16 Years of Ghajini: Christopher Nolan's reaction to Aamir Khan-Asin starrer and controversial legacy of Hindi remake

Netizens still sulk over Kalpana’s death in Ghajini 16 years later due to the tragic fate of her character.

Aamir Khan in Ghajini

It's been 16 years, and netizens still sulk about the fact that Kalpana (Asin) died before knowing the real identity of her lover Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan) in Ghajini. As his first feature film in Hindi, the 2008 release is an action thriller that A. R. Murugadoss both directed and co-wrote. Co-starring Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat, Ghajini is a remake of the director's Tamil film of the same name. Prominent entrepreneur Sanjay Singhania undergoes anterograde amnesia in the film after suffering a brutal assault alongside his girlfriend Kalpana. Asin makes her Hindi film debut in this film, which also happens to be Jiah's farewell feature before she passed away in 2013.

Plot and characters of Ghajini

In Ghajini the stunning commercial film actor Kalpana becomes the object of Sanjay Singhania's affections. Singhania is a rich businessman and the proprietor of the Singhania Group of Industries. Tragically, the brutal businessman Ghajini Dharmatma (Rawat), involved in human trafficking and responsible for Kalpana's murder, inflicts terrible injuries on Sanjay, drastically altering his life. Because Sanjay's memory is only productive for fifteen minutes at a time, he has taken to documenting his search for vengeance against Ghajini through tattoos, photographs, and notes. Sunita, a medical student, and Inspector Arjun (Riyaz Khan) discover Sanjay's diary, which reveals the tragic tale of his love for Kalpana and his dogged pursuit to assassinate Ghajini.

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Influence and remake process

Memento and Happy Go Lovely influenced the plot of the original film. Khan and Murugadoss co-wrote the remake, incorporating several suggestions from Khan to enhance its appeal to Hindi cinemagoers. Geetha Arts handled distribution, and Allu Aravind, Madhu Mantena, and Tagore Madhu were co-producers. A. R. Rahman composed the musical score and soundtrack, while Ravi K. Chandran and Anthony handled the cinematography and editing.

After its theatrical release on December 25, 2008, Ghajini became the highest-grossing Indian film of that year and the first Bollywood film to surpass ₹100 crore in domestic earnings, thus founding the Rs. 100 Crore Club. Ghajini earned Rs. 2.7 crore at its paid preview. As of its release, it held the record for the highest-grossing Indian film until 3 Idiots overtook it.

Aamir Khan's contributions to the Hindi remake

Earlier, while talking about remaking Ghajini in Hindi, Murugadoss had said that the remainder of the film was mostly unaltered. The filmmaker could never get Aamir to listen to his suggestions for improving Ghajini from the original; he insisted on using the Tamil script at any cost. The climax, though, was his idea to alter. Aamir completely rewrote the setting, events, and conversation for the climax. What Aamir did to improve upon the Tamil Ghajini in the Hindi remake is absolutely remarkable.

Christopher Nolan's reaction to Ghajini

Christopher Nolan, who directed the original Memento (2000), from which Murugadoss lifted the plot, was visibly distressed, according to Anil Kapoor. The Oscar-winning filmmaker informed the actor that someone had copied one of his films. To which Anil exclaimed, Ghajini. Nolan was deeply troubled by it, and the actor also informed Aamir about it. He informed the filmmaker that the film had recently received positive reviews in that country. However, Nolan responded, "Yeah, no money, no credit, no nothing."

Ghajini can be streamed on Prime Video and ZEE5 (OTTplay Premium).

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