautifully for a sequence where Khan discovers this, one where he wakes up to realise that all his investigations have been in vain. Does he even know he was investigating in the first place? And how does he feel waking up to see a body covered in hideously scratched out tattoos? It's a trauma the character begs to be dealt with, but alas... the moment is ignored, possibly in favour of giving more time to the half-hour climax. Sigh.

This is a violent film, but there is no call for that besides shock. The gore seems gratituous -- there is a tap scene bordering on the laughable -- and while Khan leaps into his adversaries with an alarming intensity, somehow its hard to stomach a film where he stands in the middle of an alley and fells seven-with-one-blow. It is the kind of cinema we thought we'd seen the back of, and even if there's nothing wrong with escapist mainstream masala, both audiences and Aamir seem a little less used to it.

You can read more on http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/dec/24hum-do-humaare-memento.htm

Shahrukh Khan - "Sourav Ganguly and I are good friends"

It has been in the news recently that King Khan is mad with the performance of Kolkata Knight Riders, in the IPL. In a recent interview, published on Rediff Shah Rukh Khan has put to rest all rumours about a rift between Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly, and himself.

He said "Sourav and I are good friends. There is no problem between Sourav, John & me," he says.

"Certain sections of the press have misquoted me on this. I do not think that I need to justify that we are a team. I am too old in this business of winning and losing. I do not think that I need someone coming and telling me about anti-corruption after 40 days into the tournament. I own the Knight Riders and I have paid them to win. Now, if they are losing, does that mean that I am paying them to lose? "

"There is more to life than just winning. I read somwhere that I was kicking chairs. I have seen too many victories and losses, and I'm too old in this game to react like this," he continues. "When we won, it was said 'Prince and King ruled.' Now that we are not doing well, they assume that somthing must me wrong between Sourav and me. I would like to clarify that nothing is wrong."

"Saurav has sent me messages asking me to clarify to all that we are friends. We are not fighting, the team is not going to be sold. John is not angry with Sourav. Sourav is not angry with me. I am not kicking chairs. There are no issues. Yes, I do have certian issues with the IPL on the code of conduct. That needs to be clarified. Only then will I go to the matches."

My take on it would be, if SRK is mad with them for not playing well, its justified!! But i'm sure by now SRK himself knows, that its a long term investment and his pick will bring rewards in the near future. So, why bother with a few crores when there are billions to make :-)

Bollywood taking on Hollywood

Bollywood is going places... Now it’s going to the pinnacle global entertainment ie. Hollywood and with big money in tow.

Anil Ambani's Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE) has signed deals to provide development funds to eight leading creative forces in Hollywood. The deals, announced on Sunday, includes those with production houses like Nicolas Cage’s Saturn Productions, Jim Carrey’s JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney’s Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus’s 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks’s Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and Jay Roach’s Everyman Pictures.

This basically means that the company will provide for the creation for each of the Hollywood A grader's. Reliance Big Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna said: "This initiative will yield up to 30 scripts in the next two years. We are confident that at least 10 of them will go into production during that period." The movies that will be made could initially amount to $1 billion.

"There will be no creative interference," said advertising guru Prasoon Joshi, who is also in on the deal. When creative freedom is combined with the huge cache of funds that Reliance will pump in, Bollywood is set to become a very significant player in the west.

It must be noted that the ADAG has been venturing into the entertainment business, full flow. Just recently, it signed a deal with producer - director Vidhu Vinod Chopra's VCF (Vinod Chopra Films).

The Aamir Khan starrer film, which is tentative titled Idiot, is a part of this deal and will be the first to go on floors around the month of June. The movie will be directed by Rajkumar Hirani. The lead actress for the film is yet to be finalized. Idiot is a comic film with a social message.

The other details of the deal are still being worked out. "Vidhu is in the process of finalizing the line up of his films and the details should be worked out within a few days," says Reliance Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna.

Other movies in Chopra's stable included Talisman that has been adapted from the novel Chandrakanta. It will be directed by ad film maker Ram Madhvani and stars Amitabh Bachchan. The promo of Talisman was aired with the theatrical release of Lage Raho Munnabhai. Another film to be directed by Chopra, titled 64 Squares, was also on his agenda. However, the current film's status is not known.

Reliance Entertainment also recently signed a six-film deal with Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment. Work is currently underway for the first movie in the deal Rock On starring Farhan Akhtar, Prachi Desai, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Sahana Goswami and Luke Kenny. It is scheduled to release in the third quarter of 2008.

The company has also signed a co-production deal with filmmaker Sudhir Mishra for two films. The first film under this deal will be a comic-thriller and the second will be a realistic thriller titled Foot Soldier.

Amitabh Bachchan will always be The "Big B"

Very recently, a leading film magazine carried a story about director Anurag Basu (Gangster, Murder, Life in a Metro) making statements in similar vein on how the Big B should now 'gracefully retire.'

