Film Review - My Name Is Khan

Well my friend Aditya Tibrewala is very good at writing reviews and has been posting quite a few on his blog but since I love SRK and this film touched me, I could least restrain myself from the enticement of writing my own review.

Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan), suffering from a disorder, leaves India to settle with his brother (Jimmy Shergill) in San Francisco after his beloved mother’s (Zarina Wahab) death who taught him that there are two kind of people in the world, good and bad, and they do not have a religion. Unaware about his disorder’s precise details, Khan’s sister-in-law (Sonia Jehan) finds out the reason behind his plight and discovers that he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a state of Autism, in which the patient has a disorder of neural development characterised by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and recurring behaviour. He cannot tolerate loud sounds, and gets startled on seeing strong yellows. Rizwan works as a salesman for his brother’s company selling beauty products and comes across a salon employee and single mother, Mandira (Kajol Devgn), to whom he tries to sell the products with great honesty and inherent innocence. Mandira and Khan fall in love with each other, and the mother and son duo accept Khan with his ailment with open arms. The 9/11 debacle shatters the state of Muslims in the US. Inevitably, an unfortunate event occurs in the life of the Khan family and thus Khan sets out on a journey to meet the President. During his entire journey he meets some evil and some good people. The essence of the film is that despite suffering from a disorder it seems that Khan is saner than others, that goodness always prevails over the bad.

Story & Screenplay: First things first, the story seems to be clichéd and boring with a handicapped protagonist and the 9/11 backdrop, however the treatment of this film is entirely different than what other Indian films of this genre have been like. Shibani Bathija’s script has allegorical references and balanced characters. The entire Wilhelmina sequence in Georgia is written well (except for the rescue scene), and SRK’s character is well sketched.

Direction: Karan Johar has gone a step further than his usual style of storytelling which involves a heavy dose of romance, dance, songs and melodrama, most of which is missing in this one. He is triumphant in this attempt to make serious cinema. There are several sequences that he has taken care of perfectly well, especially Wilhelmina. You shall not say this is a signature Karan Johar film except for the hurricane rescue sequence. He has used his actors perfectly well and has got the best out of the Shahrukh-Kajol pair. KJo’s love for the USA is pretty evident through fine detailing.

Acting: Well what can I say about SRK! This perhaps is Shah Rukh Khan’s best performance till date and deserves a standing ovation simply because of his effortless work; believe me I am not being opinionated and biased. You may quite forget that it is the country’s number one superstar in front of your eyes. He without doubt manages to make you believe that he suffers from Autism. The sequence where he first introduces himself to Kajol, the monologue in the church in Wilhelmina and the interaction with Jimmy Shergill outside his house, are astonishingly performed. Hats off to him.

Kajol is in top form again. She has played her part exactly as one should and has supported Shah Rukh’s character quite well. One cannot challenge this Jodi in any way. The chemistry, romance and friendship between the two is all subtle and mesmerising.

Others like Jimmy Shergill, Sonia Jehan, Zarina Wahab, Parvin Dabbas, Tanay Chheda (younger Khan) and Yuvaan Makaar (Kajol’s son) are all impressive. The rest of the cast, both Asian and American have all done justice to their roles. Thus the acting department is top notch.

Cinematography: Ravi Chandran has shot this film magnificently. He has made everything look beautiful and pleasing. The interior scenes in Borivali are notably lit well along with hurricane and rain sequences in America.

Music: Well there is not much that can be said about Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy’s music. They have done an okay job with the film and the 3 songs. However, the Khan theme that keeps playing several times in the film is superb as is Sajda. You would not stop humming it. The background score is also fine.

All the other departments including Editing have done the job well and are in sync with the film.

Key Points

1. This film is not meant for those who look for hardcore entertainment in each scene. It is a sensible and straight forward serious film that principally caters to an international audience. The film’s graph, style and storytelling are perfectly fit for any successful Hollywood flick of this genre thus the conventional Indian audience might not completely identify with it.
2. As I told my family 11 months back, SRK shall sweep all the top awards next year for his performance in MNIK. You shall be compelled to love him in this film. The film belongs to him and he has indeed raised the bar.
3. For all those who like to draw comparisons, SRK’s performance is better than Aamir’s in 3 Idiots, simply because of the kind of role he plays, and that of Amitabh Bachchan’s in Paa, because as Mr. Bachchan himself said he could emote easily under the blanket of makeup whereas SRK did not have anything to hide his face under and could have got caught had he not performed this well.

I would not overrate this film as many have done by giving 5 on 5 but I give it 4/5 primarily because of the mindboggling performance by Shah Rukh and the honest and striving attempt to make serious cinema that has a larger audience cover. Catch it even if you are not a Shah Rukh fan because this one might just turn you into one.

X, Y and I.

X: Hey waddup chic? How’s life?

A girl dressed in a low neck top and jeans(Y) gets up from her chair, hugs the other girl in short spaghetti(X). They adjust themselves at the table.

