Ghajini Review – Aamir and Asin excel

So I finally caught this movie that’s been bombarded on us with hajaar marketing messages. From ushers getting the ‘Ghajini’ haircut to Aamir himself becoming a barber and giving his fans in Delhi the buzz cut.

I finally gave into the persuasion and caught the movie.

First things first, Aamir as the wounded, angry and forgetful beast of a man is terrific. His portrayal of pain and rage – a potent combination- makes you flinch. The performance is unlike any he has done in the past. Even his earlier action turns [in Sarfarosh] pale in comparison. Either the guy has gone on honing and developing his craft, which is stupendous – or he’s always had the talent and we’ve just never got to see it so far.

Asin is a breath of fresh air – in an industry reeling under the collective size zero weights of dignified haughty unreachable beauty [think Aishwarya, Katrina, Deepika, Kareena] she’s ebullient, beautiful but yet down to earth. Of course, the script demands her to be so, but except for Kareena’s role as Geet in “Jab We Met” I don’t remember a similar performance.

Where I thought the film was weak was at its emotional core, the love story between Aamir’s character Sanjay and Asin’s character Kalpana. Somewhere in comparison to the rage filled revenge theme it seems too humdrum and bland by comparison. That’s funny. Remember that Aamir was introduced to us 20 years ago as the next door loverboy. He has strived to lose that image, and how successfully!

Maybe that’s what the film’s message is.

That even an ordinary love story can drive people to extraordinary lengths. And if that sounds similar to another recent film, I am knowingly doing it 😉

p.s. Oh, and when was the last time a Hindi movie was named after the negative lead? Even Sholay wasn’t called Gabbar Singh or Mr. India wasn’t called Mogambo!

p.p.s. Oh did I tell you how awesome the action sequences were? After a long time some hard core hand to hand fights. Though it did seem to make Aamir look like a cross between Mike Tyson and Superman!

p.p.s. Aamir’s looking more and more like a cross between Toby Maguire and Tom Hanks.

p.p.p.s. Aamir’s looking cross. Period 😉

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