'My Name Is Khan' is handshake between India and the West

Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and Karan Johar got a hysterical red-carpet welcome and a rousing reception for the screening of My Name Is Khan at the Berlinale Palast at the Berlin International Film  Festival on Friday night.

Hundreds of German fans jammed the avenues leading to the Palast in -6ºC and snow to catch a glimpse of the stars.

The film is a love story, with Shah Rukh Khan presenting the Muslim point of view after 9/11, and is being distributed by Hollywood giant 20th Century Fox worldwide.

Bollywood already has a loyal core fan base in Germany and Europe. Moreover, Germany has a significant population of Muslims, including immigrants from Turkey, Iran, and other Islamic nations, so there is a high level of interest in the film.

“My Name Is Khan is an important handshake between the Indian film industry and the Western world,” said Uli Gaulke, German film-maker and a fan of Hindi films, whose feature-length documentary Leinwandfieber (Comrades In Dreams) was shot in Satara, India, and nominated for the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

“It is the first film that tries to force a discussion on the very important topic of terrorism post-9/11, and the Muslim point of view on it, in the US and the rest of the world," said Gaulke. "And to carry this discussion through the very famous Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan is very good and an important move.”

Gaulke, who was at the Berlinale premiere of My Name Is Khan, was earlier also happy to be swept up by the infectious energy of Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om and danced joyously in the Kino International Theatre in Berlin where the film premiered at the Berlin film festival in 2008.

“The decision of Hollywood’s 20th Century Fox to back My Name Is Khan is connected to many larger issues,” Gaulke continued. “It clearly  wants to open up the discussion on the Muslim point of view post-9/11.

"But it is also connected to the new leadership of a black president in America, and the connection Hollywood wants to make with India as a growing socio-economic power, whose images of Bollywood influence the Western world.”

Commenting on the German response at the premiere, he said, “Germany  is a very multi-cultural society that includes Muslims, so there is an audience for this film in our big cities, and it is an opportunity to open the discussion here in Germany.

"Initially, the audience may have been disappointed that there was no dancing in a Bollywood film, but the film more than makes up with its intense drama. It is the first time I am seeing a Bollywood film with dramatic storytelling that is nearer our own Western cinematic tradition. It is wonderful how the story develops, linking the Hindu-Muslim problem in India to the larger issue of Muslims after 9/11.”

The film opens in German theatres in May. Said Karan Johar in an exclusive interview before the Berlin premiere, “I’m very excited to be at the Berlin film festival in the official selection. Germans love Shah Rukh Khan as well as our commercial films, and he ‘is’ the film.”

Explaining the intention behind the film, Johar said, “I wanted to give humanity a voice and religion a platform. Every religion has
beautiful things to say. Shah Rukh has talked to me so much about this, and there are books that say amazing things. I thought, why not put it into a narrative with an emotional heart? So Rizvan Khan actually lives the teachings of religions.”

Did the film expect to do good business worldwide, but especially in Islamic nations? Johar said, “The story is connected with Islam, but thanks to Fox, it is a wide-spectrum release. It had a world premiere in Dubai, and will screen in the Middle East, including Egypt, where we have ordered 30 more prints than usual. In the UK, it had the highest opening ever, taking in £1,23,000 in just one day, even more than 3 Idiots, which took £1,21,000 in two days.”

Said Shah Rukh Khan, “Yesterday, a German told me My Name Is Khan is naïve. But that is the most beautiful part of the film. When we are children, we are innocent. We are taught inherent goodness by our parents, about loving your fellow beings. As we grow older, we become more complex and complicated. My character’s simplicity is untouched by these complications, and that takes him to a higher plane.”

Jutta Hausler, 50, a German housewife and mother, was on a higher plane just being in the vicinity of her favourite film star. She had come all the way from Hanover for the Berlin premiere along with her son Sven, 32, an engineer in the German Navy.

Hausler was completely unashamed to stand on the pavement in the snow, along with the other giggling teenage fans of Shah Rukh Khan outside his hotel in Berlin, and squealed with excitement when she caught a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan in the lobby through the glass revolving doors.

“I love Shah Rukh Khan," she said. "He is a natural actor, true to himself and others, and honest. I have seen all his movies, including Don, Swades, and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

"I love Bollywood films because they are bigger, they are about love and families — and life as it is,” she said. Prost to that!

Meenakshi Shedde is India consultant to the Berlin film festival and curator to film festivals worldwide.