Ghajini - 21 yays, 6 nays, 14 okays

joylynford:

for me ammir banking on this movie to be a success is not all its efforts well the original movie is already a hit. the why the hype.

Adithya:

Please do not expect Memento! The only things copied are the plot and the short term memory loss concept. There isn't even a non linear narrative. Lots of masala, flashbacks etc. This is what the Tamil version had and I believe they've only changed the climax, which is a good thing considering how bad the second half of tamil version was.

whiner:

Adithya said: "Please do not expect Memento! The only things copied are the plot and the short term memory loss concept.......which is a good thing considering how bad the second half of tamil version was...."

And You said: "Adithya, that’s actually very heartening......So, these things in combination with Aamir Khan being a part of the movie means it can’t be bad. Anyway, we’ll know soon enough..."

You both are dead wrong. Whenever you copy the concept or anything else from any other movie, a PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SAME IS A MUST. But I am pretty sure neither Murugadoss nor Aamir Khan had/will acknowledged/acknowledge in their Tamil/Hindi versions of Ghajini's credits that their crappy movies are actually based on the concept of Memento. On top of that, this swine Aamir Khan never bothered to mention Memento unless asked about it by the interviewers and his reaction to accusation of him resorting to blatant plagiarism to make Ghajini is largely indifferent and hypocritic(this idiot actually believes Tamil Ghajini is a better product than original Memento????? and he also said there is no similarity between Ghajini and Memento apart from the concept). But even accepting that only the concept of Memento is lifted to make Ghajini, how in the hell Murugadoss or Aamir Khan got the idea of use of tattoos by the protagonist on his body as a technique to remember important facts in the movie???? do you call the fishy similarity in the portrayal of the protagonist in Ghajini and Memento, is accidental, coincidental,intuitional or plain yet another instance of thievery by none other than guy who bombarded us with nauseous jingoism in his Lagaan and Mangal Pandey and tried to preach the 'importance of being sesitive' in Taare Zameen Par??? or else Does this 'emotional' pig believes stealing from other movies doesn't necessarily come under the purview of being patriotic or sensitive or honest????

Why do you people simply ignore the fact the Murugadoss lifted Memento to make his mutant version of Memento?? Why do you simply condone Aamir Khan's massive indifference to that act of stealing??? Why didn't you choose to grab Aamir Khan by scruff of his neck and ask him why does he have to resort to make a remake of a plagiarized version of a classic?? Why are we all ever ready to forgive this disgusting pilferage of Hollywood movies by our moviemakers and remonstrate only in the footnotes of our hyper-prejudiced movie reviews only in a wishy-washy undertone taking the hideous excuse that no plagiarized movie is sinful as long as it is entertaining???? Any answers?????

Mumbai:

I dont think this is an exact copy of Memento. Anwyays, it's already been released in Tamil. Have you seen the Tamil version? Is it the same as Memento?

Adithya:

@whiner: That's the difference between a copy and an inspiration. Many Hollywood directors do it too. They are just more justified than what Bollywood directors are. Even Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill was an inspired version of a million Asian flicks that impressed him. So if someone is trying to build on an existing concept, add the Indian film sensibilities and masala to it, it is probably going to turn out to be a good effort.

Definitely, Memento, a scene by scene copy, is going to be a huge failure with our audience. Even if it were to be original.

Ghajini reviews at Blogbharti:

[...] movie reviewer Meetu gives it a “wait for video release” rating. That I didn’t realize how my 3+ hours passed by is [...]

Pankaj:

Heyy Meetu.. wonderful review (as always)
I had seen Memento and also the tamil Ghajini... One thing struck me was the way Guy operates in Memento -- he keeps intact his smartness (and plus a mesmerizing 'amnesia' look on his face) at all times.. However, didnt quite understood why the protagonist Sanjay was shown as a messy person after the attack. One thing could to defend this could be the loss of his love.
And now waiting to see Aamir's Ghajini. In the promo's I had particularly liked the scene of Aamir walking with the 'amnesia' look and it was marvelous. I am sure, however, that a lot of scenes would definitely over-the-top. I had also felt that can Pradip Rawat do justice to such a villain-focussed film?
After watching Aamir's Ghajini, I plan to revisit Memento and the Tamil Ghajini :)
Will be in theatre this Saturday keeping finger's crossed about what Aamir has to offer :)

nightcrawler:

