Review – Ghajinikanth

Film:Ghajinikanth
Cast: Arya, Sayyessha, Satish, Karunakaran, Aadukalam Naren, Mukul Dev, Sampath and others
Director: Santhosh P Jayakumar
Cinematography: Ballu
Music: Balamurali Balu

Delivering one film that works at the box office itself is a dream. Director Santhosh P Jayakumar has just managed to deliver two. When I say two, I am making an assumption that his latest film, Ghajinikanth will emerge a hit. I think it is reasonably safe to make that assumption as the film is indeed an enjoyable, clean wholesome entertainer.

The director, who had come in for some scathing criticism for having made the adult comedy Irruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuthu, has hit back at those who asked him if he can make ‘decent’ films with Ghajinikanth.

The fact that he has made both films simultaneously, shooting one at night and the other in day makes it even more impressive.

The film is a remake of the Telugu hit film, Bhale Bhale Magadivoy, featuring Nani and Lavanya Tripathi in the lead and to Santhosh’s credit, he has been able to reproduce both the humour and the charm of the original.

Rajinikanth(Arya) is an agricultural scientist who has just one problem in life. He forgets. Ideally, when people are assigned a second task while they are in the midst of another one, they keep in mind that they have to complete both. Rajinikanth’s problem is that he will focus on the first task with utmost attention, until the second task arrives. Once the second task arrives, he would completely forget about the first. This forgetfulness is what earns him the title ‘Ghajinikanth’ from friends and family.

Thanks to this problem, Rajinikanth is unable to find a suitable partner. His parents in general and his dad, Ramanathan (Aadukalam Naren), in particular, are desperate to find him a bride. Ramanathan keeps constantly approaching the parents of suitable girls in the hope that his son’s wedding will get fixed. As part of such efforts, he approaches Sathiyamoorthy (Sampath), the father of Vandana(Sayyessha), a prospective bride for his son, with an alliance proposal.

When Sathiyamoorthy meets Rajinikanth, he learns about the latter’s problem and turns down the proposal.

Soon after this incident, a friend(Karunakaran) calls Rajini to donate blood to their boss who has been admitted to a hospital. Rajinikanth goes to donate blood but thanks to his forgetful nature, ends up donating it to a little girl on the first floor instead of his boss who is on the third floor. Luckily for him, Vandana is the caretaker of the little girl to whom he has donated blood and the lady is impressed with Ghajini’s altruistic act.

They start meeting each other and eventually fall in love. Ghajini is delighted with this new development in his life until the time, he learns that Vandana is the daughter of the man who had left in a huff after calling him a good-for-nothing person. How does he convince a man who does not even want to meet him to agree to give his daughter’s hand in marriage? Ghajini embarks upon a bold and atrocious plan to win the hand of the girl he loves, resulting in a series of hilarious incidents.

Handling humour is not easy and Santhosh P Jayakumar does it with a certain degree of ease that speaks volumes about his confidence in himself and his cast.

The film is genuinely funny. In fact, certain parts of the Tamil version surpass the Telugu version. For instance, the place where Ghajinikanth and his dad Ramanathan are caught dancing to the song ‘Sodakku Mela Sodakku Poduthu’ when Sathiyamoorthy suddenly comes visiting them is extremely hilarious. The credit for this sequence must go to Aadukalam Naren, who does an outstanding job of playing Arya’s father in the film.

Another actor who takes the cake is actor Sampath, who plays Sayyessha’s father. Immensely talented, the man’s strong performance does wonders for the film’s credibility factor.

Arya’s impeccable sense of timing has helped him do well in comedy films and this time too, it does that. He plays the character to perfection, relishing the role with all his heart. He is ably supported by two really good comedians — Satish and Karunakaran, both of whom play his friends. His dancing, though, is terrible as always. And it looks even more terrible in contrast to Sayyessha’s graceful dancing.

In fact, there is a funny incident that seems to have happened while shooting for one of the dance sequences.

Apparently, the team was shooting a dance sequence in Bangkok, when the dance master of the film, watching Arya, Sayyessha and the team of extras, rehearsing, walked up to director Santhosh and told him, ‘You said Arya was a bad dancer. But then, look at them rehearse there. Arya and the dancers are in perfect synchronisation. Sayyesha is the one who looks like she requires help.” The director is then believed to have told the dance master,’ In this country, the junior artistes follow the lead of the male dancer. That is why you see them adjusting themselves to Arya’s moves and therefore, you find their moves synchronised. However, look closely, and you will find Sayyessha is the one who is actually following your instructions correctly. Arya is dancing whatever he can and the junior artistes are just following his moves to make sure their steps match his.” The dance master then, to his shock, realised the director was correct.

Sayyesha is indeed a brilliant dancer. She moves like a dream and has a sweet smile even while employing performing some of the most taxing dance routines gracefully. Easily one of the biggest strengths of this film, Sayyessha Saigal emotes well and plays her part to perfection. In fact, in the comedy sequences, she picks up the cues so perfectly that it does not, even for a moment, strike the viewer that she is an actress who does not understand Tamil.

Ballu’s cinematography and the music of Balamurali Balu are both reasonably good.

Director Santhosh P Jayakumar has made a strong statement with this film. He has shown that he can make a clean family entertainer which has the potential to achieve as much commercial success as an adult horror comedy. At a time, when most directors flounder even to make one film that works at the box office, Santhosh has made two, simultaneously.

The director, over a period of two months, made two films, shooting one film by day and the other by night, sleeping only while travelling from the sets of one film to the other. There is very little to find fault with in Ghajinikanth, which is really an enjoyable family entertainer.