Ghajinikanth - The director's "U" turn is the highlight
Director Santhosh P Jayakumar who is the pioneer of explicit adult comedies in Tamil cinema after severe backlash from the press vowed to make his third a clean entertainer. Ghajinikanth turns out to be a personal milestone for the director but serves the fun only to the most undemanding among the audiences.
The film opens promisingly with Ghajinikanth (Arya) being born in a movie theater playing Superstar Rajinikanth's 'Dharmathin Thalaivan' and for no reason at all takes after his absent minded character. The hero's biggest woe is that he would forget even the most important matter in his life if some other diversion intervenes. It is love at first sight for Ghajinikanth when he sees a bharathanatyam teacher Vandhana (Sayyeshaa). The catch however is her father (Sampathraj) unknowing to her meets the hero as a prospective groom for his daughter but experiences the worst of his forget fullness and starts hating him. Ghajinikanth turns every memory loss incident to his advantage in wooing Vandhana and as their love blossoms her father selects a ruthless cop as her suitor. Does the hero get cured and lives happily ever after with his girl in spite of his disability and the villain's machinations forms the rest of the screenplay.
Arya reprises the role played by Nani in the original and his casual manner and boy next door appearance endears him to the audiences. Every time he bungles up things with his girl and uses her innocence to his advantage bring the smiles on. There is also a long single take when he gets emotional which works shows a streak of his prowess. Overall its a nice return for Arya as far as his acting is concerned. Sayyeshaa currently the everybody's favourite heroine has worked hard in getting her Tamil lip sync perfectly. She is super cute in the romance scenes and also sizzles in the song sequences but her characterization is cliched. Sathish as the friend who has to impersonate the hero a la Goundamani in 'Ullathai Allithaa' is found wanting in expressions in most of his scenes and escapes with a few lines hitting the mark. Aadukalam Narain and Uma Padmanabhan as Arya's parents score the best in the comedy department especially in the scene the latter calls her husband brother to mislead the bride's family. Sampath as the doting father of the heroine has given a dignified performance. Karunakaran and Mottai Rajendran are wasted while Kaali Venkat and Madhumitha raise a few laughs post interval. Lijeesh who plays the villainous cop is adequate.
The scenes that work best in 'Ghajinikanth' are the ones in which Arya hoodwinks Sayyeshaa and when he tries the same to her father. Post interval the jokes are funnier especially when the comedy of errors play out. Barring a few dialogues the proceedings are kept as family friendly as possible considering who is at the helm.
On the downside an absent minded character opens the doors for endless possibilities for comedy but the makers have only skimmed the surface. The scenes border between deja vu and boring and the genuine jokes are few and far between. A character with a flaw should be well defined to enjoy his antics but here Ghajinikanth is inconsistent and that is its main failing. For that reason the scene where he is taking a pregnant lady in the car forgetting where the hospital is, is neither comical nor thrilling. The long climax fight is forced and the final twist too does not quite work. On the whole the screenplay moves on at an inconsistent pace.
Balamurali Balu's music, Ballu's cinematography, Subramaniya Suresh's art work and G.K. Prasanna's editing are purely functional. Santhosh P Jayakumar and Studio Green may have done a near perfect 'U' Turn as far as the content is concerned but when it comes to comedy their 'Hara Hara...' remains their best.
Verdict : Go for it if you enjoy contrived situational comedy that works in parts with decent performances from the cast.
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