Sunday, December 28, 2008

Ghajini and Rab ne bana di jodi: the common thread

Could there be two movies more different in style, story, theme and presentation? And yet, there is a thought that is central to both films.

The coin has two sides.
The mirror has two faces.
Every human being has another aspect to his/ her personality, rarely seen.

The Ghajini version is more plausible. The impact of witnessing a brutal murder coupled with a massive head injury literally brings out the animal in Sanjay Singhania.

I HATE violence on screen and even in Ghajini I covered my eyes every time the amnesiac-animal went on a rampage. But I must compliment Aamir Khan for the way in which he played the role.

When he bashes up (or actually just brushes aside) an army of goons in the climax scene, I did not feel this is the typical 'herogiri' of Hindi films. Sanjay Singhania was an ordinary guy with extraordinary power because he had a 'mission'.

The fact that he could not remember what that mission was made for the twist in a tale which would otherwise have been a 'kameene main tera khoon pi jaoonga' kind of revenge drama from the 1970s or 80s.

I was happy to see that Aamir's rippling muscles and even the Ghajini 'hair style' were not mere packaging but integral to the storyline of the film. That's what one expects from this very fine actor :)

Coming to Rab ne Bana di jodi. Here too, we have a hero with 'two sides' although one really has to take a huge leap of faith to accept that a woman won't recognise her husband from two cm distance just because he does not wear his spectacles and moustache.

Aamir ko ek tarah ka short-term memory loss hai to Ms Taani ko uska doosra version hai. I guess that's another (unintended) similarity between the two films :)

Although Mr Aditya Chopra conveniently uses God to circumvent any and all such problems with Surinder Sahni making the observation: "Agar rab chahte to ek second mein Taniji mujhe pehchaan jaati, magar aisa nahin hua kyunki woh meri love story likhna chahte hain." Go figure!

Apart from that of course, Aamir is a case of 'before' and 'after'. He was one person before the haadsa and a completely different one after it. Even after he completes his mission - and especially from the last scene - it appears that he will live in cuckooland, pretty much forever.

Surinder ji on the other hand is leading a 'boring is normal' kind of life. And yet, in a candy floss version of the old Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde routine, he transforms into Raj while claiming to be in office working 'overtime'.

Now since this is a Yashraj production, he is actually trying to romance his own wife. The Anurag Basu (and closer to reality) version would have a Raj making out with some hot chick in the office!

The question that is never convincingly answered in RNBDJ is why Surinder could not be a little more expressive and get a better haircut without pretending to be Raj. But you see Rab ne banani thi teen ghante ki picture. So the Dr Yellow Tiffin Box and Mr Tight Yellow T shirt tale has to stretch on.

In real life, however, you find that even Raj eventually progresses to a Surinder-like state of stupor and the only thing that keeps the average Indian couple is the common ground they find in their children and social obligations.

Moral of the story:

From Ghajini: A haadsa can transform life as you know it. Yes, that is the case most recently with the survivors of the Mumbai terror attack. But is 'revenge' really the answer?

In the film we see Sanjay earn the satisfaction of killing Ghajini the very same way he bludgeoned Kalpana. But will the relatives of those killed in the terror attacks get a sense of 'relief' when Ajmal Kasab is sentenced to death some months, or even years from now?

Coming to term with senseless acts of violence and the evil side of human nature is one of life's biggest challenges. Ultimately revenge is an option but not the 'solution'.

From Rab ne bana di jodi: Men and women are both stuck playing 'roles' in their earthly lives. Okay, but they can either sleepwalk through it all or be fully alive and involved while performing their parts!

There is no perfect partner out there. Just different combinations of Surinder and Raj, Golgappa and Biryani - or whatever you choose to call the yin and the yang inside each of us.

So undertake the physical makeover, mental makeover, spiritual makeover - whatever it takes to 'light up your life, ji'. Rishta nibhana is the Indian solution to the oldest of all relationship problems in the world. And Rab ne almost convinces you that yes, it surely works!

But as I walked out of the hall I couldn't help thinking of the irony in reel life vs real life. Aditya Chopra, director of the film did not see rab in his jodi with Payal - he chose the route of the divorce court.

28 comments:

  1. heh. Interesting thoughts. I kinda saw something in common between the films too.. like ordinary love stories egging people on to do uncommon things. My review of Ghajini is here, haven't seen RNBDJ yet!

