MY NAME IS KHAN

I haven't seen a Shahrukh movie on screen for 2 years, the last one being the overly successful Chak de India in 2008 I think. However, it needs to be noted that this is not only because I can no longer cajol or force Husna or Zaid to watch with me, it's also because with the decrease in movie-goers' interest in Hindi films, less and less cineplexes show them now.

Therefore, it is somewhat of a personal triumph that I have managed to watch My Name Is Khan twice within five days of its worlwide release. Plus, I went with different people for both showing, and at different cinemas!! I rock, like Shahrock.. Hahaha.. Anyway, what made this film special are:

1. It's a Karan Johar project..!

2. The legendary pairing of Shah Rukh and Kajol..!!

3. It's a Shahrukh movie for crying out loud..!!!

The premise of the movie is simple enough. An autistic Muslim man is on a journey to see the President of the United States of America. You get to know why as the story unveils. The movie shows the after effects of the 9/11 tragedy, more so on the sufferings of the Muslim community after the collapse of the twin tower. It was really a shock for me in the scene where a husband asked his wife to remove her hijab in order to ensure her safety in public. Sikhs also had to remove their turbans in order not to be confused with Afghans. In some ways, it goes to show that no matter how technologically developed you are, people can be blind when it comes to well, people.

The chemistry between Shahrukh and Kajol is definitely palpable in MNIK, but not in huge gooey dollops like in KKHH or even K3G. As Shahrukh plays an autistic man (but sometimes a very playful, cute one) his expressions are limited but he portrays Rizwan beautifully. Still, I love scenes between them, and Kajol's entry totally lifted the first hour of the movie. I may be biased but Shahrukh seriously deserves a Best Actor Award for this. I could only see glimpses of Shahrukh in Rizwan, reflecting his immersion into the character so completely that he almost disappears. Rizwan's courting of Mandira is too cute, and how he is accepted by her and her son was definitely smile-inducing.

If I have one negative about MNIK is that it revels in its secularity (is that a word?), almost always stressing the similarities of different religions and basically the uniformity of human kind in that we are all the same, just that our beliefs may be different. Good people do good things, bad people do bad things and no other difference. Oh!! And being a KJo film, it is kinda cheesy and may require some leaving your brain at the front door. Like, how could the news crew find the little village in Wilhemina and what was the deal with this Dr. Rehman? And one more thing, (from all the years of CSI-viewing, ehem...) I think there would've been some epithelial on Sam's body and some sort of footprint of his attackers. If not, didn't the rest of the soccer team realize that only Sam and Reese were the only ones left on the field on that day? And Karan, not everybody in the South talks with the volume turned waaaay loud and aside from his interactions with Mama Jenny and Joel, Rizwan doesn't even talk to the other villagers in Wilhemina.

The message that I take from MNIK is it is better to LOVE and go on rather than being stuck on HATE. Because when you LOVE you open up the possibilities and although it still hurts, the wound will eventually heal. Who knows, you might even achieve the impossible if you just LOVE.