[Pic – Vikatan.com]
Praveen in the comments section of a post rambled that going by the promos, Gajini could well be a rehash of Memento. Seems to be true. To add myself a lil bit of credit, I did think of it initially, when I glimpsed the mottai Surya but never believed completely. Murugadoss’ interview to Hindu nearly confirms it.
It is about a man who has this unusual problem 15-minute amnesia. Some very interesting things happen in that short period of time. I have done a fight staying in the water for nearly 24 hours,” Surya added.
Honestly Memento isn’t one of my favorites. I love movies with a smart screenplay rather than a good storyline. I did like Memento but I think Christopher Nolan just went over the head with that screenplay stuff. It was mind-blowing. Accepted. But was just too much for someone to handle.
Oru Urula Oru Raja Kumari, a Bhaghyaraj movie failed only because the many twists in screenplay was just too much for the audience to handle. Kadhala Kadhala failed because there was just too much happening in the screenplay that an unassuming audience could grasp, while laughing to the wits. Memento could possibly be classified in that over-the-top genre. However Gajini aka Memento[if it would be] would be a huge step forward for tamil population.
I was hoping that Gajini would have an authentic story line. Murugadoss just disappointed me. I would be happy if Gajini just borrows just the screenplay trick of Memento and has an independently built storyline to feed it. I hope !!
kirukkal.com 
30 responses to “Gajini & ‘Un’Selective Amnesia”
I thought Saran is a original screenplay writer until he made JayJay. I thought SJS is a original screenplay writer until he made New.
They always dissappoint…
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Lazy,
I guess complexity in memento was in its narration style (flow or structure of the scene’s), while the complexity (actually i shouldn’t go as far to call it complex it was more of a confusion) in kadhla kadhla was mostly at the story level in terms of how the characters interacted. Memento is more of an academic and trend setter (avant garde) movie because of its unique narrative style. I have heard that in most film schools its an obvious choice for case studies.
Ravi
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Yeah, I think Memento was some kind of a noir movie…
I thought it was absolutely fabulous…
I was also hoping Gajini would be original and would continue to take Tamil cinema in the direction Gautam Menon started off with Kakka Kakka… and was hoping for a slick action thriller
Going by what was mentioned in one of the earlier comments to your previous post, I think Murugadoss would end up with a masala flick and it might not really take Tamil films to a new level as one hopes….
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LG: So it all starts again! Remember AE and Amores Perros / City of God? 😀
Sincere request, vendame indha discussion! 🙂
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memento or whatever. the movie looks promising with that muscle power displayed on mount road (did someone see that ?).
didnt “Vetri Vizha” come earlier to all these movies. even that had our thalaivar loosing memory, and taking revenge with the help of clues in bits and pieces. memento should have been inspired by vetri vizha (just kidding).
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vetri vizha was copied from or as the slang goes “inspired by” bourne identity;the book came out in the 80s i think. Momento is a cult film bcos it was shown to the audience in a different manner than we were used to before.
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gajini can be a tamilized version of memeto. Not sure.
Anyhow the stills are very appealing and surya looks are awesome.
By the by somebody said vetri vizha. well it’s a bad movie copied from good movie/book borne identity.
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Some 1, Some 1 or the other always disappoints some 1. How’s that 😉
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//Memento is more of an academic and trend setter (avant garde) movie because of its unique narrative style. //
Ravi, Memento is defintive trend setter. My only worry is that it may not have reptitive audience as the interview claims. i’m finding it tough to agree that if there are many twists, the audience would come back to see it again. thats like decieving the audience and thats what I say ‘over-the-top’ movie.
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So they’re gonna ruin Memento this time?
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Lazy I diagree that Nolan twisted it too much. There is other ‘authentic’ way to tell Memento. Going backwards is the only way the audience knows exactly as much as the protagonist. It was more of a necessity than a gimmick. I can recall several poignant instances in ‘Memento’ that showcased Nolan’s sensitivity.
