MY NAME IS KHAN Film Review

'My Name is Khan' is Dharma Productions latest blockbuster, featuring "Shahjol", who all audiences were impatient to watch together once again. The film tells the touching story of a Muslim, Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), who is all but a terrorist. It searches to portray his life with Hindu Mandira (Kajol) and her son Sameer. The story concentrates on the change that took place in Western mentalities regarding the Muslim community after the tragic events of 9/11.

The film's first part is enjoyable. The very beginning concentrates on Rizwan's childhood, featuring an excellent performance by Tanay Chheda. The story, plot and acting are bang on. Spectators are slowly pulled into what seems like a well worked independent film. The mood changes though as an adult Rizwan appears and the film begins to have a feel that is more characteristic of big Hindi film productions.

All in all, MNIK is a good entertainer. Shah Rukh Khan is endearing in a role in which his subdued charm plays its magic without him having to act as the conventional and flamboyant romantic hero, delivering what could be considered as his best performance since 'Chak De India!'. Kajol lights up the screen with her sunny presence. She is masterful in her role and her chemistry with her fellow lead actor is palpable.

The sole faults of MNIK if there are any to be pointed out, are that director Karan Johar had much to say and it is difficult to fit it all into one film (the Wilhemina hurricane sequences are in my honest opinion partly off the subject). It also has a certain repetitiveness and several incongruencies in its script that might keep the film from becoming an all out international entertainer, which is sad, because the message that the film carries is worthy of being heard by all audiences.

Script tightness is often a sure bet with foreign audiences. Despite having roped in Syd Field* as a screenplay consultant, the film's inconsistencies and shortcuts appear blatant. Why is the main character shown going through USA immigration if he has never left the country in search of his goal: speaking to the President of the United States? Why is Shah Rukh Khan acting mentally challenged in some sequences when he clearly only has Aspergers syndrome? Why is the passing away of one of the characters labelled as a racial crime if no racial slurs are heard when he is being agressed? Why is so much emphasis placed on the name Khan, if the name is irrelevant to anyone in America? Indeed, seldom any American would be able to make a difference between Khan and Khanna, not knowing that the first is bound to be the name of a person of Muslim confession.

To its merit, MNIK depicts Westerners in a more positive light than most Hindi films, even though it legitimately concentrates on pointing a finger at the West's darkest and most irrational fears regarding Muslim culture.

Karan Johar has been labelled as a universalist by some or as being in love with America by others. MNIK is his noble attempt to say that his love of all cultures will not keep him from expressing constructive criticism. The film is a fine entertainer, in large part due to its cast and suitable music, as well as many memorable moments in the script in which the director skillfully tugs at the heart's strings, making the audience sing, laugh or weep.

What is important to take home from the cinema hall is that all of us belong to humanity and are equal. All of us deserve love and respect. A positive moral for an endearing story.

Directed by Karan Johar

Writing credits:
Shibani Bathija (story and screenplay)
Niranjan Iyengar (dialogue)


Cast
Shahrukh Khan ... Rizwan Khan
Kajol ... Mandira
Steffany Huckaby ... Kathy Baker
Tanay Chheda ... Rizwan Khan as a child

* Syd Field is a renowned counselor in screenplay writing and has written several succesful books on the subject.
 
I would like to thank Joanna, who is a special needs specialist, for providing information on Aspergers syndrome, allowing us to understand Rizwan's character better.

VEER - A Bolly-dream of another age

A much talked about and awaited film, 'Veer', despite Salman Khan's effort and involvement, tends to leave the audience exhausted after what seems like a wild and incongruous ride in a time machine.

Take films like 'Pirates of the Caribbean', 'He-Man' or even 'Braveheart'. Add a dose of splendourous images, epoch film moments featuring a beautiful girl and scenes with Indian festivals thrown in and...shazam! You have 'Veer'!

