Thakrey and party should go and see the movie to know that every one who professes a faith different from theirs does not mean to harm their motherland.
Karan Johar matures from glossy love stories to My Name is Khan. He was often quoted saying that he draws his characters from the world around him. In this movie, however he has done this with a difference. The new genre of Hindi films from Rocket Singh to 3 Idiots and now this one makes one proud. The goodness in life is celebrated. A strong faith is professed that one can lead a nice life on the values one was taught in school but that seem to get lost in the process of growing up. When Rizwan Khan lives by the basic principle taught to him by his mother as a kid- there are two kinds of men in this world good and bad- he makes us believe in it too. Religion and region do not divide the divine and the evil. The movie covers a wide range from the Ayodhya Hindu Muslim riots to the hurricanes in Georgia and that give an impression of a stretched length. However one is glad to glance at the watch and realize that it had all been accomplished in the good old three hour Bollywood format.
Zarina Wahab effortlessly comes across as the moralistic happy mother who instills in her son, the basic respect for all good men. From his fist teacher being a Parsi to his loving friends being Negro Americans, Rizwan learns to draw beyond the barriers that divide most of the world. The protagonist suffers from Asperger Syndrome which justifies his obsession for what he sets to do. This was a clever move, as no ‘so called normal’ man would go as far to prove his point. We, in the process of being normal get characterized by obstacles within us that stop us from giving unconditional love and truth. Rizwan donates for church dinners “Keep it for those who are not Christians in Africa” when refused on account of not being a Christian. He marries purely out of love and lives to spread it unconditionally.
Kajol’s infectious laughter is used brilliantly to characterize her. She tackles life effortlessly loving its beautiful parts and forgetting the ugly ones. However, her character seems a little flawed in demonstrating what she does in the later half of the movie. From love she turns to pure hatred. Suffering from loss of a loved one is capable of mealting any one, yet breaking seven years of trusted marriage seemed over dramatic. The backdrop of shifted opinions and views owing to the 9/11 has been brilliantly used to get the point across.
Khan gets stabbed by a fanatic, rounded by the FBI, deserted by his wife, robbed off his child for his surname yet he brilliantly distributes and reciprocates love. He follows his faith to the point of remarking “Namaz is not read seeing the situation and the people, it is read considering the faith.” When he says he does not understand the world as people don’t always mean what they say, he hardly realizes this is what gives him conviction to follow his heart.
Comedy and romance get imbibed in the “marry me” episode with brilliant back ground scores. From Wadia to Big Mama and Funny John, from Haseena to Mandira, from Rees to Samir, from Ammi to Obama, every one strengthens your faith in the Good human kind even though the likes of Dr. Faisal Rahman try to shake it. Shankar Ehsan Loy have come up with a brilliant background score equally matched by the lyrics from Niranjan Iyengar. The crisp editing is especially visible in the flood scene and the romantic morning scene of San Francisco that is enthralling enough for Mandira to say yes. Shibani Bathija has penned some memorable dialogues wiyh the “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist” becoming almost an anthem for the cinegoers.
Out and out a purposeful well directed movie which well deserved the huge hype that surrounded. Karan Johar is brilliant at promoting his films and the whole controversy did him good. When Dhamra Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment come together with Fox Searchlight Distributors, the Berlin film festival promotion had to generate the media coverage that it did. Needless to say, after watching the film, one does not feel that all the publicity has gone for a waste. It is well worth the audience it drew to the theaters.
