GHAJINI : OVERRATED ???

Behka, main Behka... thats how i was after watching the much awaited GHAJINI today in a nearby theater (thank God, i did not chose a 4 screen multiplex for d movie) at my place Nagpur. "32 crores collection on d 1st day", "fantastic, Aamir at its best" , "4 and a half stars"...dese were some of d comments i heard during a movie preview show on a leading news channel (it was only after watchin d movie, i recalled d sayings and now i know that publicity strats can reach its zenith when it comes to bollywood). The movie opens when d festive season is at its peak (it opened on d day of Christmas) , people highly influenced by the ads and promos of d Aamir starrer, left no stone unturned in watching d movie on its opening day( now u must have known d logic behind the 32 crore speculation).

Now m no different. Following the crowd, i too went for having d experience of a real good 3 hours (3 hrs and 4 mins to be precise, this was what i went for). Aamir was good, as always. Script was ok types. The plethora of violence actually was not what I went for(though dis ingredient was among d most important elements behind d movie's early success). The movie asked for more briskness, a better cinematography, appealing songs( A R Rahman can be excused though), and something else other than d 8 pack abs (bollywood is witnessing a fascinating fight over d abs issue).

The biggest sore point for me at the end of the movie was that the whole memory loss bit was almost peripheral to the plot( if not irrelevant.) Seems almost like a publicity gimmick. Take it away and the basic story of the film stays the same. And the basic story is one that has been rehashed a million times in Bollywood - rich nice boy falls in love with virtuous poor girl, and just as they are headed into a blissful life, a bad guy intervenes, does evil things (and maybe kills girl). Bad guy is punished and revenge is taken. The end. Yawn!

Maybe it is the fault of the script, screenplay, performances, or all of the above, but there is no chemistry, spark or romance between the leading couple. They seem like platonic friends( or even siblings). Why does Kalpana love Sanjay/Sachin? And why does Sanjay love Kalpana.... I can understand him wanting to nominate her to succeed Mother Teresa, but love? Bleh. The whole movie can be re-written with his sister being the one who is murdered, and the import would remain the same.
Epilogue : All the ballyhoo about Ghajini might help it to gain something out of the facile Indian population but the truth lies in the fact that the movie is not upto the so called Aamir level, and beware producers, its not long that d janta will shed out the obligatory nice image of the film. I have not more than 2 and a half stars for d movie...(feel penitent for all Aamir fans) C u

2009 : A Year of HOPES

As long as we have hope
we have direction
and energy to move
and the map to move by
We have a hundred alternatives
and a thousand paths and infinity of dreams
Hopeful,
we are halfway to where we want to go
Hopeless, we are lost forever.

The year 2008 is ending on a somber note, what with the lingering, chilling memories of 26/11 Mumbai terror carnage and the unprecedented meltdown in the global economy, ever seen in recent memory, since the Great Depression still fresh in people's minds. The images of these two monumental happenings will continue to haunt the whole world for quite a long time to come. While the ever vibrant city of Mumbai was again on its feet within a few hours of mayhem unleashed by the merchants of death from across the border, as has happened in the past, the economic crisis is assuming catastrophic proportions every passing day and experts assert that the worst is still to come and what that will be nobody knows...

The old order changeth, yielding place to new...Barack Obama created history by becoming the 1st african american president elect in the USA ever. Its d Nuclear Age... India and US inked a historic nuclear deal after over three years of tortuous twists and turns, they also widened their horizons, looking far beyond a dramatic transformation of their bilateral relations. Whodunnit??... Aarushi Talwar's murder on 14 May can be termed as India's biggest murder mystery( atleast d media termed it so ) . End of Mush's Raj... Pervez Musharraf on Aug 18 announced his resignation as President of Pakistan under impeachment pressure from the coalition government.Raj's raj continues...The activists of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) continued their agitation under the leadership of their party chief Raj Thackeray against the north Indians who had migrated to Mumbai.

Its not all. If I continue to go on jotting down the highlights of 2008, then I would have to take a special permission from Google inc. to increase the present size limitation of a post in Blogger (You can laugh) . The year 2008 was like a glass of concentrated lemon juice ( lemon emphasizing the lows and the water a few highs) . But nevertheless, the year has ended (finally) and as everyone is hoping for 2009 to be a turn around, so am I... C u