Watched Gajini (Hindi) with some blogger(external) friends yesterday.
There are various categories of movies.There are movies that are intelligently and meticulously made and calmly pulls the viewer into the movie with story telling(Forrest gump,Shawshank redemption,Crash,Anjadhey,RDB,
Needless to say Gajini is of the second type.Having seen the tamil version when it was released,the suspense factor which this movie heavily banks on, fails to work with me.
Iam sure the first time watcher will be glued to the seat by the various twists and turns that is offered by the script of this movie that will make it an interesting watch,as it did with me,when i watched it the first time.
Having known the story,there was I was just duration waiting for the movie to finish. All the noise and action left me with a headache which I usually get after watching such "entertainers". The last time i got such a headache was when i watched "Shivaji",though the latest was a lot lesser in intensity. The "Shivaji" record is a tough one to beat.
Here are some of the thoughts in my mind about the movie...
Songs:
I really really loved "Suttum vizhi sudarae" and "Oru maalai ila veyil neram" .They were PERFECT for the movie and the picturisation/editing were top class.For someone who listens and appreciates the lyrics of a song,those two songs were a real treat.For example there will be a line in the song "Suttum vizhi sudarae"
"கருப்பு வெள்ளை பூக்கள் உண்டா
உன் கண்ணில் நான் கண்டேன் ,உன் கண்கள்
வண்டை உன்னும் பூக்கள் என்பேன்
உன் கண்கள்
வண்டை உன்னும் பூக்கள் என்பேன் "
karuppu vellai,pookkal unda
Un kannil naan kandaen,un kangal
Vandai unnum pookkal enbaen,
Un kangal , vandai unnum pookkal enbaen.
Means
Are there any black and white flowers?
I have seen them in your eyes,
And these flowers tame the bees(rather than bees being the master)
(really crude translation by yours truly!)
I so loved this line that I said “aaha” with my arms extended,forgetting that iam in movie theater with my team mates all around.
Comparatively the ones in hindi don’t make much of an impact(I was humming “Guzarish” late into the night though).I got to admit that most of the songs from Rahman don’t make much of an impact into me when I hear it for the first time but when it doesn’t stick onto you while watching the movie,its purpose is lost from a movie point of you.
They have changed the “Rangola” song with some slow moving song which fits the plot a lot better.Another song I really hated in the tamil version was “X machi”.It was downright unbearable.Thankfully there is some other bearable one in hindi version
Actors:
I personally liked Surya more than Aamir in this role.I think Aamir concentrated more on the menacing look part but Surya’s performance was well rounded. He wins hands down in the romantic interlude.While aamir looks more matured and sauve,Surya had looked more confused in “short term memory loss” stages,which suited the role perfectly.I think this lack of mature look worked well for surya in the romantic stint too,in this movie. I think age plays the spoilsport here.Aamir’s mature mannerism was perfect for his roles in TZP,RDB etc but not for this one.
Asin looks pretty as ever.I felt she looked just a little leaner(you might note that in the double decker bus seen) but a tad older(obviously..).Her playful antics about how Sanjay fell in love with her were a little irritating for my taste(may be more so because I was watching it for the second time).I generally don’t like such goofy girl characters(Bommarilu Genelia character for instance).Otherwise she plays her part aptly as per the script. The characterization is perfect and I am sure people will feel bad when she dies, which is exactly what the director wants.
Another guy who gets carried over from the tamil version is the villain.I personally liked his screen presence in the tamil version and he performs the role of the mean villain character quite well. The stature decreases a little when he is seen hiding from Gajini in the climax(that is not there in the tamil version).There is just one villain instead of the twins characterization in the tamil version.
Nayanthara’s character is done by more suitable cast. In tamil version Nayanthara was unseeable.She was too fat and was made to run all over the place ,come rain or shine.In hindi version,when Jiah khan runs,its perfectly normal(which is a major major relief).And there are no comedy scenes like the entire factory chasing her or stuff like that.
The role does not take far too much of attention and fits the script a lot more succinctly. The girl is pretty neat too and reminded me of Tamanna.
The climax:
The climax is a lot more complete than the tamil version.In the tamil Gajini,when the movie ends I was like…”ok…so…??? I mean..what the…”.But in the hindi version the director has tried to give a logical end to the story with a mushy twist,which doesn’t appeal to me much.
Personally I would have liked it if Gajini had died in the end.His purpose is done and he is gone..that would have been poetic..any takers??
He does not have any love interest too,so what the hell is he doing anyway?? :P
Direction and technical team
The biggest plus of this movie is the technical team. Murugadoss does a really neat job with the script.I really loved the way he has maintained the thrill when Asin is hunted to be killed. That’s the highest point in the movie according to me and the mood is perfectly brought out.The story does not slack too much anywhere and for a first time viewer the various twists and turns are sure to keep him hooked to the seat.
The camera needs special mention too.There were a quite a few scenes when I really wanted to appreciate the camera man Ravi. K .Chandran. The sequence when Aamir kills his first enemy in the movie and how the lapse of time is shown beautifully without changing the shot. And in the end when Aamir walks through the narrow lanes,beating up the baddies,he is seen to be catching hold of a guy’s neck before hitting him down.That scene is shown with the victim’s point of view and has been done beautifully.There are many other moments like that.The camera was quite dynamic all through the movie(meaning:many handheld shots J) and was really rich in the songs. The location for “Guzarish” was breathtaking.
Needless to say Anthony (editing)was super cool and all the camera work wouldn’t count to much if it weren’t for his editing.I think tamil movies followers wouldn’t be too surprised as they are well aware of his abilities.. J
Conclusion:
Surely a must watch if you haven’t seen tamil Ghajini. If you had already watched tamil Ghajini, and if you are the one with similar tastes as mine and who is choosy about watching his/her movies,then you wont mind missing this one all that much…
PS : Already the article is too big,so lemme stop here J
