‘Ghajini’ is an Indian Bollywood film inspired by Christoper Nolan’s film ‘Memento.’ Aamir Khan is my favorite Indian actor, and I think his acting is always excellent. This film, however, was disappointing. A company CEO, Sanjay, played by Khan, falls in love with an advertising film actress, Kalpana, played by actress Asin Thottumkal. Kalpana doesn’t know Sanjay is a business tycoon, and Sanjay plays along. When Sanjay is ready to reveal his identity, Kalpana is murdered. Sanjay is beaten with a metal rod into acquiring short-term amnesia, where he can't remember longer than 15 minutes at a time. Then he seeks revenge with his memory lapses.
The good: Leads Khan and Thottumkal’s acting. The flashback was well done. Two songs were excellent.
The bad: Below-average acting by everyone outside of the two lead actors. Everything inspired by Memento is messy. I have no problem using ideas already done by others but in an Indian setting/style/variations (with ‘inspired by ___’ byline), as long as they are not poorly executed. ‘Ghajini’ had the potential to be much better. First, I would blame poor editing and poor writing. In fact, I would edit out the whole Memento portion of the movie. The flashback should stand alone as a romantic comedy with a tragic ending and revenge. The Memento portion adds an extra thriller dimension, but it makes the movie worse and drawn out. It’s essentially two movies in one between the present story and flashback. The movie would have better, faster pacing and be more enjoyable with good editing slashing hour and 15 minutes.
Would I recommend this? No. Only if you are an Aamir Khan fan. If the amnesia portion interests you, watch Memento. If the romantic comedy with a tragic ending interests you, there are other films just as good (from both Hollywood and Bollywood).
Review by HSBlockedParent2024-02-10T00:44:24Z
‘Ghajini’ is an Indian Bollywood film inspired by Christoper Nolan’s film ‘Memento.’ Aamir Khan is my favorite Indian actor, and I think his acting is always excellent. This film, however, was disappointing. A company CEO, Sanjay, played by Khan, falls in love with an advertising film actress, Kalpana, played by actress Asin Thottumkal. Kalpana doesn’t know Sanjay is a business tycoon, and Sanjay plays along. When Sanjay is ready to reveal his identity, Kalpana is murdered. Sanjay is beaten with a metal rod into acquiring short-term amnesia, where he can't remember longer than 15 minutes at a time. Then he seeks revenge with his memory lapses.
The good: Leads Khan and Thottumkal’s acting. The flashback was well done. Two songs were excellent.
The bad: Below-average acting by everyone outside of the two lead actors. Everything inspired by Memento is messy. I have no problem using ideas already done by others but in an Indian setting/style/variations (with ‘inspired by ___’ byline), as long as they are not poorly executed. ‘Ghajini’ had the potential to be much better. First, I would blame poor editing and poor writing. In fact, I would edit out the whole Memento portion of the movie. The flashback should stand alone as a romantic comedy with a tragic ending and revenge. The Memento portion adds an extra thriller dimension, but it makes the movie worse and drawn out. It’s essentially two movies in one between the present story and flashback. The movie would have better, faster pacing and be more enjoyable with good editing slashing hour and 15 minutes.
Would I recommend this? No. Only if you are an Aamir Khan fan. If the amnesia portion interests you, watch Memento. If the romantic comedy with a tragic ending interests you, there are other films just as good (from both Hollywood and Bollywood).