Ghajini: The Villain article
Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini is a loyal remake of the Tamil version with only a few cosmetic changes. It's a crass film that assaults viewer's intelligence. Aamir too hits the pits as an actor. His "intense" acting is mostly maniacal. However, the biggest problem of the film is the script whose writers seem to have primitive notions about society, law, business, goodness and evil and everything else. The film is a cinematic torture that doesn't deserve a separate review since I've already reviewed the original Tamil version.
Half Star to the film, since that's the minimum I've at my disposal.
[rating:0.5]
Instead of a review, I'm writing a note on the character Ghajini.
Ghajini, The Villain
More interesting than the film is the character called Ghajini! And the most interesting aspect of him is that he is the villain. Can you think of the last film you saw which was named after its villain, I can't.
Ghajini, the character, has many facets. He is an industrialist, who owns a pharmaceutical business. Such a business in cotemporary parlance is referred to as bio-technology and is considered a knowledge-driven sector. However, Ghajini is a gang lord, a muscular, unscrupulous devil, who you could find too crass for this sort of a business.
Apart from wealth, this man also possesses an army of goons. Unsophisticated musclemen, ready to kill anybody at their boss's command.
Ghajini himself is a killer, who not only shoots people by barging into their homes and hospital wards but also utilizes crass methods of killing. He hits the hero and his girlfriend with an iron club.
Nevertheless, he enjoys a privileged status in the society. He funds a medical college and is called in as the chief guest on their annual day celebrations.
Where would you expect such a man of repute to reside! The place that he inhibits is even more interesting than the character. It's a nameless neighborhood that bears resemblance to a slum. A small lane from the busy street in the city leads to this locality that's well guarded by goons. Every single man on these lanes is a soldier of Ghajini. It's almost an impregnable fortress.
But don't get me wrong here, his house is in a slum but his house itself isn't a hut, it's like a palace shrouded in a slum.
This man, who prefers to clothe in white has his ears pierced and wears gold around his neck. He speaks Hindi with Hariyanvi accent. Interestingly, the actor (Pradeep Singh Rawat) also played Ghajini in the Tamil version, where his Tamil was supplemented with a good dose of Hindi, mostly Bambaiya Hindi. As the story moves northwards, his accent also makes an upward journey.
Another business of Ghajini is human trafficking. He buys innocent girls in bulk,extracts their kidneys, and then sell them to brothels.
Such a diabolical villain of epic proportions are scarce in Hindi cinema. In recent times, heroic virtues as well as villainous evils both have been through a process of rationalization. Mostly, in recent Hindi films there are no heroes, no villains. Ghajini brings the villain back, the real bad villain, who is villain from the very moment he enters the screen. Probably, to elevate the hero to the epic levels!
I'm not sure, if the Hero of Ghajini, who is as gruesome a killer as the villain finds legitimacy through Ghajini, the villain. But yes, the dark force that the filmmaker invests the villain with, makes him one of the most inhuman, evil, crass, unsophisticated, insensitive and badly written characters of Bollywood.
Comments( 16 )
Oh that's quite a tragedy!! I was
Oh that's quite a tragedy!! I was really waiting to watch this movie..its surprising how all the much awaited movies this mth like rab ne bana de jodi and now this one have been totally a disappointment :-(
But, I feel this is going to be a hit!
But, I feel this is going to be a hit! Maybe people are now bored with commercial crass, n so they will move to some bigger crass. After all the movie is different. that was its major USP in Tamil vesion, and that was why it was a bigger hit, at the time of the other psychopathic killer's movie, "Anniyan".
I believe that the box office
I believe that the box office information so far on this film has indicated that there's been quite a taking for it. But it does seem a bit far fetched.
hi I live in RSA & we watched the movie
hi I live in RSA & we watched the movie in theater on 24th dec.
it was actually a shocker. from the promos we were expecting a soapy styled hero,heroine type of movie.
amir was superb & without giving too much away. I left the movie clutching my bf's hand & having this haunting feeling thereafter.
I cried for this love story but in a very different way.
watch it.
I don't understand the shock that
I don't understand the shock that people are into after watching this film. The film is bad, no doubt about this, but it is not crap. What do you expect from a bollywood film? I believe if you replace the heroin (I believe her name is ASIN!!), the film is at least a one time watch.
Amir is for sure a good actor, and as a patient of short term memory loss he is requierd to act funny at times, he has done justice to his work. I believe Amir was good in the movie. The Villan Gajhini also looked good to me. Yes, there are visible issues and diffrences that you see in his charector, as Bikas rightly mentioned in his review, but then what do you expect? This is not real life... this is cinema...
And yes, if you are a music buff.. forget about it... the songs are not only bad, they are pathetic.
Still I belive the film is a one time see... Go ahead and enjoy.
:)
WOW! I think you are the only critic
WOW! I think you are the only critic who has got it spot on.
This is one big headache of a film with no thought to save its senseless and crass violence. Aamir is a brute with fewer expressions than Peter Jackson's King Kong. Compared to Sanjay, SRK's dumb nerd Surinder stands tall. Asin is the saving grace. She is one charming and talented girl. But I didn't expect Aamir to give such a dud performance. A total waste, really!!!
@Acqa: Good to hear that you enjoyed
@Acqa: Good to hear that you enjoyed the film. thanks for commenting.
@Soumitra: If you mean that it's one such bad film that's entertaining, I completely agree. It belongs to a genre of "bad movies" which normally discard established narrative conventions in order to create spectacle. Here the flawed logic is as much adherece to the genre traditions of incoherence. Nevertheless enjoyable :smile:
@Adil: Thanks a ton for your kind words. And good to hear that I'm not alone in disliking the film. Mainstream critics seem all ga ga over Aamir. After all we get what we deserve but thankfully, our choices are not limited to only Bollywood.
Hi Bikas. I felt disappointed after
Hi Bikas.
I felt disappointed after al the hype and the marketing that took place but will just say that it is at least worth watching it once. But you have writen this very well.
Thanks Pratik for commenting. Yes, it
Thanks Pratik for commenting. Yes, it was a stimulating watch :wink:
hmm..another self proclaimed-genius
hmm..another self proclaimed-genius reviwer :mrgreen: lols!
I loved the movie..
P.S nice way to get comments :lol:
You know what I thinks is worth
You know what I thinks is worth "lols"?
When people think the only way to get sarcasm across is by using a :mrgreen: smiley.
smart
smart :mrgreen:
Nice reading about your views on the
Nice reading about your views on the the film 'Ghajini'. I too felt the villian and the screenplay were the weakest points of the film. One of my biggest problems with many Hindi films lately is their non originality and 'cut paste' attitude if I may use the term.
That's normal. Any really big industry
That's normal. Any really big industry (and Bollywood is the biggest in the world, along with Hollywood) has to survive on this cut paste attitude. They streamline independent or smaller industry movies to a more capitalist, branded product. So, originality is not cost-effective. In screenplay writing courses in filmschools like UCLA, the guideline is "Don't try to be too original." In a corporate setup, originality does not work.
Dear Anirban, Yes I agree film is
Dear Anirban,
Yes I agree film is not only an art but also an industry and infact I am grateful to filmmakers who gave us great work in the restrictions of the commercial world. A Guru Dutt and a Raj Kapoor among others worked in the popular mode and eventhough they did work in the confines of popular cinema they did leave something to cherish. And I don't feel personally popular cinema should be let off the hook so easily. But I get the feedback that Ghajini is doing good business and so did Singh is King :)
best movie ever
best movie ever seen,