Watching the trailers I think my expectation grew more and more about this movie. after watching the movie i felt this movie was a waste of money and time. instead of going DAMN! people were laughing at the fight scenes, the climax scene and many others. lot of over acting by asin apart from the death scene. aamir is good but the movie has too many loop holes, i dont want to spoil it for others. apart from aamir there is nothing in this movie to enjoy.
No doubt aamir is one of the best actors in this country but Perfectionist mr.khan has completely lost the plot here. the kiddish romance, anachronic dialogues ,terrible screen play and the length are enough for me. apart for the cinematography nothing was great about it. i was disappointed. having a wonderful and exciting theme i had high expectations.

Jay:

Not a big fan of action flicks but Ghajini changed that to an extent. Its different and works due to the performances. Aamir Khan is AWESOME. Never before has an actor performed a role with so little dialogue and come out trumps. The movie is worth watching purely for the raw intensity that he displays. Asin is fabulous and will go far. Supremely natural and confident, hers is a top notch debut and far far better than Anushka who was average at best. Jiah Khan is good too and looks the part. Only grouch with the film is some of the violence - some scenes are cringe worthy and should have been toned down. A movie strictly for the guys. Watch it for Aamir.

meetu:

Jay, I thought the violence was what would bring the guys in.
Vinita thanks! the movie is getting such mixed reactions...

Moksh Juneja:

somebody gave 4 stars to the movie!! It should have 4 stars to the review!! Love the new outlook and design of wogma.com!! love the wogma logo!!

Mumbai:

I think i'll wait for the VCD

Himanshu:

I cannot simply erase Memento and I would have to say that this movie sucked for two primary reasons.
0. Memento is way better.
1. The "short term memory loss" angle was underplayed which was the thing that separates this from a run-of-the mill revenge drama.
2. The screenplay is patchy. It peaks and then gets drowned in Aamir's seething anger and guttral sounds, song/dance and flashbacks. It is a 3 and a half hours of torture.

Audience may lap it up because of the masala quotient but that does not make it a good movie. Heck, it does not even have a decent villain and the action sequences suck.

shutup southies:

Ghajini is a copy of Momento. Otherwise Indian film makers cant be that creative.
Amir Khan is my favourite actor and I like watching his movies more than of any other actor. Amir Khan's level of acting is far above all others.
But the movie is neither Tamil nor Gulti or any other freakin South Indian crappy language. It is a copy of Momento by Guy Pearce.

abhinav:

hi prashant..............thnks fr giving such a HARD HITTING review.

meetu:

Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!

Abhijit:

Its a good movie. But one expects an extraordinary movie from Aamir Khan. I had seen the Tamil version without understanding the dialogues. But I could associate with Surya's expressions. Aamir Khan, I guess, was loud - loads of screaming which I don't call it as Acting. The one of the few things I liked about the movie was Aamir Khan's physique which is a dream for anybody. If not for anyone, then certainly for me. I hope this dream of mine comes true.

Sajna:

" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3jWGHQn8zw I didn’t believe with my eyes but still Aamir Khan is the best

remish:

I didn’t believe with my eyes but still Aamir Khan is Aamir khan " target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3jWGHQn8zw

Mrs Sandhya Naik:

the movie is jus toooo good,it was a good change and i really njoyed it,infact refered all my friends who have'nt seen the movie yet,its a MUST WATCH' movie.

Prakash:

Again a masterpiece from Amir..

nightcrawler:

Watching the trailers I think my expectation grew more and more about this movie. after watching the movie i felt this movie was a waste of money and time. instead of going DAMN! people were laughing at the fight scenes, the climax scene and many others. lot of over acting by asin apart from the death scene. aamir is good but the movie has too many loop holes, i dont want to spoil it for others. apart from aamir there is nothing in this movie to enjoy. No doubt aamir is one of the best actors in this country but Perfectionist mr.khan has completely lost the plot here. the kiddish romance, anachronic dialogues ,terrible screen play and the length are enough for me. apart for the cinematography nothing was great about it. i was disappointed. having a wonderful and exciting theme i had high expectations.