The plot concentrates on a Rajputana tribe who parties, drinks and kills, sometimes with a good helping of gore, while at the same time wearing impressive pirate-like or soldier outfits that are not historically identifiable. The tribe is betrayed by the king of Madhavgarh (Jackie Shroff), who acts in favor of the British. Veer and Punya (Salman and Sohail Khan), two of the tribe's young members, are sent to London in order to understand the British mindset and use this information to the advantage of their clan. Veer, however, falls in love with Madhavgarh's princess, making matters a little more complicated, as would usually have a typical Bolly-drama.

It is sad to see that a film in which so much splendour and energy has been placed has failed to put true soul into its story. In spite of an attractive soundtrack, lavish sets and some fun choreographies, 'Veer' fails to impress, mainly due to an underdeveloped plot and a thoroughly illogic script.

If you are a huge Salman Khan fan or if you care little about a logical plot and wish to watch a modern film that still features some of Bollywood's most ancient clichés: strong melodrama, good looking people in heavy clothing and colourful decors, by all means do watch 'Veer'. If not, you might want to wait for Salman's next releases or give another one of his past films a rewatch instead.

Directed by Anil Sharma

Screenplay: Salman Khan, Shaktimaan, Shailesh Verma

Cast:
Salman Khan
Zarine Khan
Bianca Van Varenberg
Mithun Chakraborty
Jackie Shroff
Lisa Lazarus
Sohail Khan 

Produced by  Vijay Galani


Original Music and lyrics by Sajid-Wajid and Gulzar

BEST HINDI FILMS 2009 FOR DUMMIES

Hindi cinema is such a vast universe that coming up with a hot list for 2009 seemed daunting (it would be even harder to come up with a "Films of the Decade" list, but we still have a couple of months to write that one).

We decided to concentrate on films that we believe would appeal to an international audience. If we were Hindi film "pushers", what would we show uninitiated and non-Indian friends in order to convert them? 

Here is the Hindi Cinema Blog's international pick for Best Hindi 2009 Film Releases:

Quick Gun Murugun: Be it as the first or last course of a filmi meal, 'Quick Gun Murugun' is a delicious satyre of everything a Hindi film virgin imagines Indian films are. Forget the difference between North Indian and South Indian films. The foreign common viewpoint is that Indian cinema is a mix of colours and dance, sprinkled with improbable script turns, action, love stories and a cheesy dialogue here and there. Well... 'Quick Gun Murugun' blends all these prejudices in a shaker and serves them as a clever and quirky cocktail, ensuring surefire entertainment for everyone: Hindi film buffs, Tamil film buffs and complete foreigners to the whole Indian film scene in general. Now that calls for one Masala Dosa with sambhar, I say!

Kurbaan: Do you want a full-fledged Hindi film experience? Despite a couple of loopholes here and there, particularly in the New York scenes, our vote goes to 'Kurbaan' for the beautiful visuals, performances, fabulous soundtrack, plot and climax. We believe it is one of the most honest attempts in mainstream Indian cinema to treat the delicate subject of terrorism and can definitely be considered international class entertainment.

3 Idiots: The year was marked by the undisputable victory at the box office of Rajkumar Hirani's '3 Idiots', which will undoubtedly continue collecting praise well after 2009 is gone and forgotten. Pulsating rhythm, optimism and a humanistic core give this film a high feel-good and entertainment quotient. There is something in it for everyone, whether it is great laughs or soul touching moments. Don't miss it. 

Kaminey: A two-hour ride of unpredictable violence and stirring action, featuring Shahid Kapoor in an extremely convincing double role and Priyanka Chopra looking (praise the lord) as the girl next door and thus finally allowing viewers to concentrate on her acting instead of her looks. Kaminey is what we can call "thinking cinema", with each minute sincerely serving its purpose. Add to that a magnificent soundtrack and... Dhan te nan! You've got hot film material.

Firaaq: Nandita Das paints a disturbing and thought-provoking canvas in 'Firaaq', giving us a fictionalized account based on the Gujarat riots (2002) between Hindus and Muslims. Marvellously well cast, the story entwines the lives of 6 normal people who are affected by the communal violence taking place around them. No rose-coloured glasses are used in this story, despite all the escapism preconceptions that are spread about Hindi films among foreign viewers. A must watch. 

