Review of Ghajini (2008) by Christina Y — 21 Jun 2009

All I can say about this movie is WOW! It absolutely rocks! I have seen Aamir Khan in movies like Fanaa and Rang de Basanti and he looked his age (in his 40s). But in this movie, he looks awesome...no, make it more than awesome! He could pass off for a man in his early-30s. This is definitely Aamir at his very best and I, who have never been his fan....well, he has won me over. Step aside SRK (thatz ShahRukh Khan) and Hrithik Roshan.

Ghajini is a revenge/ action thriller cum romance saga; a riveting film with a gripping storyline. It has the power to sweep you off your feet. Aamir Khan is Sanjay Singhania, the successful Chairman of a big mobile corporation named Air Voice. He is all-suave, soft-spoken, cool, calm, collected and speaks excellent English and French (before he faced a very traumatic incident).... and later, suffers from acute short-term memory loss. He worked around his handicap with methodical and meticulous determination. To aid him in his quest, he carries around a stack of Polaroids and a pen for writing; when he is really sure of the authencity of a piece of info he had gathered, he then has it tattooed on his body (it stands in for the damaged part of his brain). His tattooed torso is the repository of his grief, his rage and his reason to go on living.

Alright, any more revelation would do gross injustice to this movie. And you guys will probably bash me for divulging too much ;-).

Is it violent? It is, at times, but the violence here is supremely justified ;-) In fact, every time the menacing Aamir Khan bashes up the evil crooks, you - the viewer - would root for our unreluctant hero. Hey, even I felt like bashing them up for him! ;-).

All the actors in this movie have been superbly cast (except for maybe Jiah Khan who plays the nosey medical student). The beautiful Christian actress, Asin who played the ill-fated Kalpana is perfect in this role. You cant help but fall in love with her - just as Aamir Khan's character in the movie did.

Lastly, the musical score in this movie, composed by Oscar-winning composer, A R Rahman (who recently won TWO Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire) is amazing! I actually enjoyed the music especially:

- 'Guzarish' (a scene showing Aamir and Asin in the desert of Namibia reminiscing.... Aamir looks reeeeeally good here and the director spent the entire time focusing on Aamir's hot bod!! I read in the papers that our Mr Khan spent 13 months perfecting his body to its present state). Note to self: Namibia - the next country I gotta visit and vacation in.

- 'Behka' (here, Aamir managed to carry off almost half a dozen different trendy looks! This scene looks like it was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa... one of the most beautiful cities in the world - my personal favorite) and.

- 'Kaise Mujhe' (this scene showed Aamir reluctantly leaving his fiancee in Mumbai as he headed to London on his private jet to finalize a business deal. He had been deeply touched by a gesture she did earlier. So touching...).

At the end of it all, you cant help but empathize with Aamir Khan's character in the movie. And seriously speaking, this movie is now confirmed as the highest grossing Bollywood movie of all time. No mean feat.

Mr Aamir Khan, you are indeed the undisputed No. 1 actor, director and producer now in Bollywood. I am not surprised if this movie is India's entry for the Academy Awards in 2010 under the Best Foreign Film category. If 'The Departed" (which is an EXACT copy of the hit Chinese movie, Internal Affairs) can win Best Picture at the Oscars, so can Ghajini!