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  2. Ghajini fell way below my expectations. Reasons being:
    1. It stretches too long
    (3+ hours).
    2. Ghajini being just a villian is too much of a disappointment.
    3. The villian's performance is again far below the expectations. (please ask him to see Heath Ledger in The dark knight).
    4. Jiah Khan is HORRIBLE when it comes to acting.
    5. I have seen Memento and believe that the direction is far superior in the original plus the storyline is stronger.
    6. In fight sequences, it appears that you are watching a typical South Indian Movie where the hero is not just a hero but a superman with crazy power.

    The real good part of the movie is the love story of Aamir and Asin. That's surely worth a watch. Aamir as you mention, is also pretty good in the transition that he makes from a nice boy to an obsessed man.

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  3. Actually I'd prefer Rab ne... to Ghajini, which really disappointed me. I have written a Ghajini review as well, and would invite you to give it a read.

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  4. I love the way you compared these two films. I haven't yet seen Ghajini but know the whole story as I saw the tamil version of it. I guess nothing will change much in the Bollywood version. And yes, I also wonder why Suri didn't go for a hair-cut and dress a little funky while he did the very same just pretending to be someone else. I mean "wt* yaar!" :-o
    And about the irony part, we love to preach things we don't believe ourselves. Same holds true for Adiji, after all, he's a mere human being. :-p

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  5. RNBDJ was one of the most insulting-to-Indians flicks that I've seen of late. I mean, does the director really think we people are stupid enough to buy any darn crap he sells, only cuz the packaging is attractive and the movie has SRK? I'm soo glad I watched the early morning show which helped me save a cool Rs. 100 straight, else I'd have never gotten over the trauma of wasting my hard-earned money on some @#$% like this one.

    Ghajini, I don't think I'll be watching. After having almost lost it, thanks to RNBDJ, I have decided to not waste any more time, money and energy on non-sensical movies. Ghajini, from what I've learnt, defies all logic, and doesn't even have a Hollywood hottie to make up for it. A 3+ hour movie? After Jodha-Akbar, thanks but no thanks.

    Ah, feels good to finally vent. :D

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  6. Rashmi, I really like your ability to extract deep philosophical meanings out of trash like RNBDJ :-) . Anyway, I think you should see the english version of Ghajini. That movie was able to portray in a much better way the pain and the frustration of someone who has gone through such a situation.

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  7. Dumb and Dumber
    Ghajini is the latest in this crappy trend, with the source being the brilliant, mind-bending thriller Memento.Ghajini is filled with inane characterizations, a complete lack of an eye for detail or rationale, filled with comic-book like action sequences that are a straight lift of B-grade Tamil movies and containing more bloopers than the makings of sitcoms;
    while RNBDJ is perfect crap produced by Adi chopra whose review or preview or view is torture in hell...

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  8. I think that I might be the only person on this earth to like Ghajini better than Memento. Or is it that people are just too obsessed with the so-called modern-classic called Memento that they just cant see beyond the fact.
    Take Ghajini as a different movie and its definitely a better one.
    Better than Memento and far better than RNBDJ.
    Memento had a weak story (to the point of irrelevance - I wonder about the guy who talks about a stronger story in Memento - which movie did he watch). It did have a stronger concept but it remained at that - a concept movie.
    Ghajini has a much better love-story and definitely a superior protagonist.
    I did not care about the villain that much even though I expected a different climax (like I would have preferred had Aamir Khan died in the end). But - thats where the South Indian Masala Element kicks in. Songs though were the biggest disappointment.
    A R Rehman should stop recycling his music!!

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  9. jus came across ur blog by chance,
    i loved the perspectives put up by you!
    very easily and lightly, u have put up some facts of life which many intelligent fellows r unable to comprehend.
    it was a delight to read ur thoughts!
    :)

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  10. Rashmi..a very happy new year to you and all your readers!!!

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  11. Guess who also closed their eyes during the killing scenes??

    Rab ne sucked, though. Really.

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  12. know what..ghajini is almost a repica of the tamil version...being honest..aamir did a good job..but his acting is far more short of that of surya's master copy..

    rab ne is okay...but i thot its almost ridiculous that the heroine has no brains enuf to find out her hubby in her raj partner..badhshah might be thankin rab ji..his make over doesnt need something like wat hrithik needed in dhoom...

