My Name Is Khan
Director: Karan Johar
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Jimmy Shergill, Sonya Jehan
Rating: ****1/2
My Name Is Khan makes two strong statements…
The first: BC and AD are designations used to label years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. There’s a third designation now — 9/11.
Post September 11, the world stands divided. Terrorist outfits continue to strike in the name of religion and the common man, not even remotely associated with these groups, is bearing the brunt. The world is not a safe place anymore.
The second statement: There’re two sets of people in this world - the good and the bad. No matter how strong the evil forces are, good always triumphs.
My Name Is Khan mirrors the era we live in. Not a day goes by when you haven’t heard or read or watched news of terror attacks and innocents being killed. The movie strongly states not all Muslims are terrorists.
Karan Johar’s cinema got more real from Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna onwards. In My Name is Khan, the storyteller attempts to make a social statement and succeeds completely. At the same time, it takes no sides.
Karan’s take on the issue deserves the highest praise, since a subject like this is difficult to attempt. Final word? My Name Is Khan is Karan, SRK and Kajol’s best outing to date. Do I need to add anything?
Let me alert you. The story unfolds feverishly from the very start itself. So if you miss a scene or two, chances are you would’ve missed some vital links in the story. The fact is that there’s too much happening in the first half. Although the narrative tends to get leisurely-paced at times, the wheels continue to move from one episode to another.
A number of sequences are endearing. For instance, the romance between SRK and Kajol is subtle, yet charming. But it’s SRK’s relationship with Kajol and their kid that’s one of the best parts of the movie. Your heart bleeds when an accident occurs and their lives are torn apart.
My Name Is Khan’s strength lies in the fact that you root for Khan all through. At the same time, you are weighed down when he’s in a vulnerable situation, especially when he’s labelled a terrorist and thrown behind bars. You don’t realise it, but the fact is that you, as a spectator, have already got entwined in Rizvan and Mandira’s lives.
There’s just one word to illustrate Karan’s direction — exemplary. One of the finest storytellers of our generation, he deserves brownie points for deviating from the ‘Karan Johar brand of cinema’ and attempting a film that knocks on your heart and stimulates your mind.
SRK, well, how does one describe his performance? To state that this is his best work so far would be cutting short the praise he truly deserves. In fact, no amount of praise can do sufficient justice to his portrayal of Rizvan Khan. The only compliment that I can think of is that SRK has a new screen-name now. Raj is passe, Rizvan it is.
Kajol is pure dynamite and casting her for this character was the most appropriate decision. No other actress could’ve matched SRK in histrionics the way Kajol has.
My Name Is Khan is a fascinating love story, has an angle of religion and a world-shaking incident as a backdrop.
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