Wake up Sid!: 2009 is the year that had us going back to school with '3 Idiots' and Dharma production's fresh, lively and youthful 'Wake Up Sid!'. Where other movies have failed to bring Ranbir Kapoor's full talent to the fore, this lighthearted film particularly succeeds. Is it the fact that they have cast him alongside a consistently excellent Konkona Sen Sharma? Is it the script? Who knows... but it works! Check out its soundtrack and the final hug scene (sorry guys, couldn't help it). You will come out of the cinema experience smiling, as if you had just received a big hug yourself.

Hopefully, this new year will bring plenty of amazing films, making more and more people abroad realize the international entertainment potential of Hindi films. Now that we have revealed our personal favorites, let us mention some of the films that made it to the 2009 runners-up list. Just in case your friends become as addicted to Hindi cinema as you are and are willing to take their experience a step further:

Luck by Chance (dir. by Zoya Akhtar, starring Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma) Insightful movie about the film industry in India. Mindblowing soundtrack.

Barah Aana (dir. by Raja Menon, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz and Arjun Mathur) An unconvential view on the reasons behind organized kidnappings.

Videsh (Heaven on Earth): (dir. by Deepa Mehta, starring Preity Zinta) A beautiful Indian bride moves with her husband's family to Canada. She finds her inner self  and her strength when she is confronted to domestic violence and her new family's hostility.

Little Zizou (English language film by Indian film maker Mira Nair) A sweet and fun tale about a Parsi little boy who dreams of meeting football star Zidane.

An International Take on 3 IDIOTS

3 Idiots is Rajkumar Hirani’s newest directorial venture and has become the biggest grosser in the history of Indian cinema in a matter of days after its release. The 3 members of our international film review team at the Hindi Cinema blog have watched the film in each of their respective locations around the world and are eager to give their take on it to you, our readers. Given that they are known to interrupt each other constantly, they have roped in journalist Woogie McFinklestein, correspondent for “Idiots Weekly Magazine”, to try and collect their opinions in the form of a civilized interview. Let us see if he succeeds.

 Warning: This interview contains spoilers.

What was your reaction upon seeing “3 idiots” for the first time?

Joanna: I had the biggest goofy grin on my face!

Aline: You look like that all the time, Joanna.

Joanna: Well, bigger and goofier! I wanted to immediately walk back up to the box office and buy tickets for the next show.

Pushker: I thought: “Brilliant! Enchanting! Lively! Got to go back again!"

Aline: I wanted to shout "I am an Idiot!" and then tell bystanders: "aal izz well, aal izz well" and take pictures of them all with their astonished faces, advising them to chase excellence and make viruses happy.

Did any part of the story make you cry?

Pushker: I don’t cry! What kind of question is this?

Aline: Pushker, weren’t you crying a minute ago screaming “I don’t want to give an interview!”? We had to pull you through that door…

Pushker: That was not me. That must have been Joanna who has a bad hair day.

Joanna: My hair is fine thank you and says hi!

Pushker: Well, to tell you the truth, my heart skipped a few beats and I got a lump in my throat when Raju's mother visits the hospital in her new sari.

Joanna: Honestly, I didn’t cry the first time I saw the film. However, upon second viewing I also cried during the sari scene and when Virus gifts Rancho his pen (gets weepy). See? I am getting emotional all over again, let me find my handkerchief.

Aline: I cried during several scenes and got goosebumps on Joy’s final scene but was mainly moved by the baby delivery one and entirely wept my way through it...

Joanna: Aline, seriously? You didn’t think it was a bit…filmy?

Aline: To me, if the whole film had not worked for me but there was still this one great scene, I would recommend watching the whole film just for that.

Joanna: (Blows her nose) If Rancho was coming at me with that home-made vacuum contraption, I wouldn’t just cry…I’d scream in horror! (Pushker leaves the room).

What made you laugh?

Aline: So many parts of the film were a riot! Rancho’s first appearance, the exam paper mixup and…

Joanna: I loved the scene where Pia (Kareena) compared the names of Gujarati foods to missiles. "Bush just dropped two Dhoklas on Iraq....." That was a great piece of writing and she delivered it well.

