The
big
Christmas
release
ghajini
has
a
longer
story
to
tell
than
is
considered
healthy
for
the
multiplexes.
The
film's
playing
time
of
3
hours
makes
it
the
second-longest
film
of
2008
after
Ashutosh
Gowarikar's
Jodhaa
Akbar.
And
didn't
that
click?
"Precisely," avers
producers
Madhu
Mantena
who
also
co-produced
the
superhit
Tamil
version
of
ghajini
with
Allu
Arvind.
"It's
not
the
length.
It's
the
performance.
You
could
have
a
really
boring
two-hour
film.
On
the
other
hand,
you
could've
a
really
gripping
film
that's
three
hours
long."
ghajini
would
have
been
lengthier
by
at
least
5
minutes.
"We
were
thinking
of
adding
theatrical
trailers
to
the
feature.
That
would've
added
5
minutes
extra
to
the
playing-
time
and
good
30
minutes
lost
during
the
day
at
the
multiplexes,"
explains
Madhu
and
refutes
the
charge
that
the
film
is
ultra-violent.
"It's
not
a
tale
of
violence.
It's
a
tale
of
retribution.
And
at
the
moment
after
26/11
everyone
wants
answers.
Films
about
retribution
are
always
liked."
As
for
the
charge
that
ghajini
is
a
remake
of
Christopher
Nolan's
Memento,
Madhu
says,
"There
are
other
Hollywood
films
on
same
theme
of
short-term
memory
loss
like
Finding
Nemo
and
50
First
Dates.
So
why
single
out
Memento?"
Ah,
fool
proof
method
of
avoiding
copyright
litigation.
Story first published: Thursday, December 18, 2008, 12:44 [IST]