Bollywood Time: Ghajini

For those who don't already know, I love Bollywood movies. And not like in the, "Oh, isn't it so funny and ironic to like Bollywood? I'm so interesting and quirky!" But in a very earnest and nerdy way. For those of you (there may be one or two of you) interested in some basic info about Bollywood, read up on that here and here. Because I don't really have the time or inclination to go into all that.

Here's the thing: If you like things that are fantastic, you should really check out Bollywood. But by fantastic, I mean both, "Hey, that's fantastic." and the actual definition of the word: "Conceived or seemingly conceived by unrestrained fancy." Your typical Bollywood movie is all about unrestrained fancy: it will be about three hours long, cram in every single genre and feature more than one giant song and dance number. Sound awesome? It totally is. Sound terrible? That's fine - to each his own. But please remember you own Speed on DVD. You have no right to judge.

For the first installment of Bollywood Time, I bring you Ghajini (2008). Did you ever see Memento? Sure you did. Ghajini is the Bollywood version of that film. So imagine Memento, but with a love story, some light comedy and several song and dance numbers to go along with the whole memory loss/revenge seeking/action-packed fight scenes. Here's the trailer:



Whew. Super intense, right? This is one of the best Bollywood movies I've seen, and I easily give it the full Pillow Fights seal of approval. There are four main things that I judge my Bollywood movies on - songs, dance numbers, wardrobe and (last but not least) overall plot. From the following clip, you can easily see that Ghajini gets an A in the first three categories:



Am I right? Those suspenders alone were worth an A. If Bollywood is something you have any interest in, Ghajini is a really great place to start. Put that shit on your Netflix.

Songs: A- (Sometimes things get lost in translation. For instance, I don't really think he was trying to say, "I'm going to spew forth my pearls of life" during the love ballad. I mean, in Bollywood, it's a big deal if the characters kiss.)
Dance Numbers: A
Wardrobe: A+ (extra credit for Amir Khan's rolled-up-shirt-sleeve-business look)
Overall Plot: A

Ghajini: A