Aline: …the machine definition scene and the urn scene will become classics. So many to choose from! It is an extremely well written script. I was also itching to dance to Zoobi Doobi. Such a fun and sweet depiction!

Joanna: I keep getting interrupted, I wasn’t done with my list of fun scenes.

Aline: You interrupted me first.

Pushker: (back in the room, hands a hairbrush to Joanna) Here Joanna. Better hair means better mood.

Now, do you think Aamir Khan was really able to convince the audience to forget his true age?

Pushker: Age? What age? My wife and both my daughters wouldn’t mind going out on a date with him!

Joanna: They aren't the only ones. (Everyone looks at her.) I mean my friend...you don't know her. She lives in Utah.

Aline: Sure, Joanna. We believe you (winks at Pushker.) It was quite something to see Aamir with such an innocent look on his face. Even his voice sounded younger, to such a point that I forgot it was actually him.

Is there one particular scene that…

Joanna: Hey wait, I haven’t answered the question yet!

Well yes, but…

Joanna: Aamir Khan was brilliant. I think a lot of it comes from who he really is at his core. I’m so happy that he still seems to have a deep connection to his inner child.

Fine. So… is there one particular scene that defines the film?

Aline: Apart from all the moments in which Rancho thinks out of the box, which I think was the whole point of the film, I would say the birth scene.

Joanna: Not again! (Leans back against the chair and rolls her eyes.)

Aline: It has all of the power of Rancho's "aal izz well" in it and then... I always marvel at watching a birth, even fictional.

Pushker: That is too sentimental, Aline! I personally feel the scene that made it for me was the “Balatkar” speech. I was falling off my seat with laughter, like the rest of the audience.

Joanna: Silencer! (Laughs)

But guys, for me, it was more of a sequence than a single scene, beginning with the main suicide attempt and ending with a forgiving father. These were to me the crux of the statement that the director was trying to make. It was the lowest of lows, and the highest of highs. What do you think?

Aline: Did he just answer the question for us?

Pushker: It is the “Balatkar” speech yaar, what are you talking about!

Joanna: (upset) Hey Mr. McFinklestein, no offense, but you are here to interview us and now I have no answer because you just took the words right out of my mouth!

Sorry.

Joanna: What sort of an interview is this? I refuse to be a part of it. (storms out of the room.)

(Aline and Pushker shrug)

What other character apart from Rancho stands out in the film?

Pushker and Aline: Chathur!

Aline: And Virus. He was a wonderful creation and it had outstanding work by Boman Irani.

Joanna: (screams from the neighboring room): Rajuuuuu!

Describe the message you took home from "3 Idiots."

Pushker: Much more than a comedy, “3 Idiots” asks questions and gives insight to the basic need of self realization, opening up the human mind and reaching out to the natural instinct of growth.

Aline: How am I ever going to give a better definition than that? This is unfair! (leaves the room, crossing Joanna at the doorway, who was on her way back).

Can you get her (Aline) back here?

Joanna: No. I can’t stand her today.

Pushker: Let her be.

You people keep leaving the room! I am determined to win my challenge of keeping you all together throughout the interview. Go get her! (bangs his fist on the table) Now!

(Pushker leaves his chair and heads to the neighboring room. He reappears grudgingly pulling Aline behind him. Aline is leafing a book).

Aline: I have a quote to summarize the film message! “Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day”!*

Joanna: So which one are you, Aline, stupid or idiot?

Aline: The film also says that we need to fool our hearts to think positive when dealing with difficult situations and people (gives Joanna a dark stare).

Do you want to add anything?

Aline: We all would like to say that Rancho made us think of a grown up Ishaan**… Right guys? And that I found even the background music really good.

Joanna: The film is also very well cast. Everyone including the secondary roles did an excellent job.

Just one last question, how would you rate the film?

Joanna: Ok guys, ready? 1… 2… 3!

All: AAL IZZ WELL!

It seems as if Woogie McFinklestein has succeeded in making these 3 international idiots remain friends during an entire interview (phew!). Check out the video in which they pay homage to the way 3 Idiots was promoted before its release, featuring an incognito Aamir Khan (Rancho) travelling throughout India. Did these three reviewers and budding investigators manage to find him before the film's premiere? Find out here! 