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  13. A most happy new year to you Rashmi and to fellow readers.

    I watched both the movies last week. Ghazini scores in its ambience, feel and superb songs over RBNDJ.Ghazini in the first half with the romantic chemistry between asin aamir sizzling was a treat to watch. At least , I was in anticipation of "what next." will ahpen for the first 2 hours.However the second half could have been made much more tighter and the ending on a positive note rather than all blood and gore . Ghazini has a potent mix of all emotions you can think of : love,action, fear , action, drama ...and that makes it a nice "one time" watch movie.The songs "Hai guzaarish" and "Kaise Mujhe Tum" will rule the charts for a long time. The melody is too good. My rating :4/5.

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  14. revenge or punishment is important to some extent.over politeness can kill !!

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  15. 'rab ne bani di jodi' really rubs it in. Mr Chopra's real life is not an irony it is just what real life is like. Maybe next time Mr Chopra will make a movie inspired from his own life that would be real. But will it be entertaining as Bollywood blockbuster.

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  16. i like very much rabne banadi jodi, awsome action by sharookh

    www.papershunt.com

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  17. I had a laugh after reading your article. I haven't watched Ghajini but yes had a chance to watch RAB.... For me the comparison is not imp but i liked ur last para where u compared the mumbai victims with revenge and how adi couldn't find rab in her wife.
    One word Hippocrates.

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  18. Very interesting review. I normally don't like reading long movie reviews, but this one is just apt !! the best was even you observed the Peela effect of RNBDJ :) one can have Jaundice so easily - car , flowers, dresses, theaters ...sab kuch peela !! And the thing that tanniji had was Blindophrenic...kabhi dikhe kabhi andhera :)

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  19. This post is incomplete, Rashmi. For comparison, you must see Momento first. You will come to appreciate the art of story telling. Rab ne...is crap. Pure crap. I think, its not even worth reviewing or commenting on!

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  20. Anonymous10:38 PM

    Rab ne is above average movie specially of two reasons.
    1. SRK
    2. Banner
    But Ghajini excellent.
    Claps for Aamir & Team.

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  21. Would love a write up from you on the satyam fiasco. Your ideas would be a treat to read.

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  22. I am sick of Ghajini, a work of art has to be somewhat believeable, a businessman of Singhania's stature as shown DOES NOT forget his cell in the car.

    An eight pack doesnt mean Aamir can pull out a rod from his lungs and throw it at Ghajini so hard that, that Ghajini falls down.

    It lacks any kind of feasibilty!
    GRADE- R to this flick!

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  23. Actually, I would like to join jam...any advise on how i should approach?

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  24. Hi Rashmi Bansal,

    Was trying to buy a book named stay hungry stay foolish and was searching with the author's name Rashmi Bansal, are u the same who has written the same book as well??

    Regards,
    Pankaj Borana
    pankajborana@gmail.com

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  25. RNBDJ DEKHNE KE BAAD MUJHE LAGTA HAI KII MERAAA PAISA PURA KA PURAA WASSOL HO GAYA HAI AUR MUJHE PATAA CHALA HAI KII YEH BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE HO GAYA HAI PAR GHAJINI KE LIYE SOCHTA HOON TOH BAHUT GHUSHA AATA HAI KYUN KI 1ST HALF KUCH HADH TAK ACHAA HAI PAR 2ND HALF IS VERY BORINGGGGGG.AAMIR SIRF BODY BANANE SE KUCH NAHIIN HOTA SAMJHE.MAINE AARAM SE 1 GHANTE KE LIYE SO GAYA THA INTERVAL KE BAAD.RNBDJ IS VERY NICE.SRK THIS TIME ALSO ROKSSS & AAMIR SUKSSSS.

    GHAJINI---RGV KI AAG SE BAHUT ACHA HAI PAR SAAWRIYA SE BAHUT BAKWAAS HAI.I THINK ALL SHOULD GO 4 RNBDJ.

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  26. MAINE SAAWARIYA GHAJINI SE BHI ZYAADA NJOY KIYA THA.
    GHAJINI-HORRIBLE MOVIE.

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  27. i think i have a different take on ghajini....i think you people can catch my review on my blog:
    http://extendurlimits.blogspot.com/

    Though i think i am lil late but i think tdat better late than never....lookin forward to your comments on my review!!!!

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