Watching My Name is Khan is like being kicked in the stomach, punched in the face, wrung by the neck, armlocked, headlocked and bent over backwards. All at once. But there are some moments of reprieve too, especially in the first part of the film, moments cruelly tender, as we are circled and rounded and primed for the double, triple whammy that's about to hit us. Yes, My Name is Khan is ALOT to take in in one cinema sitting and in my opinion, almost thirty minutes too long.
I love Karan Johar's ambitiousness, Kajol's amazing black eyes and the way she slips so effortlessly into the mature romance thing. Shah Rukh Khan has been redeemed in my eyes after Om Shanti Om (yes, i have just barely forgiven him for the rebirth and yes, I do hold long grudges). The India of Khan's childhood is real and immediate; the autistic boy's backstory is delivered efficiently, economically and with alot of empathy. Great start.
Moving on to 'lover meets fatherless boy', I was preparing to cringe and silently pleading with Johar not to make it a Kuch na Kaho type sickly sweet instant-best-buddies-soup relationship. And congratulations to him, the rapport that builds up between the two is kept endearingly down-to-earth. Much later in the story, Khan does go on to call the boy his best friend, but that's more upon reflection on the character's part rather than any preconception on the directors'. As viewers, our intellect is held in some regard, at last.
Cleverly, we are lulled into a suburbian bliss- school runs, soccer practice, marital banter, birthday parties and dinner at the neighbour's. All this ofcourse, so the big blow truly leaves us fighting for breath at the same time as wiping off unashamed tears in the darkness of the cinema. From here, the plot turns into a bit of a mission. Infact, a big mission, as the austistic Khan sets out to meet the president of the United States.
It's not Johar's fault. Doing a film on the twin tower attacks, life in post 9/11 America; touching on the following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hijab, beards, power of the media, hurricanes, treatment of African Americans by their government, all thrown in with an inter-religious marriage and a little-understood disability like Austism is like trying to contain several genies in one bottle. Perhaps, Johar believes that the Indian cinema audience doesn't find it their money's worth if it's not BIG. Or may be, that's just his style. But in the second half, the plot kind of lost its tightness and in a way, it's hold on reality.
Infact, it got to a point where I felt like I was watching several little films in one. In particular, the episode of Khan's return to hurricane-hit Georgia was too obvious as a plot device to give him something of the underdog hero status in the public eye. In other words, it interrupted the momentum and just felt contrived. The arrival of his relatives and a whole other group trawling water and carrying boxes of aid over their head had me groaning out loud. My husband, ever conscious of making the slightest noise in the cinema, had to elbow me. But I caught him shaking his head too.
Here on, everything just felt like the means to an end. An end that definitely should not have included a fake Obama. That made it impossible for me to suspend my disbelief, in other words, think of the story as anything but that. Why did Khan have to meet the president? I feel that Johar did enough to open Mandira's eyes to her love for Khan and in the process, drum in the message of love over hate/peace over war that he had set out to deliver. Rizwan Khan didn't need to see the president. It could just have been a symbolic goal.
But no, Johar couldn't resist the drama. And perhaps, it's the cynical old me who thinks it was totally unnecessary. But for me, it diluted the strength of the message and the amount of fun.
Do I think the Shahrukh/Kajol/Karan Johar trio did a good job? I think they did a fantastic job in entertaining us. However, My Name is Khan is no Forrest Gump, as I heard someone claim. For that, Johar would need a tighter grip and sharper focus on his plot than he managed this time round.
Let's wait and see what he does with the next big one...
Value for money? 8/10
0 comments:
Post a Comment