Ghajini
Ghajini
Any views on Ghajini?...post-release, most common opinions we have encountered have been- too much violence to suit family audiences, and of course the length ( approx 3 hr 5 mins-running into 11 reels!). dont know why Anthony is being held responsible for its unwieldy length...I should think in MOST cases, a film's duration is really not the editor's call.
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Paramvir Singh
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Re: Ghajini
havent seen Ghajini yet, but you are right. the editor rarely has a say in the total duration of a film. its generally the producer + director and in certain cases some actors...
Re: Ghajini
Hey, Antara
The reason why people blame editors for the length of the film is because, actually, people are very unclear what exactly editors do. Something to do with cutting, right? So if it's too long, the editor didn't cut it enough!
I haven't seen Ghajini (the thought of someone getting a water tap smashed through his stomach is putting me off) so I can't comment on whether or not it's too long. But am interested, what did you all think when the process was on? Did Anthony feel it could have been shorter? Or was the first cut 4 hours and he managed to bring it down to 3?
Jabeen
The reason why people blame editors for the length of the film is because, actually, people are very unclear what exactly editors do. Something to do with cutting, right? So if it's too long, the editor didn't cut it enough!
I haven't seen Ghajini (the thought of someone getting a water tap smashed through his stomach is putting me off) so I can't comment on whether or not it's too long. But am interested, what did you all think when the process was on? Did Anthony feel it could have been shorter? Or was the first cut 4 hours and he managed to bring it down to 3?
Jabeen
Re: Ghajini
Hi Jabeen,
The original Ghajini (in Tamil) was approx 2 1/2 hours long and served as a template for the Hindi version. All the scenes from the Tamil have been retained in the Hindi. Thereafter, a song and a scene were added to the Hindi version and in addition to all this, an 'epilogue' to the film was also shot. So the total duration of three hours was quite expected.
Well, I had a chat with the first assistant editor Nishant who was on the project for two years to get a better perspective on what went on in the initial edit stages(the project as such was on for the past three years!). Any attempt to cut down on the length of the film only resulted in leaving out important information since the narrative itself follows a cause and effect chain. So veering away from the script in the edit stage was not possible without disrupting the storytelling. It was a collective decision to go with the current three hours duration.
Interestingly, for the Hindi version Anthony did not go through the traditional rough cut to first cut stage.He directly went to the first cut and then onto the second and final cut...since most of the cut-points (other than the new scenes and song) were identical to the Tamil version and hence pre-decided in that sense.
And you can go watch the film without getting completely grossed out since the tap-in-the-stomach shot has been trimmed considerably at the censors!!
The original Ghajini (in Tamil) was approx 2 1/2 hours long and served as a template for the Hindi version. All the scenes from the Tamil have been retained in the Hindi. Thereafter, a song and a scene were added to the Hindi version and in addition to all this, an 'epilogue' to the film was also shot. So the total duration of three hours was quite expected.
Well, I had a chat with the first assistant editor Nishant who was on the project for two years to get a better perspective on what went on in the initial edit stages(the project as such was on for the past three years!). Any attempt to cut down on the length of the film only resulted in leaving out important information since the narrative itself follows a cause and effect chain. So veering away from the script in the edit stage was not possible without disrupting the storytelling. It was a collective decision to go with the current three hours duration.
Interestingly, for the Hindi version Anthony did not go through the traditional rough cut to first cut stage.He directly went to the first cut and then onto the second and final cut...since most of the cut-points (other than the new scenes and song) were identical to the Tamil version and hence pre-decided in that sense.
And you can go watch the film without getting completely grossed out since the tap-in-the-stomach shot has been trimmed considerably at the censors!!