Tuesday, December 30

The perfectionist is here again!

(No, I’m not talking about myself. Read on, hasty judgmentalists!)

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the one and only Amir Khan! The actor’s done it again – he has made an exquisite movie, and has lived up to his one-blockbuster-a-year code.

Ghajini - In one word, terrific. In two words, absolutely terrific. In three, I ain’t kidding.

The movie is a remake of a Tamil film by the same name. (“The first ever movie”, my dad commented, “to be named after the movie’s villain.” I’m not sure about that, but all of us anticipated Amir to be Mr. Ghajini.)

I’m told that everything in the movie, right from the storyline to the characters and actors (except Amir, of course), even the songs are a complete copy of the original. But hey, it’s done very well, and there’s no denying that.

The plot is, Mr. Richie Rich falls in love with Ms. Helpful, who is bumped off by some goondas. In the same incident, Richie gets whacked on the head and is struck by anterograde amnesia thanks to which he forgets everything every 15 minutes. He still remembers he swore revenge, and the story is about how he locates the khooni-darinda and achieves his life purpose.
(I actually researched my graduate-level Abnormal Psychology books, eager to know more about this medical condition, and refreshed my study of dissociative fugue and retrograde amnesia in the bargain. How information is not transferred from short-term to long-term storage, and the person is unable to recall anything other than what he knew before the accident.)
Not a very extraordinary tale when you read it, but the way it is filmed and narrated is nothing short of exceptional. I was prepared to return home disappointed, and proclaim to the world that Amir is all hype, no substance. But my plans were foiled, and the 200-minute long flick did every ounce of justice to the excitement. Worth the wait after Taare Zameen Par (TZP) last December. Truly worth it.

It’s no secret that Amir is a fabulous performer, and he outdoes himself in this one. His emotional outbursts and facial expressions, his composure and confidence take your breath away. The way he looks around like a lost baby after his 15-minute clock times out is a fine glimpse of his proficiency at the art. A stickler for details, Amir’s character in the movie also searches for a suitable weapon to murder the adversary. He resembles bhatija Imran in quite a few scenes, but his impish grin is utterly inimitable. Whatta brilliant 6-pack!

And need I explain how tremendously cute and charming he looks in the Van Heusen gear?!! This is one individual who can carry off anything with ease and enthusiasm – be it his formal half-shirt sleeves rolled up in Ghajini, or the crazy fluorescent T-shirt in Aati Kya Khandala (Ghulam) or the whacky yellow dress in Rangeela... Hats off to him buddies! (Pants, too, if you insist.)

About the rest of the crew, Jiah is in appalling need of a wash and some food. The anorexic female with a slap-worthy, arrogant face is nothing but a pain in the movie, butting her nose into other people’s affairs. Asin, as Amir’s love interest, is pretty and endearing, and you actually find yourself praying that their lovey-dovey, funny-mushy story ends well. The crook in the movie is downright contemptible, as he mutters “shooort-term memory loss” each time the camera zooms in on him.

My mum liked the movie, an opinion hindered by the presence of too much action and violence, especially in the climax. However, we were both unequivocally impressed by the systematic way in which the protagonist files and stores his possessions. (All you folks who have trouble getting organized, take note!) “Switch off light”, “remove T-shirt” are a few post-its that are stuck around the house for the hero to combat his medical condition.

Here are a few learnings that I gathered from the movie:

One, follow your aim with single-minded focus and perseverance. Like Amir has “Kill him”, “revenge” splashed across the walls. Similarly, let your entire life revolve around your greatest dream or wish. Work fervently to achieve it, and don’t give up, come what may.

Two, being kind and helpful is perilous. In kalyug, people who do good are doomed and punished, and evil-doers are hailed and protected. That is why Madame Asin is slaughtered, though nemesis soon catches up with the assassin.

Three, none can escape or thwart fate. You may have your own plans and ambitions, but fate decides what course your life will take. Why else did Amir with his business dream that races into the future land up in a murky, forgetful present? (Ya, I know I said this
yesterday as well.)

Well, what else? Salman Khan has turned 43, and I’m wondering whether he ever plans to tie the knot. Besides speculating about his marital aspirations, I’m also connecting with tons of friends and folks on Orkut, Facebook and Linked-In. Check out this amazing question posted by a Mr. Phil Johnson on LI : “Who are you?”

Looks effortless, eh? Wait until you read this - you need to say who you are without referring to your name, age, sex, physical appearance, habits, characteristics, reactive tendencies, location, profession, title, religious beliefs, group affiliations, family history, personal history, anything that others have said or written about you, education, income, financial worth, political beliefs or affiliations... Now, what say?!!

Have a great time exploring yourself, people!
Here’s wishing you a very happy and prosperous new year! May the new year bring you many new hopes, promises and reasons to celebrate!!

See you in the new year!!

Love,
Anuja

3 comments:

Sibi said...

Hey so the last post and the last comment for the year..How the graph has increased na for the no of posts in the last quarter of the year.Good.It shud alws increase coz u r an awesome writer.Keep it up....
Memento is the English version of Ghajini,which is a bit different from the Ghajini in Tamil and Hindi.Tamil and Hindi version are ditto same to same.I must say even the songs are translated into Hindi from Tamil.Also some of the actors were the same who were there in Tamil Ghajini coz our Perfectionist wanted somebody who is familiar with the script and the role..Hats off...awesome movie..nice review.
And last but not the least,I wish u and the people who reach here to read this blog a very wndrful new year.Don't make any resolutions coz it doesn't work/At least in my case.Have a blast guys..
HAPPY NEW YEAR.....

vishal said...

hey..well said it's a lovely one..wrote a review on ma blog vishalbheeroo.wordpress.com
cheers,happy new year2008..God is always with u..inshallah n year sumthg very genuine..u are a good person,anuja...

Biprashish said...

Hi Princess,
Being an ardent fan of Aamir, I was quite disappointed to see Ghajini.....the story line was less than ordinary, with very many loose ends, the editing, the directing, the music...all quite poor by Aamir standards, though cinematography was good in parts(read more in my blog). For someone known to be a perfectionist, how could Aamir have missed out on all of these was a surprise. After TZP, this was really quite disappointing. But for Aamir's performance & a little less by Asin, the movie was quite a washout. Hope Aamir has better movies to follow next year.

Your learnings on Ghajini is quite interesting. However while single minded focus is good to imbibe, do not give up on your natural self of being sensitive, helpful, & endearing. Am sure fate would have good things in store for you.

The question "Who are you?" in LI is a direct take from the classes of The Art of Living. If you can withstand the process of this question, you would be amazed at the findings that come by.....I think you should try this out once.....am sure you will love it. Its a whole journey to understand yourself better.

With 2008 nearing its end(phew, thankfully!!!), I wish you a world of happiness with lots of smiles. Let there be more reasons to celebrate in the year ahead.
Looking forward to your wonderful blog articles.

Loads of Luv & Cheers,
Bips

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