Ghajini: Aamir Khan rules!

You must have heard much about Ghajini, and now you are going to hear more (from me)! This Aamir Khan starer is certainly one of the best films of 2008, and people are appreciating it more than Shah Rukh Khan's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (will review it soon). It is a complete comedy and action mixture, which everyone has enjoyed. And another great thing is its story -- that is too good, every Aamir film contains a good story, perhaps that's why he is a perfectionist.

The film is a remake of the Tamil film with the same name, and in the lead role of actress, Asin Thottumkal is starred. Asin is a very cute actress, and she isn't a newcomer in the Film Industry because she has done many Tamil films, and this time she was accepted for a national (and international) audience by the film's director A.R. Murugadoss. The cinematography is great, and I really enjoyed it in the theatre.

The story begins with Sanjay Singhania, who owns a company named Air Voice. He is suffering from short-term memory loss, in which he cannot remember a thing up to 15 minutes. He leads a very difficult life. On the other side, there is Sunita (Jiah Khan), a medical student who tries to help Sanjay with her medical knowledge.

Sanjay was a normal guy earlier, and he was not suffering from any disease. He had a love, Kalpana, whom he was to marry but a person named Ghajini killed her (that's why the film's named 'Ghajini') and he hit a rod on the head of Sanjay, because of which he suffered from the memory-loss disease. He has notes about Ghajini, and he takes his photograph is a party. He just wants to kill Ghajini, because he killed his love.

And Sunita is the only helper of Sanjay in the whole process. Though, her role gets a little negative in the middle of the film. But 'every good thing comes to a good end' :) and that's how the story comes at a good end. Sanjay takes revenge from Ghajini and the film is finished with the song Kaise Mujhe, a perfect fit in the situation.

Do you feel the story is short? Well, the story is, but the film isn't. It is a 3 hour long film, which is a rare thing nowadays. The films releasing these days, are not more than 2 hours. But Ghajini isn't any boring in the three hours. It is a complete masala-entertainer.

To get the six-pack abs, Aamir had to work-out for three to four hours at gym everyday. This type of body needs much care about diet and excercise.

The music is given by A.R. Rahman (who is always the best, no need to tell) and the best song in the film is Guzaarish with vocals by Javed Ali and Sonu Niigaam. In the following interview, Sonu told that he sang the whole song in 2006. But the lyrics of the song had completely been changed and it had to be re-recorder. Sonu was in New Jersey then, and he couldn't make it. So Javed Ali came in.


Imagine if Sonu had sung that song, it'd have been 10 times better (not saying Javed Ali was bad). But only his humming gave the song a refreshing feel, and that's more important, right? From an interview on Sonu's site:

How come you did the "guest alaap" appearance on Guzaarish in Ghajini?
You blame Aamir Khan for that yaar! I had sung the whole song in 2007. Then, I was away in US with my wife because she was about to deliver then. Meanwhile, the song's brief changed. It was re-written. The composition was retained but they were running out of the time for the re-recording. I couldn't make it, so Javed Ali cam in. I must thank A R Rahman for retaining my alaap.. he really pushed for me there. I love the way Javed Ali has sung the track though.

The film, when released, had earnt more than 2 Crores in just two weeks. And this is the proof of people liking it. It was promoted very well on TV, Internet and at Aamir Khan's blog as well. Here is an excerpt from his post about the release of Ghajini:

Just before any of my films release I go into pendulum mode. One sec I feel very optimistic about the film and the next I’m sure no one’s going to like it. I lose my smile my appetite, my sleep. On the whole I am listless and walk around like a zombie. VVC (Vidhu Vinod Chopra), who was talking to me yesterday, accurately described it as Prenatal Depression. The film is about to be delivered and will be out of our systems so to speak. Then it will have a life of its own which we have absolutely no control over. Sigh. It too tough, making films. All the 2 years of planning, preparation, creative discussions, the struggle to shoot the film and the sleepless nights of post production ultimately culminate in a 3 hour experience in the darkness of a cinema.

Here's an interview with Aamir and Asin:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Movie Rating: 4/5 (Excellent) ****

Music Rating: 4.10/5 (Excellent)

Of course, there are a few violent scenes which might scare people (especially children), but after all this, Ghajini has a lot of things to enjoy - including the comedy, action, romance and beautiful songs by Rahman. It's a film that will never disappoint anyone, at least those who are true Bollywood fans!

Indian Idol: Video and A Talk

I am a fan of many reality shows, and one of them is Indian Idol (which has reached its last few episodes). I love music and I get some good advice on singing from these shows. The judges like Sonu Niigaam, who came as a guest mentor, give excellent tips.

But I have seen that something wrong is going on the show. Firstly, watch this video:

What do you think about the boy's performance. Yeah, it wasn't excellent, right? But it was good, just good, and was not that poor. Now I'd like to point out the judges' comments. See what Sonali Bendre said about Kapil, "You were good. Although, you lost sur (note) at some places, but still I give you a green light," And then she says that Torsha was better, while hoping that Sourabhee will be also. Now Javed Akhtar's comment was, "I think we are being unfair to the boy. Sonali is always promoting girls and the boy is being under-estimated,"

That's what my point is. Sonali is always promoting girls and she is always rude with the boys. I don't say the girls were bad - of course, they were better than/equal to Kapil. But then why under-estimating the boy. What wrong has he done?

Did you see the facial expressions of Sonali after having said "girls are better". That truly shows an *ego* in her, which I've never liked in any person. I used to like Sonali in her films, but since I've seen the real image of her, I am shocked. Are all actors like this? And I am not disagreeing with Sonali because I myself am a guy and I want Kapil to get ahead. I am just speaking what I've seen, and if that's wrong, I strongly do apologies.

