The film was remade from AR Murugadoss’ Tamil thriller Ghajini (2005), featuring Surya in the lead, with the last 20 mins rewritten in consultation with Aamir
The film was inspired by Christopher Nolan’s Memento, about a man with anterograde amnesia (short-term memory loss). The plot revolves around the man’s search for his wife’s killerNolan was supposedly upset over not being compensated for the remake. However, the matter was later sorted outIt was Surya who convinced Aamir to star in the Hindi remakeAamir insisted that South star Asin, who appeared in the Tamil film, also do the Hindi versionThe producers initially wanted Priyanka Chopra for Kalpana’s part. However, on Aamir’s urging, Asin was castSalman Khan was reportedly approached for the film but he had declined.The film was marketed on Aamir’s drastic transformation and ‘8 pack’ absThe actor trained for 4-5 hours every day for 13 months. His diet comprised ‘40 percent carbohydrates, 40 percent protein and 20 percent fat’Aamir was trained by leading fitness expert Satyajit ChaurasiaThe actor’s gashed headshot popularized the ‘Ghajini cut’ hairstyle. Barbers across India went to workKonkona Sen Sharma was attached to play Sunita. She was later replaced by Jiah KhanGhajini is one of the rare Hindi films named for the antagonist. Another example is Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra. One (2011)The title is a reference to Mahmud of Ghazni, whose name is pronounced as ‘Ghajini’ in the Tamil originalThe phone number tattooed on Aamir’s body turned out to be the actual number of a person, leading to incessant calls and harassmentGhajini was the first Hindi film to get ‘A’ certificate solely for violence and not sexual contentAditya Pancholi was approached to play Ghajini but rejected it. The role was essayed by Pradeep RawatAamir and Pradeep Rawat had worked together in Lagaan (2001)The climax of Ghajini was shot in Old City, Hyderabad. Filming mainly took place in Mumbai, Bangalore, Cape Town and Deadpan DesertWith an estimated 1500 prints worldwide, Ghajini was the biggest opening for a Bollywood film at the timeReleased on Christmas, Ghajini became the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time. The record wasn’t surpassed until (Aamir’s own) 3 IdiotsGhajini was the first Hindi film to cross 100 crore at the box office, creating the accursed ‘100 crore club’Aamir’s character was reprised in the PC video-game Ghajini – The GameThe film won three Filmfare awards: Best Female Debut (Asin), Best Action and RD Burman award for New Music Talent (Benny Dayal)Some of the comic scenes were borrowed from the 1951 British musical Happy Go LovelyThe scene where Kalpana helps a blind man cross the street was taken from Amélie (2001)Besides Ghajini, Jiah Khan had appeared in Nishabd (2007) and Housefull (2010). The actor died at 25 in 2013