My Name is Khan

Monday afternoon, Long weekend, Lunch is cooking and while i give the ingredients in the pressure cooker, time to cook into a delicious chicken biryani i am tempted to watch some movie... maybe for 15 to 20 minutes and change track if i don't like it.

I look up the new movies list on Netflix and "My Name is Khan" is lined up. Not heard much about this movie except that one song Sajda, that was pretty popular i guess... i kind of liked it, i think, but then 'R' mentioned something lightly that the song was just "ok" and then i never played that again. When the movie had released in the Bay Area, i had asked 'R' if we can go watch it and as he's not a "big" fan of most Hindi movies, so skipped it. I have to cajole him to watch a Hindi movie.

But MNIK changed the situation today :)

So, i just started watching it and R came by... was standing around... playing with his iPhone...then i stopped and served lunch and we were watching the movie together till we finished lunch. At this point, i thought 'R', will go into the other room to continue doing whatever he usually does... but then he planted himself beside me as i was enjoying the movie. Once in a while, i looked sideways, to see what he is upto... could'nt believe he was still around... his eyes were fixed in the iPhone, but i knew he was also following the movie... when i faked that i mis-heard something and he corrected me. To get 'R' this far is an achievement by itself.... the movie is good!!! Phew! Now confident that he likes the movie, I joked, note, seriously, instructing him to either watch it or to go into the other room if he is watching it half heartedly. I loved the movie and did not want to be disrespectful to a well made movie.

Anyways, R being R, did not move an inch, just looked up and smiled. I continued watching... and within minutes, the movie had drawn in R's 100% attention.

I loved the movie for multiple reasons. One of it being that San Francisco is portrayed beautifully... we've been at all those spots at different times since my arrival over the past couple of years. There is that 'senti' factor associated with a city and lovely places that are prominent in your life. Then for LA, the Hollywood sign, high up in the hills and UCLA. It brings back happy memories.

Rizwan (SRK)'s character is very endearing... there is an earnest honesty and sincerity about that innocent soul. SRK played the role very well, according to me. I choked up in some scenes...The music is great... Kajol and SRK are a delight together.

Watch it
for the sensitive story line
for how the world has changed post 9/11
for how innocent people suffer for no fault of theirs
for how it is tough to be a simple soul in a bad world
for how steadfast Rizwan can be inspite of everything being stacked against him
But hope is not lost - good triumphs
There are still some people in the world who still recognize and value goodness and do right even though it's difficult to stick up to.
Watch it for Shah Rukh Khan :), he's essayed the character beautifully.
Watch it for the message - that "humanity" is more important than any religion or stereotypes we imagine.

It's not just a movie to watch and forget mindlessly. It is something you take with you into life even after the movie is over. It is a heart-tugging movie. The entire cast has done very well.

Other movies that are similar to this story line are "Kurbaan" and "New York". We had watched these movies earlier and they were both good individually.

Apparently, MNIK is an all-time highest grossing Bollywood film overseas.