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionare is not *that* great movie that people are saying it. Of course, it is a very good story with good dialogues. But overall the film is just OK-OK. I am saying this for those who haven't watched the movie. You must have heard much about it - from your friends, at the TV and on the Oscars (for which Rahman won an award). And after hearing much about it, I am sure you have too many expectations for the movie. Don't expect that much from it; it promises entertainment, if expectations are not very high.

Having said that, the movie is just good, nothing more. The story is at Jamal Malik, who is playing Who Wants To Be A Millionare (Kaun Banega Crorepati) with Anil Kapoor. Anil asks Jamal to introduce himself. Jamal says he's an assistant at a call centre. Now Anil asks what's an assistant. Jamal tells he serves tea to all. Anil laughs and says, "A chai wala!"; and he thinks how will a chai-wala win the big mind-game.

So Anil starts asking him questions. Jamal gives correct answers to the first few questions and Anil gets surprised on Jamal knowing the answers. Jamal gives all the correct answers ('how' will be answered later!). And on the last question, Anil had told Jamal privately that the answer is option no. D, but still Jamal says the answer is option no. B, which is correct and Jamal wins a million dollars.

At this, Anil gets surprised. He thinks how Jamal knew the correct answer; after all, Anil had told him the wrong option. So police catches Jamal and asks him how he knew all the answers. Jamal tells them that all the questions were related to his life. For example, the first question was, "Who was the lead actor in Deewaar?" (it was Amitabh Bachchan). When Jamal was a child, Amitabh came to his place for shooting that film. Jamal had taken his autograph also. That's why he knew the answers.

Cops ask more to Jamal. He tells also about his girlfriend, Latika (see the photo below).

Now the police asks Jamal that why he wanted to be a millionaire, was he not happy with his earlier life of a chai-wala. Jamal tells that his brother (Salim) had kidnapped Latika, and he couldn't find her. He went to the show because he thought Latika would see him on TV and will talk to him.

So at the end, after he becomes a millionaire, he gets his love back and leads a happy life!

From an interview with its director, Danny Boyle, here's a question you might find interesting (well, I found interesting):

The Amitabh Bachchan character, is that a real Indian movie star?

Oh, he’s massive. He’s the most, apart from Gandhi, he’s probably the most famous name in India. And he’s a magnificent actor. He has starred in hundreds of films, hundreds. So, when you mention his name it is like mentioning… It’s very difficult to find an equivalent in the West. There isn’t one. You’d have to put together Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise and Michael Phelps. You’d have to put them together and say it’s that level of royalty. Absolute royalty. He’s a God to people. Outside his house in Bombay, people wait for days and days and days to catch a glimpse of him as he leaves.

Well, Amitabh (ji) is a great actor, and he has been seen in hundreds of films, but I don't agree on what he said about Gandhi. Gandhi gave us freedom, that's why we were able to watch movies of Amitabh. If there was no freedom, how could there be Amitabh? I am tired of every outsider disobeying M.K. Gandhi.

And from another interview, here's a controversial question:

And speaking of that kiss -- that must have been a little controversial for them, right? Aren't they really not allowed to do that in public?

Danny Boyle: That's right. It's very tough for actresses, especially in public because we were shooting in a public place and there's no control there. There's always hundreds and hundreds of people watching, so I had to ask Freida about it very carefully and she was very gracious; she agreed to do it. Because not all their actresses would have agreed to do it -- I think it's sort of like nudity here; how some people will do it and some people won't. It's quite a big thing there, but she understood it was necessary for the story and I tried to convince her that it would be seen in a very gracious and beautiful way. It wouldn't look cheap or tawdry or anything like that. And I felt like it was done in the best taste possible.

(Do I need to say anything, huh? :D).

I have heard in news that people (especially slums) got angry with the word 'Slumdog'. Is it true? I don't know much about it.

The best scenes in this film are by Anil Kapoor, he has given life to this movie. Otherwise, it would have been nothing more than another flop! And the best songs are by A.R. Rahman, who needs no introduction. His music is always new, refreshing and stylish. At the Oscars, he grabbed the award for Jai Ho, on which I wrote here. Irrfaan Khan is seen in a new character this time. He is usually doing comedy roles, but with this film, he has proved that he can do serious roles too.

Now because the film has gotten many awards, I think people expect much from it. That's why I said "don't expect too much from it" in the first para. The movie is just good, and if you don't wear your thinking cap while watching movies, you'll certainly enjoy this. I can't give it more than three stars.

Movie Rating - 3/5 (Good) ***

Music Rating - 4/5 (Excellent!)

Finally, if you're a die-hard Anil Kapoor fan, you'll love this movie. It's one of the best of Anil. He promises you complete entertainment. Hope you like it!

Jai Ho (Gaye!): A.R. Rahman

Our eyes were on the Oscars, and of course, on A.R. Rahman for the music in Slumdog Millionare. And our wishes have been completed! Rahman gets an Oscar for Jai Ho. What do we want next?! India was praying for Rahman's win, and he has won now.

All of us became sad when Taare Zameen Par was out of the nominations - because western critics know much about the subject of Dyslexia. But when Slumdog has bagged in another award, do we need to worry?

Indians have become popular, everywhere. Being an Indian, I am proud of it. Jai Ho India! Our films and music are being listened/watched everywhere. I am not sad about Aamir Khan not winning the Oscars, but am happy (as a music lover) that Rahman has got that award.

A director (I don't know his name) told at the TV that 10 years back, he said Rahman will get an Oscar. And today, it has become true. His wife has also dreamed of Rahman getting an Oscar (read more about it here). Keep it up, Rahman - the nation is proud of you.