I really don't know if Basu was misquoted, but none of the people who watch Big B movies would ever feel that.

But yeah, The Big B published a suitable reply on his blog - a great way for exclusive Amitabh Bachchan thoughts. His enthu reminds me of the first-effects of blogging, you and I would have initially read about blogging approx. 5 years ago. Here's a reproduction of what he wrote in response: 'I took no one's advice when I wanted to enter the film industry and shall take no one's advice, as to when I should leave it!'

This was just the way to do so and that to gracefully! My first angry reaction to Basu's suggestion was 'Who are you to decide that?'

For such an instance I think about our ever green star "Dev Anand", who hasn't made a single rocking movie in all these years, but it hasn't stopped anyone from referring to him as a ‘Legend’. His movies might fail at the box office but his enthusiasm is to die for.

Imagine of great Hollywood actors like Clint Eastwood, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery & Morgan Freeman. I doubt anyone has ever asked them to step down even if they used a walking stick to move about.

Imagine your own folks, would you tell them they are not capable of doing x, y or z things or not capable of advising you over an issue?? No way, anyone would always take advice from their folks!!

Everyone is born with the basic right of living life their own way & no one has any business interfering unless someone is a threat to society (politicians are otherwise though). What to do, when to do.... These are our personal choices. It’s a democracy, for god's sake. All can speak and make statement, but using ones grey cells is the first thing to do, mannerisms follow. It's not always that one enjoy's the performance of a particular actor or movie of a certain director but the results at the box office are a clear indication to the star and the director, the rest is their choice, but to ask someone to fire himself just because he doesn't fulfill your definition of magic is just stupid. Imagine, if your boss told you that or for that matter your dad.

On the same note there are so many politicians like Raj Thackeray, who actually degrade each other or even Big B, but they do not take into account the achievements and also by just making comments/fun of a star is just a way of getting into the news. Politicians have always been going piggy back on the name of democracy but I wonder how many of them have actually contributed towards their constituency or the nation, in the form of deeds or even laurels.

People like the Big B do not retire or can be rarely shaken (Vijay Dinanath Chauhan). Even if they voluntarily step down, it’s their credibility and acting is what you'll always remember, not forgetting their style and grace.

Bhoothnath - A Cranky Ghost

We've all grown up watching the Big B do a lot in his own funny ways yeah - funny faces !! Be it as a drunkard, an English-ignorant annadi, or a paan-chewing inspector. Therefore, while it is more than saddening to see him in roles that really demand nothing more than a casual performance and standard issue face-pulling. The makers of Bhootnath can at least rest, assured that they have the best actor for the part.

The movie starts off 'sweetly' enough, and once you realise that Bhoothnath is a kids' film that isn't even trying to be anything else, the first half pretty much works. All is likeable enough right till the third act, where the movie abruptly turns into the kind of handkerchief-friendly melodrama we have come to associate with BR Films.

The film's lead is a natural enough young fellow called Aman Siddiqui, who plays local mischief maker, Banku. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla play his parents, who have just rented a Goa bungalow, and while daddy (SRK) works on a cruise liner, Mommy(Juhi Chawla) has her hands full force-feeding Banku breakfast and unpacking the furniture on her own because no maid would venture close to the place. It's haunted !!.

After many rumours of Nath Villa being haunted, Banku confronts his mother with the Ghost Question. There are no ghosts, she says, before filling his head with some sweet stories about angels. Sure enough, Banku comes face to face with a ghost and refuses to accept it.

The rest of the film, predictably is about this kid and the equation he develops with this ghost. And while there is absolutely nothing you haven't seen before in many many films, both the Old Ghost and Easily-Angered Young Man play their parts with warmth and enthu and, in Bachchan's case, even grace.

The problems, arise in the film's third act, where we suddenly confront Bachchan's life, and flashbacks start ruminating on not just his death, but delve into an entirely needless backstory involving his wife, his neglectful son and lots of boring stuff.

In a nutshell, Bhoothnath is more than a bit of a drag, despite the lead players trying hard to make it stick. The rest are just okay. Satish Shah makes white-bread sandwiches look yummy, Rajpal Yadav appears to be playing himself, Shah Rukh Khan looks like he's just bid Knight Riders players Brendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting goodbye, but it is Juhi Chawla, whose performance ends up as the most laboured one and lethally drags Bhoothnath's, spirit, down.

Aman Siddiqui himself is quite good, sparring with the old ghost and doing immensely well in the film's penultimate scene, on a rooftop. As for the ghost himself, here isn't much to say but that director Vivek Sharma is a lucky man, for Amitabh doesn't just pull a face, he often saves it. Or at least he tries.

You can read more on http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/may/09bhoot.htm