Abhijit:

Its a good movie. But one expects an extraordinary movie from Aamir Khan. I had seen the Tamil version without understanding the dialogues. But I could associate with Surya's expressions. Aamir Khan, I guess, was loud - loads of screaming which I don't call it as Acting. The one of the few things I liked about the movie was Aamir Khan's physique which is a dream for anybody. If not for anyone, then certainly for me. I hope this dream of mine comes true.

Abhijeet:

Short term memory loss is copird from Memento and the love story is copied from an old hindi movie when the actor is a rich business man and the actress is a poor theater actress. Some one is confused with they both having a love affair and the owner of the theater group forces the actress to accept that she has an affair with that business man and this si how the love story begins. I don't remember the title of that old hindi movie. If anyone know the title pls post a comment

Rahul:

Ghajini is a nice movie....Memento is also a nice one...But You cant blame anyone for the copying...I think a common indian would like ghajini more than Memento(its very hard for people to even catch the Memento)...isnt it?? What i want to say is if you are releasing a movie in indian subcontinent then you have to follow rules of the game...a movie should be mass attracter...and even if original memento was made in bollywood (filled with top stars of bollywood) ..it would have been a big flop.... the fact is we people like memento and Hitch like movies...but most of indian people definitely dont like to watch them(empty movie theators for THE DARK KNIGHT show proves it). As far as copy or inspiration is concerned.....bollywood is not the only place where it is done...Legendary movies like "THE GODFATHER", "FORREST GUMP", "SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION" are all inspired by some books or novels(You can confirm it)...."MY SASSY GIRL" and "THE GRUDGE" are the two hollywood movies which were actually korean and japanese movies respectively and they were remade in english(copied scene-to-scene)... so we must first be concerned about the movie that is brought to us...Aamir has done a good job... I just want to say that its good to have hollywood lollypop...but lets at least not insult our movie makers for copying(as i said....movies are copied everywhere..even in hollywood)...

whiner:

1. “.. agree with you as far as condoning plagiarism of concepts go. There are no buts there...” It’s not just ‘plagiarism of concepts’; many indian movies are blatant scene-by-scene rip-offs of foreign films. 2. “Yet, if a movie is made, I’m going to watch it....even if it is only to rip it apart and abuse the people involved even further...” Not necessarily. For ex, I am not going to watch Ghajini and I let go most of the Hindi films, once I confirm from the reviews that those movies are poor copies of the originals(for example, I did not watch ‘Kidnap’, copy of ‘Butterfly on the wheel’, ‘Partner’, copy of ‘Hitch’, ‘Killer’, copy of ‘Collateral’ and many many other movies). Paying to watch a crude lift is actually tantamount to condoning it, because, intentionally or unintentionally, you are indulging the plagiarist’s need to steal in the first place ie. making money by stealing. 3. “....So, given that a movie has been made, we recognize its a copy and move on with life...” Who are ‘we’? You? Or me? Or Somebodyelse?. Given the mammoth shameless plagiarism prevalent in indian movie industry at present, a mere ‘recognition’ is not enough on part of movie reviewers – an intense lambasting in the most unambiguous terms of the odious forgeries is exactly what is needed. It’s the quality and quantity of your ‘recognition’ that matters more than a perfunctory acknowledgement of act of plagiarism. A vast gulf exists between the saying “...cetain scoundrel had lifted from a certain Hollywood movie” and “oh, it’s a good movie though heavily inspired from so and so...” with a smiling emoticon at the end of the sentence. Unless our lazy, highly biased practices of movie reviewing takes a U-turn, our half-hearted, haphazard and largely impotent murmuring about plagiarism can never be replaced with a robust collective denouncement that can well and truly capture the attention of our slumberous and hyper-hypocritic indian public. And who said being tenaciously critical of plagiarism prevents you from ‘moving on with life’(in fact, being a reviewer, it’s your life)?? 4. “...Not to grab people by their collars is my choice....” I meant it figuratively, not literally and there is no choice as far as plagiarism is concerned except condemning the plagiarist to the maximum extent, especially since, the original moviemaker, who is stolen, more often than not, is not in a position to be aware of the (un)creative robbery taking place behind his back. 5. “....And I do find it heartening when they have tried some change…just imagine, if they copied the non-linear narrative too, and then manage to screw it up…what a disaster that would be.....” Change or no change, plagiarism is an act of forgery in the first place and you ought not say you would be happy to see it work at least at ‘some level’ since the piracy is already committed, anyway. It’s like saying “ Ok , buddy, you stole your neighbour’s wife, anyway. I understand you could not help it. Now your job is to make her happy”.(On top of that, most indian filmmakers do not change the original, they actually mutate it). 6. “....Even if it is entertaining a copied product is sinful and should be enforced as a crime, but it cannot be stopped from being entertaining and being called that - wishy-washy tone or otherwise..” Well, calling a ‘duplicate’ entertaining since it is ‘entertaining’ is akin to admiring a murderer for his skill and expertise in ripping out someone’s guts in stead of questioning his cruel motives for killing someone in cold blood. If a painter forges a Picasso and you realize it, do you take that opportunity to bring the greatness of Picasso to the attention of the connoisseurs, which actually forced other lesser painters to imitate him or choose to praise the shrewdness, the forger had employed in selling his product and the skill he applied in inventing the ‘deviations’ to cover up his forgery??? If you are going to highlight the ‘entertainment values’ of a forged movie alone in your reviews since it is ‘entertaining’ instead of thrashing it unreservedly, you are not only underplaying the act of robbery that made the fake possible in the first place, you are actually depriving the original moviemaker of his rightful right to celebrate the applause of the audience by deflecting their attention to the insignificant virtues of an illegal artwork instead of acquainting them with the significance of the original. We should realize, at once, that a original cannot not be stopped from being acknowledged as much as a forgery from being entertaining and for a reviewer, no other job could be more important than asserting that fact boldly, loudly and clearly. Period.

