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My Name Is Khan Movie Review
Director Karan Johar is in unfamiliar territory here. No candyfloss romance, no sweet nothings, nobody breaking into song. Just the super intelligent Rizwan, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, his halting voice with his inability to communicate, and his many relationships – with his mother, his brother, and yes, Mandira, and her son Sam. Move over Rahul, Rizwan is here. Shah Rukh makes the transition from the eternal romantic to the intense Rizwan who finds love and loses it some years later when his Khan identity becomes all important in a tense, suspicious America. You sit through three hours waiting to get a glimpse of Shah Rukh through Rizwan Khan, but it doesn’t happen. So, Rizwan is attracted to machines, and pebbles. He is loving, caring but cannot express it. He hates a hug, and times sexual intercourse--'Can we have sex, please?'. He feels passion but cannot express it. He is good at facts and figures, and handling and repairing any kind of machine. And, bright colours and loud sounds freak him out. My Name is Khan begins with Rizwan looking over the President Bush's itinerary. He wants to meet Mr President and tell him, "My Name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist". Rizwan starts his journey to Washinton, D.C., but becomes a terror suspect in the beginning itself. As a child in Mumbai, India, Rizwan (played superbly by Tanay Chheda) loses his father early and is nurtured by his mother (Zarina Wahab) who recognises his special talent along with his Parsi teacher Wadia. But amidst all this, Rizwan’s younger brother Zakir (Jimmy Shergill) feels left out, and he moves to the US as soon as he turns 18. After a few years, he calls Rizwan to stay with him and his wife (played effectively by Sonya Jehan) and work as a salesman for his company. A genius with machines should have been channeled in the appropriate direction, but Rizwan ends up being a salesman. But it is while selling beauty products that he meets future wife Mandira Rathod (Kajol) who is a single mom with a six-year-old boy Sameer (Yuwaan Makaar). After a few cute moments together, Mandira and Rizwan get hitched. She is now Mandira Khan and her son, Sameer Khan. And then, 9/11 happens. Attitudes towards Muslims and anybody with a beard and turban change. The film does make you cringe at the thought of being in a situation like countless Muslims and Sikhs have been because of their appearance and/or surname. It is this essential humanism that carries Rizwan through from Mumbai to San Francisco where his brother stays, then to the suburb of Banville where he moves in with Mandira and Sam, and even when he is taken to be a terror suspect. Sam, his ‘only best friend’, is subjected to a vicious race attack because he takes on Rizwan’s surname. Mandira hits back, saying that the worst thing she could have done was marry a Khan and Rizwan is out on the roads – unable to articulate his feelings but backpacking his way across the US to meet ‘president sahib’ so he can tell him: ‘My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist.’ It is a road journey through a troubled post 9/11 America towards humanism and the essential goodness of the human spirit. This is a US where chanting the name of Allah gets you into trouble, where the word terrorist and Khan in conjunction can put you behind bars. Rizwan moves from being a terror suspect to a nationwide hero who exposes a terror mastermind. And then, the man with the mission who travels to Wilhelmina that is literally drowning in a hurricane to supervise a heroic rescue mission. There’s Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush and Obama too. The US’ first African American president is voted in and, in that final feel good moment Rizwan meets him in front of thousands of people and his goodness is validated. Plenty of great one liners. When he is refused entry into a presidential fundraiser for the poor in Africa that is only for Christians, he leaves behind $500 saying: ‘This if for those who are not Christians in Africa.’ The music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is superb. This is not a film without flaws, it is at least 20 minutes too long for one and flags in the pre-interval period, but here is one straight from the heart. It has a message, in these days of tensions over language and religion, one which needs to be heard. For Karan Johar, the film is another step in the direction he has been charting since KANK and with his recent productions — of giving audiences their fill of escapism, but finding a way to experiment within the minimum space his entertainers allow him. He may not be there yet, but in MNIK, Johar shows sparks of the brilliance he displayed with his first cinematic effort, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which remains a personal favourite from the director’s stable. Hopefully, he will better even that soon. C’mon KJo, let’s have a sappy romantic comedy — melodrama, music, family values, et al — next. Others can worry about social issues. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Many people find Bhagra songs more entertaining than Hindi songs but Remix songs are also quite popular nowdays. |
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