Ghajini (2008) - Aamir Khan - Asin - Bollywood - Indian Cinema - Hindi Film by Aamir Khan

For so long I have wanted to review Ghajini, each time I put it off because I just cannot seem to find the right words to put down that would do justice to this movie. In one word, WOW! I have seen this movie 15 billion times (ok, tongue in cheek), no but for real I have seen it so many times I lost count. The 3 hours go by so fast for a weekend watch and I have the movie divided into mental sections that I watch every night until the movie is finished, only to start all over. Ghajini makes me laugh until my ribs ache and cry too. Oh and did I mention how my jaw drops at the last 15 minutes of the movie.I'm sure you're aching to get to the crème of the crop, so I'll make it easy. A quick warning though, this is in no way the Hindi version of the movie Memento! The only thing the two movies have in common would be a protagonist with short term memory loss who carries a Polaroid camera with him everywhere to keep new memory, along with tattooed messages all over his body. Oh and I suppose they both share the loss of a loved one. Besides these, the two movies couldn't be any farther apart.The movie starts out with a group of curious medical students looking for a real life case for their capstone project. They find one that seems really interesting, but are told it's a police case, which means they cannot study it, hence the opening into the life of Sanjay Singhania, the bald guy with scars running in different directions on his head. The sheer rage at which this guy murders his victim seems unrealistic and definitely uncalled-for. I found myself wincing as I watched these scenes. Anyway, one thing leads to the other, cops trail the murder evidence up to Sanjay's apartment and that's when we get a look at Sanjay's diary. The diary opens with the photograph of a remarkably good-looking man, which makes you wonder how such beauty is transformed into the monster we've seen so far. It is this story that made me laugh and cry. One thing it doesn't leave me with is the same wonder at if the rage in the opening is warranted or not. I'll let you be the judge of that since this is my opinion.Aamir Khan is a delight to watch as always. He keeps getting better and looking fabulous. I love the song Guzarish so much but I'd only listen to the audio (and skip it in the actual movie) because Aamir is so fine and he shows off his bod so well (in the right places too!) that it makes a woman's head spin out of control...sigh. Yeah, so I skip it just so I'm not harboring some thoughts if you know what I mean :D ... Asin, absolutely gorgeous lady, she fits in Kalpana's role so well, as a matter of opinion, fitting so well might be an understatement. Check out her reaction when she couldn't find someone to double for her "fiancée" at her company's New Year party (don't want to give too much away). Or the first time she tells Sanjay how she met her "fiancée". This is the part where I crack up so bad.The only thing that I kept saying "Nah...not possible to" was the stylized fight sequence especially at the end of the movie. I kept thinking "Short term memory loss doesn't make one the Terminator, or does it?" Well, I enjoy the movie enough to overlook this. Seriously, have fun watching this movie, it's worth the watch.

Recommend

Aamir Khan is my favorite actor and I find this movie a tear jerker with great music and great story. I definitely laugh through it too. Highly recommend.

Amir rocks, he rocks, he so ROCKS. Asin is innocently adorable and a genuine draw. Ridiculous rage and savage mayhem, obligatory song and dance numbers with inexplicable troops of random, plaid hot-pants clad white girls and sweeping distance shots with lots of industrial fans blowing (seriously, Bollywood; step it up!). Imbedded in these unfortunate but predictable flaws, a wonderful surprise - cutest love story ever! Finally, a heroine who does not mimic masculine aggression or wilt in annoying feminine frailty to survive and thrive. Favorite moment - the tandom step over the threshold of the new flat in exaggerated slow motion, and the way he's looking at her and she doesn't even notice. That glance is worth a million.I wonder why oh WHY does Hindi fashion sense shine with women's hair and makeup and beautiful traditional dress; but totally suck in men's fashion? What is with the weird, short sleeve dress shirts and sleeves rolled up for the corporate scene?! It's distractingly awkward! Spectacularly so during the enjoyable love song in the Yemeni desert when bare-chested men sporting various brightly colored, super effeminate scarves are the order of the day. The song is amazing, the two characters are tops, truly!BEST SONG & SCENE: Kaise Mujhe. Absolutely breath-taking juxtaposition of a focused business man boarding a private jet with his formal entourage as he has many times before, but this time we witness a man gratefully embracing a future never considered necessary, until now; sharing his life with someone who inspires his everything. It is an absolutely masterful scene, thankfully devoid of classic Hindi melodrama, rendered exquisite in it's ordinariness by the haunting music, chaste and plaintive lyrics and Amir's oh so brilliant subtlety. Favorite segment of Kaise Mujhe hands-down: approaches security at the airport, and the lyrics say: "…And once I believed that the Creator finds His urge no more, and then He created you…", sigh.

If you like watching something and then you get completely confused as to what in the heavens is going on right now is this the same movie?! Type vibe, then you are going to love Ghajini! I had an idea of what I was going into knowing it was a remake of Memento but boy did they put the funny spin on that!! It’s a fun movie to watch 4/5.

This movie is amazing and we will never forget it from childhood

Loved the movie and even watched it several times with friends and family. A good purchase with no regrets loved every bit of the movie.