Aamir writes about Ghajini:Guess where I am as I write this? I'm sitting in A.R.'s studio in Chennai!!! We are here to work on the songs of Hindi remake of GHAJINI. Rehman is sitting to my right leaning against his piano, Prasoon Joshi, who is writing the lyrics, is to my left, and in front of me is Murgadoss, the director. Quite appropriate that I should be doing my post on GHAJINI today. Usually I wouldn't be here but Murgadoss wants me around as he is relying on me to guide him about the Urdu lyrics. So I'm here more as a translator. When I was offered GHAJINI I didn't take it very seriously as I'm not usually keen on remakes. But when I saw the film I really loved it.
I did not like the last 30 mts of the film but despite that the film had worked for me. I was not sure that I shoiuld do it as I had a problem with the end of the film, also I was not sure that it was my kind of film. The person who persuaded me to go for it was Surya, the hero in the original. I had called him to congratulate him on his performance. While discussing the film I expressed my doubts, I felt that maybe I was not the right actor for the film. He just brushed aside my doubts and insisted that I was the right person for the Hindi remake. But what sealed it for me was my meeting with the director. He is a really spirited young director and I was very impressed meeting him.
He has a really nice vibe around him and a very sharp instinct towards his work. Importantly, when I expressed my reservations regarding the end of the film he did not hesitate in seconding that he too was not very happy with that portion, and that in the remake thats the portion that he felt we needed to rework. Having made sure that we were on the same page and feeling a great amount of comfort in Murgadoss I went ahead with my decision. In this meeting I got to know how the story came about.
Murgadoss had heard about a film called MOMENTO and the concept had really fasinated him. Without having seen the film he went ahead and wrote his own version of the script and screenplay. Having finished his script he then saw MOMENTO, found it very different from what he had written, and went ahead and made GHAJINI. I had not seen MOMENTO myself untill then and was very curious to see it. On seeing it I thanked my stars that he had not seen MOMENTO before having written his script. I preffered GHAJINI any day.
Momento I just couldn't understand. For those of you who have asked me why I don't have any problems doing a remake of a Hollywood film..., its NOT a remake. Watch both films and see for yourself. In my opinion this is a GENUIN case of 'inspired from', and nothing beyond that. Murgadoss has written a completely different and original screenplay and he should get the due credit for his work. Its being produced by Allu Arvind, Directed by Murgadoss, Music A.R. Rahman, lyrics Prasoon Joshi, cinematography Ravi K Chandran, sound Rassul. The two female roles are being played by Asin and Jhia Khan.
I thought Asin was stunning in the original so she was the natural choice for that role. For the other role a number of actresses were auditioned, the director found Jhia the best suited and so she has been finalised. I have not seen Jhia's earlier film but I did see her test and I agreed with the assesment of the director. We have begun shooting for the film and should complete the shoot by the end of the year. So I would guess it should be a 2008 May or June release. On the script level while we have stuck to the Tamil original for the most part we have made changes to the villian track, and have changed the last 30 odd mts of the film including the climax.
I was telling Rahman about this blog and told him about the various posts you guys had made criticising his work.... relax just kidding, told him you'll love him, got a big grin out of him, he sends his regards. Couple of questions I have for those of you who have seen the Tamil version. What should we call the film in Hindi? Any ideas? And who is the right cast for the role of the villian? Those of you haven't seen the original please wait and see the Hindi version. Met someone I am a huge fan of on my flight here... Rajnigaru! He is so cool, I just love him. He is the guy who really rocks.
Bye for now. Love.
Aamir