I dread Gajini (nice title don’t you think so ?).
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Though I loved Memento, I still think its got to do with the stupid thiruttu VCD kadai in the street corner making directors choose the wrong movies to get inspired from for a Tamil remake.
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From Memento alrite… but mm does Murugadoss has the capacity to do it rite?? Ramana was good .. really good… Dheena disappointed (me)… keeping my fingers crossed.. and hoping to see a nice movie!
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arent we jumping the gun already. All we know is that he has a memory loss and ppl have already assumed that it is a copy of momento. Y not “Lost highway”.That dealt with memory loss as well.Maybe its Harry potter. With just 1 bit of information, a movie is already being labeled as a wannabe. Give it some time guys.
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Sure Itend, the time is given. but then its a spontaneous burst. i know i shouldn’t be speculating here as anti sys. aayitha ezhuthu was screwed up becuase of such specualtion only.
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//the movie looks promising with that muscle power displayed on mount road//
Keerthi, So you actually saw gajini’s shoot. where in mount road was that.
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//vetri vizha was copied from or as the slang goes “inspired by” bourne identity;//
Itend, True. Bourne Identity was Robert Ludlum’s hit book. I think it had Matt damon featuring when it was made into a hollywood film couple of years back.
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Raghu, Vetri Vizha could have been better but for those times it was a slick action packed movie.
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//So they’re gonna ruin Memento this time?//
Raj, you truly ‘believe’ kollywood dude.
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//Lazy I diagree that Nolan twisted it too much. //
MSP, I am not getting into an argument on Nolan’s writing skills. i am just saying it was top notch but more than what a normal hollywood fan could enjoy. i agree it was a neccesity given the story.
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Maamu, every body is talented enough, except for the fact that constraints siphon off part of the talent and repalces the half with garbage.
Hope murugados doesn’t compromise on the screenplay and include 1 rain dance, 1 comedy track and a mother sentiment.
I would aprpeciate Bala in his efforts to break the mould.
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but there are just too much similarities between Memento and Ghajini.Surely, in the SunTv interview also, Murgadoss said that the narative style has been made different, and Surya also said that the narrative style is different for this movie. It was not made different, it was copied from Memento, and if you see the stills, Surya has words written on him, just like in Memento. Offcourse, Murgadoss must have done some change to the story to adapt to the tamil audience, hope it works out well in the end.
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Momento did it’s rounds as a indie movie a year before it was released as a main stream Hollywood movie. It has some amazing response in the indie fans just like “bend it like beckham” that they went main stream. It shows more people didnt think it was a over the top
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Guru,
Memento didn’t do that well in the box office.Most of the people discovered only when it was released in the video stores.But it went on to has become a cult classic.It is a very unique movie with a brilliant script.
Memento CANNOT be taken in its original version for tmail audience.For people who rejected virumandi as it was repeating,this movie would be too much to take.Iam sure there wont be much repeatitive scenes, but they will use some other technique to show the hero has short term memory loss.Well double action and 6 songs are already a proof that, it wont have much resemblence ot the original.
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Two brilliant aspects of memento are the narration style and the editing. They have aptly used the narration style to put the audience from the main character point of view and also have done the editing so well (which can make or break a great movie)
About Ghajini – I would care less if they have copied the same narration style (after all this movie has redefined the screenplay in the history of cinema). (and yes from the trailer i can see there are many similarities between the two movies already). What would be interesting to watch is how much of originality and creativity has been fit into this narration style (after all they got a very good team and these ppl are capable of doing it). Success simply depends on whether or not they succeeded in keeping the audience glued to the screen without getting them frustrated.
Having said that, if they just copied the same screenplay and same story its bound to be a flop for the very reason Lazy Geek said.
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SURY IS HAWTTTTT
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where the name “gajini” come from ?
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andagadivante nuvve ra
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UR ACTION IS SUPERB….@};-
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i want to speak with u and personally congratulate… ur action is simply superb …
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