prashant:

A movie with senseless story,stupid unrealistic characters,a music- very loud(though really hollow),direction-- a torturous one,,,ohh comon guys!!! u cant recommend a movie only because it has a 'big' star in his lead,shouting and screaming both in real and on reel, that his" ghajini" is best! a lot has been talked about short memory loss of the character, but i forgot that it was the baseline of the story after sometime..it was so under played. aamir khan has chosen shrewd concept of showing handicapped girls,blind man,innocent girls exploited.........all this for the sake of explaining,,," How kind is the gal in the film.hmm" Shame on aamir !to "play" with the sentiments of such unprivileged people,just to create a sympathy for the heroine .(before she is being hammered) its very easy to use a "disabled" person get applause for being so "innovative" in mesmerising audience. GUYS PLEASE USE YOUR HEAD BEFORE SAYING WHAT YOU ARE SEEING (ON SCREEN) IS GOOD OR BAD!!! my appeal to all readers here! aamir was too loud and unrealistic , asin was too stupid and too sugary,,( half an hour more and i wud hav died of diabetes), the villain was ok. a hero , a heroine, a villain , few songs, wow! what a new idea ,now add 'mirch masala',, ..copy a concept of short term memory from a hollywood classic and "ghajini" is ready...WOW! U SEE I AM PERFECTIONIST the film has been titled "ghajini" ,..and who is he,.. he is GUNDA ( directly taken from sunil shetty,s macho films of early 90,s)wonderful great characterisation!!! what jiah khan is doin in the movie,,,she herself dont know,... a tortorous movie to end the year,,showing what is the standard of our movies.. BELOW AVERAGE....Never attempt bollywood ,to "kill " someone's genuine creation for money , money and money. TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT

shutup southies:

Ghajini is a copy of Momento. Otherwise Indian film makers cant be that creative. Amir Khan is my favourite actor and I like watching his movies more than of any other actor. Amir Khan's level of acting is far above all others. But the movie is neither Tamil nor Gulti or any other freakin South Indian crappy language. It is a copy of Momento by Guy Pearce.

Mumbai:

I think i'll wait for the VCD

Sumeet:

I guess there is a linking problem that shows up here (pointing to Hindustan Times' link) .. and also your Notes page (pointing to review of Taare Zameen Par)

prakash:

hai its very fuuny movie so i request everybody to watch that movie have a good noon

blesson:

hjk

PREM PRAKASH:

he is the most versatile actor as ihave most of his movies.he is very nice person also - BOLE EKDUM JHAKKAS!