A hero lost...

There are 2 India's. One likes Himesh Reshamiyya and his cap. The other detests him and simply does not get why his cap is such a phenomenon, or gets it but feels like they live in a world gone terribly wrong. I have a point...

Aamir Khan used to make movies for India no. 2 earlier. With Ghajini, he seems to have switched. I cannot call it a bad movie. It is what a masala movie is I guess. In fact, it delivers South Indian filmmaking a tribute of sorts with it's filthy looking villian and his filthier looking henchmen, saccharine sweet heroine who is annoying and over the top and killing you with kindness all at once and hero that breaks necks and kicks the shit out of baddies at the slightest provocation. Everybody happy and Himesh has another remake option!

But what happened to Aamir Khan? I love the fact that he wanted to make a commercial action flick. That he worked so hard to make his body like it's never been before. That he created a whole new look with his bald head and ripped physique. But as I have come to realize, that's about all you get even after watching this movie. The rest of the film is a combination of violence and stupidity. The violence is OK to a certain extent (one can argue that it was 'required'). But the stupidity? Luckily, Aamir Khan saves the day. He's an actor par excellence and basically carries the movie. The only reason why you don't stop watching it is because he's in it.

So what's stupid? Well, let's start with the heroine. She has neither style nor class and all she does is tries to act cute. She comes off as unnatural and completely over the top with her 'save the people and then torture them with giggles' attitude. She's ok when sober but that's a rare occurence. Now comes the other heroine. She's basically a poodle in woman's clothing. Either that or just someone in need of a haircut. Desperately in need. The storyline is action-oriented as opposed to dialogue slash action-oriented even though the subject is interesting and could have been handled intelligently. Memento is far superior even though the protagonist in it goes by the name of 'Guy' in real life!

I got a little tired of hearing about this movie because it was too much in the news. I kept thinking 'it's going to be great, but all of Aamir's other films have been so why is this being hyped to death???'. I think Aamir Khan realized that the movie needed to make up in marketing what it lacked in content. He's way too smart and has gone all out becoming the new friendly poster boy version of himself, but doesn't that make him just like his counterparts? It is sort of sad... He truly get his art and has been a part of exceptional films, be it Lagaan or Dil Chahta Hai or Rang De Basanti or Taare Zameen Par. So what the hell is this? There was only one honest review I read about this movie and that was by Mayank Shekhar in the Mumbai Mirror. I thought he was being a jerk, having great faith in Aamir Khan and all... But he was right! The movie stinks and even Aamir Khan's stellar performance does not salvage it from the B grade fare that it is.

I think India no. 1 accepted this movie the way they accept Indian television sitcoms and India no. 2 used to have a silent poster boy but he seems to have gotten too confident having jumped over the fence into India no. 1's territory. The difference between them is grand, and yet all that seems to stand between them is a cap. Aamir Khan was exactly the sort to condemn the cap. Now he's wearing it too.