* Original phrase by Samuel Goldwyn.

** The name "Ishaan" makes reference to Ishaan Awasthi, the main character of Aamir Khan's acclaimed film ‘Taare Zameen Par’.

 
Film: 3 Idiots
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan, Kareena Kapoor
Producer: Vidu Vinod Chopra
Duration: 2 hours 50 minutes

Rating: 5*

Official Website

Buy Music Album from Itunes store
3 Idiots lyrics translations by Ashu

KAMINEY

Kaminey, Vishal Bhardwaj’s newest venture, has left critics and audience expressing anything but indifference. This month, Pushker Awasthi, our Indian collaborator ever since Cinema Hindi’s inception, writes about his experience watching Kaminey on the silver screen. Thank you so much, Pushker for your contribution. Here is hoping we will have the pleasure of reading you more often.

Kaminey. After having been at loss of words I can simply express how much I loved it… It reflects a new type of cinema being made in India and, despite the fact that it does reflect Quentin Tarantino’s influence, its content is purely Indian as it presents a well executed Bollywood Masala. It is Vishal Bhardwaj’s first commercial movie and offers a brilliant direction, writing, acting, background score and photography to his audience.

With the release of Kaminey, Vishal Bhardwaj has proved to all that he is a cinema genius and that a good director will always be good, regardless of the kind of story that he wishes to unfold before his viewers. Vishal’s previous work consisted of serious films featuring realistic people and situations. He unhurriedly dissected and explored the darkness of the human mind and soul without ever succumbing to the temptation of becoming apologetic.

However, let us go back to Kaminey.

Kaminey might dissapoint some of Bhardwaj’s followers if they compare this film to the others he had directed so far. However, one must not forget that he has remained true to his essence with the slight difference of wholeheartedly embracing the Bollywood Masala genre. Kaminey is an all out masala film that strangely does not require the moviegoer to leave his brain at the theatre entrance, which is usually what the audience must do before it starts enjoying a regular Bollywood film. Vishal has definitely opened up a space for Quentin Tarantino in Indian cinema in the same way he saddled Shakespeare firmly into Indian soil. To his credit, he never copied him, as Sanjay Gupta did with Kaante based on Reservoir Of Dogs. No. He has made Tarantino’s influence his own.

It is fascinating to live every moment of the film and indulge in it. Kaminey breaks every rule as far Hindi Masala films are concerned and let me tell you how:

First of all, Masala cinema has a cardinal rule that says that if you have twin brothers, or even simply two brothers, one of them must be a good guy and the other must be a terribly bad guy. During the climax, the bad guy ends up paying for his sins and making a sacrifice. Kaminey displays another take on brotherhood. Guddu and Charlie are different. Neither of them is perfect, neither physically nor emotionally. Guddu is embarrassed about his stammering while Charlie has a pronunciation problem but never feels bad about it. Guddu is a good but weak man, almost ready to crawl under the circumstances but nevertheless having a gentle soul. Charlie has tasted life as it is and knows how to wriggle out of problems and never ever feels self conscious about lisping.

Another of Kaminey’s novelties is that it changes the type of language used by the story’s characters to communicate with each other. The Bengali Brothers, for whom Charlie works, communicate purely in Bengali without ever translating their conversation in Hindi or English. This is not customary in Hindi cinema, which tends to make the characters translate whatever is spoken in foreign or regional languages into Hindi, for the audience’s sake.

Moreover, Kaminey’s photography is extremely enthralling, making the audience jump! Even the background is so powerful that it sucks the spectator in with every single movie frame.

Last but not least, a special mention goes to the song 'Duniya Mein', in which Vishal gives tribute to legendary music director and genius, the late R D Burman. Never, at any point in time, is the audience left remembering that song pictured on Rajesh Khanna (in the film Apna Desh), as Bhardwaj greatly succeeds in attaching the same song to to the screen presence of the film’s main character, Shahid Kapoor.

TEXT BY: Pushker Awasthi

EDITING: Aline CineHindi