Y: What took u so long?

X: A MotherF***** rammed into ma car. I went back home n drove here in mum’s Swift.

Y: Oh! You called the police?

X: Nope. I got da guy’s numba. Dad’s gonna screw his case.

Y: Ok. So, how’s everything? College and classes?

X: College? Wat’s dat? Bloody professors f*** ma brains ol da time. Same is da case wid da class fellas, total waste of time.

Y: And your guy?

X: Don ask, dat b******’s carryin on wid some oder chic. U know da gal from his gym I told ya about. He doesn’t know dat b**** had 4 guys before him. HAHAHAHA. (Laughs rather mockingly) Chuck it now. Where’s da hookah?

Y: Orange n mint, I asked the guy to get it. Hey where did you get that purse from?

X: Mango! Sale’s on.

Y: B****, you went without me.

X: Went with mum. Got 3 tees, 2 capes n a dress. And yeah, got this purse n a rockin’ pair of boots.

Y: But that’s too much. You got a couple of dresses from Saamsara last week, didn’t ya? Your old man must be pulling his hair out.

X: Not possible, he’s already lost all his hair. HAHAHAHA. Neways, Dolly n guys are going to Prive. She asked me too, you comin?

Y: No re, my dad’s gonna kill me. I reached home last Saturday, all drunk, at 2 a.m.

X: Arrey, so what? Tell him we’re havin a sleepover.

Y: Yeah I’ll try. BTW, here’s the f***** hookah. You’ve got light?

Y removes a cigarette from her purse and X removes a lighter.

Y: You gave up smoke, so where’d you get the lighter from?

X: It’s Abhi’s.

Y: Ohhhhhhhhh, Romeo’s souvenir. HAHAHAHAH

The waiter gets the hookah, and in some time also gets a plate full of French fries.

X: Arrey! You ordered fries? We’ve got Syra’s party comin up.

She blows a few rings with the hookah smoke and Y throws away the cigarette.

Y: Forget it. Don’t look now! That guy in black, sitting diagonally left is staring since long.

X turns around after 5 seconds, looks in the direction that Y mentioned and then turns back.

X: Handsome guy!

Y: Way better than Abhi. You wanna talk to him?

X: Nah, forget. Ma BB’s (BlackBerry) all screwed.

Y: Don’t change the topic, you liked him na?

X: Forget it!

Y: Hey, why you crying? S***, remembered him again?

X: Hmm.

Y: Arrey you’re nuts to cry for him. He left you for that b****.

X wipes a tear. ‘But I love him’.

Y: Gosh, what’s wrong with you? Wait I’ll take a pikcha. Will upload it on FB and tag you. Let people comment. Smile now, come on.

She takes a picture of her trying to smile.

Y: Chal, let’s finish the hookah and go to my place. We’ve got to get ready for Prive.

X adjusts her spaghetti straps and goes to the loo, while Y removes some currency notes and stacks them away under the tissue paper stand. X comes back from the washroom, hugs her friend and they both walk away smiling as guys on the left table stare their backs.

You might be wondering what all this talk is about. This is not a single experience but it is a sum total of the kind of conversations that I have come across in actuality during my recent visits to the so called ‘happening’ places. Thus, I have not named the characters because this chatter is not limited to certain individuals and groups. I have observed this is a common demeanour. Of course the degrees vary from an individual to another; just like there is a difference of behaviour, preferences, way of speaking, and thoughts, between X and Y.

The concerning issue here is that girls and women today behave in the way X and Y have. This is appalling, especially when they come from fine families and are educated in the best schools. The F word has now become an integral part of the lingo. Dating, two timing, smoking, drinking, flirting, not caring about what parents do and think, is quite frequent now. Not that enjoying is crime, but one should exercise caution. No no no, don’t think I am prejudiced; my female friends will vouch for me regarding the same. It is just that I am apprehensive about the Gen X. Then again, not all are the same but majority are detouring, may be because of peer pressure. Rest are alienated with ‘uncool’ and ‘behenji’ tags.

Moms at home remain convinced that their daughters do not indulge in vices of any kind. Fathers who sit in their offices, neck deep among all other tensions think greatly and intensely of their beloved daughters and their future. The harrowing influences of such behaviour on parents can be ghastly. Besides, women of this kind, who are supposed to raise the future generation, shall do no good to their own kids.

I am not trying to preach, but historically, Indian women have always been idols of sanctity and have preserved their grace and dignity. I mean why is that women have transformed, especially Indian women. No doubt we belong to a globalised civilization, and things are rapidly altering, but we men have remained unchanged; we were always dogs and still remain to be (barring a few of course). The problem is women (who according to me possess far more superior qualities and strengths, and are capable of changing men for good) have themselves changed for bad. Thus the future seems murky.

Think over girls, and guys too. Just what I have observed, correct me please if I’m wrong. Wrote this not to show women in a bad light but because I love and respect them, and am too worried.