01.30.09
Ghajini is a great movie – yeah right …
I keep hearing that the hindi Bollywood movie, Ghajini is a great movie. People who have watched it and also reviews in various Indian newspapers speak highly of the movie. I think we can safely conclude that it is a superhit ’cause people really did like the movie.
I am not going to try and argue that the movie sucked or people who liked the movie are not the smartest of moviegoers. That would be a waste of time and space. I completely acknowledge that people really liked the movie for their own reasons. What I want to do here is to state my reasons why I think this movie was a terrible waste of time.
Yeah yeah they say Aamir Khan (AK) did a great job. Well for one, I think he did not. For very valid reasons AK has established himself as an excellent actor. That however, does not mean that he will be great in all his movies. In this movie, he tried too hard …. he was too clinical …. every movie role these days is an exercise for him, a project and he has to finish it perfectly. A wonderful actor like him is wasting his natural screen presence. He should live that character instead of trying to play it. If he keeps at it like this, he is going to end up in the same level as some other actors such as A. Rai (who, by the way, is clueless in all movies). Its like watching movies of De Niro where he started doing comedy – he was just trying too hard.
And whats up with those songs. One is quietly tolerating all the asinine scenes with Asin and Jiah with the expectation that their scenes are part of the large picture. But no, there have to be songs! They destroy the continunity of the story and add to the confusion.
I do not mind poor acting at all. Not everyone is going to be a very good actor which is completely acceptable. In life, not everyone can be a super-success story but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the world’s contribution is negligible. However, one should try one’s best at all times.
What made the movie terrible was that Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan (the two female characters) and Riyaz Khan (the actor who plays the role of an inspector) don’t even bother to try to act. They just don’t. They seem pretty satisfied to be just being about mediocre about everything. The typical ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude. (A separate post disccussing that attitude – one of my pet peeves).
In summary, lackadaisical acting by three main characters, unnecessary songs, and a mediocre attempt by AK makes it a terrible movie (for me, that is).
arvind said,
January 30, 2009 at 11:34 pm
i would beg to differ. agreed ghajini is not the most technically brilliant , or for that matter , a well edited movie. but to say that AK tried to hard and looked too clinical is wrong. i think the scene which depicts the trauma that he has to undergo everyday after he wakes up , was a brilliantly conceived one.the anger on his face was the most natural of expressions. yes, jiah khan was nothing more than an eye candy, and asin overacted thru most of the movie, but the audience connected with asin. and you forgot to mention that pradeep rawat portrayed a decent villain after a long time.
and i don’t understand your basis when you state that de niro does not do comedy well. well the kind of black comedy he did in raging bull(remember the dialogue-”you fu**ed my brother?”), in goodfellas ( when morrie enters the shot, and de niro is holding the cigar and contemplating to wack him-the eye expressions were somethinh that nobody could produce) in midnight run he personified situational comedy throughout the movie, and in casino too, he showed great black comedy.you can’t find a better actor than de niro.he is the epitome of great acting(i’m not saying this just because i’m his greatest fan).
anyways take care…
gnsarma1976 said,
January 31, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Thanks for the comment, Arvind. I agree the movie and the acting might have been good but not for me.
Agreed he acted well in a couple of scenes but not the whole movie. A great movie to watch about memory loss is ‘Memory of a Killer’ – an excellent Belgian movie. AK’s acting, in the whole movie not in a couple of scenes, pales in comparison. Of course, part of the fault lies with the director who might have just demanded mediocrity and got it promptly.
As for De Niro, he is an excellent actor. In his initial strictly comedy movies, he was a pain to watch. Its only later he got the hang of it and became brilliant in those kind of movies too.
In a way, the point of the post was that just ’cause an actor is excellent doesn’t mean he is going to be excellent in all his movies. He can be mediocre in a lot of movies and calling it mediocre is not wrong.
arvind said,
February 1, 2009 at 10:44 am
well yeah..an actor can be mediocre. i am not a fan of de niro who cant take anything said against him. i watched righteous kill last year. it had two of the greatest actors, de niro and pacino. but put together, they did not provide energy to the shots. half of de niro’s dialogues were the abuses. and he kept the same frowned expression throughout the movie. the director fu**ed it.so i completely agrre with you on the fact that its upon the director to get the best out. that’s why i think scorsese is one director who can even make a.rai act.de niro and scorsese’s partnership was legendary. every film was great. its been a long time(since casino) sice they have come together.and i remember, you were a very big fan of manisha koirala, but i think only mani ratnam extracted the best out of her.(i may be wrong).