Muruga Doss It

A slick and flashy commercial flick with a few brain-defying moments is what Ghajini is.

Surya’s much-awaited Ghajini hit theatres yesterday evening, tapping the shoulder of many Tamil cine viewers to sit up and pay attention.

Boasting audio, visual and narrative sophistication as impressive as Vikram’s "magnum aapus" Anniyan, Ghajini is an all-out no holds barred foray into the expensive world of mega-budget action-thriller masala movies.

No peek into the story from me: I don't like others to spoil movies for me, and the vice-versa is true as well. But broadly put: with a characterization inspired from Chris Nolan’s Memento in 2000, director Murugadoss (of Dheena and the well-executed Ramanaa fame) tackles short term memory loss his own style. Knowing fully well that remaking Memento in Tamil would lead to legions of Tamil cinema-goers losing their sanity, having convulsions, losing their memory and ultimately the death of Murugadoss’ career, he played it smart and merely integrated the persona of Guy Pearce in Memento, along with several plot devices, into Ghajini. I wouldn’t call Ghajini a rip-off: it takes skill to maneuver a known plot device into another context. Murugadoss has done a pretty remarkable job in transplanting the plot into Tamil cinema.

Surya has done excellent work once again. What Ajit rejected, Surya has accepted with glee and has shown his mettle again in Ghajini, complete with blow-dried straightened hair. His buffed up body lends well to the tattoos of an insecure man, while his eyes speak of a man desperate for revenge but languishing in pain at the same time.

Asin has arrived with Ghajini. She's a sultry queen, cutie pie and comedienne rolled into a petite, ravishing package. Her performance makes one wonder: what does Kollywood find with the staid Trisha Krishnan? After Jo(thika), Asin would be a clear runner for the top position among leading actresses, I hope.

In contrast, Nyantara appears in a badly written role. Her obese look is compounded with a horrible wardrobe that reveals too much skin, tip-toe-ing away from the sensual and treading into the vulgar. It's not her fault, I admit; but it was unnecessary. She does not act well, and she does not have that X-factor that makes even a simple smile an electrifying look.

Camera work and editing went along very well, with the Khaakhe... Khaakhe... team of Rajasekhar (photography) and Antony (editing) producing vivid, on-the-edge photography, and tight editing that gave a highly stylized dimension to the fast-paced narrative. Jump cuts, over exposures and the hand-held camera motions give the film a raw yet glossy feel.

The songs were excellently executed. My beloved "Rahatulla" showed Asin in a way I've never seen before, while "Oru Maalai" was absolutely spot-on with the overall picturzation and dance choreography (Caleb, you'll be a happy man). There is a strong hip-hop feel to both these songs, and it refreshes minds attuned to the pelvic thrusts of many masalas of yonder.

However, the movie suffers from certain holes and inconsistencies, demanding that the viewer make some unconditional leaps of faith. For one, I don't understand Nyantara's motives (or her costumes) in doing the totally ludicrous and annoying things she does. Songs seems to be inserted at odd times when clearly there are more appropriate moments. GV Yishun, I suspect, plans to make all patrons of Tamil movies deaf: the sound level was absurdly high. But it played to my advantage as the roaring sounds masked the incessant discussion groups all over the cinema, started by our over-enthusiastic expatriate/foreign worker brethren.

On the whole: this is Surya's big one, I hope one of many to come. Murugadoss, I've always felt, was a very under-rated director, and he's gotten the big one. Asin's in for the big league with this movie as well, and Harris (Rahatulla) Jayaraj might see his assignments increase after this. Go watch it, it'll work wonders after a draining week of assignments.