Movie Review - My Name is Khan

The world stands divided on two sides after the 9/11 strikes on the World Trade Center. It is the point which Karan Johar makes with his magnum opus My Name Is Khan. There is sincerity, belief and hard work in the execution of it as well but there is too much of mess created by the director that takes the film away from its central point.

The film has many positives going for it and that includes several messages portrayed in it. The film goes on to teach us the value of being good and shows the constant crumbling of humanity across the world. The mother of the protagonist (Rizwan Khan) says that there are only two kinds of people: either good or bad. Here we can sense where the film will proceed as the message is clear that we should be able to dissociate religion from terrorism. This is where the film works big time.

Thus it has many heart touching scenes for the viewer but never becomes an epic and inspiring one for public like Rang De Basanti. The film starts on a strong note with the protagonist Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan) being frisked at the airport just because of his religion and the film marks a straightforward punch when Rizwan says: "My Name Is Khan and I am not a terrorist". It is after that incident the film delves into flashback mode and we can witness some of the grittiest scenes in the film. We see Zareena Wahab staging a fine comeback as the mother of Rizwan and taking proper care of his son who is suffering from Asperger Syndrome which even she doesn't know. There is fine skill involved in the execution of these scenes by actor Tanay Chheda. He is not able to communicate himself socially and has odd behavior patterns.

Rizwan is diagnosed of the disorder when he reaches the United States. He finds love in Mandira (Kajol) and gets married to her who is divorced and has a son. The scene depicting Rizwan proposing to Mandira and its subsequent acceptance is also a nice one where we can reminisce the golden days of Shahrukh and Kajol romancing onscreen. They soon get married and the family is happy, but the things do change after 9/11. There is upsurge in crime against a community on the basis of religion and there is a major setback to the happy Mandira Rizwan Khan family. Thus Rizwan embarks on a remarkable journey to meet the president to say he is Khan and definitely not a terrorist.

The emotions and the message in the film are fine but the film quivers when the narrative focuses to San Francisco and we see the romance of Rizwan and Mandira. This was supposed to be the strongest part of the movie but it appears as deliberate and over-sentimental to a viewer. The loud outcries by Navneet Nishan don't please the viewer either. Kajol as usual is good in the role of Mandira but struggles to look thin. The film definitely loses its ground on these occasions.

The cinematography by Ravi Chandran is nice and tries hard to cover the flaws of the film. The film is messed up in the later parts when our super human manages to teach a lesson on Islam to a doctor in a mosque and have him arrested by FBI later on. He is also arrested and later released on the uproar in public and media and also moves to St. Georgia to save its residents from the floods as he has a special connection there.

The director has tried to pinch so many things in the film that it leaves the viewer fatigued and people would be ranting about having no more of drama from Rizwan.

My Name Is Khan is without any doubt a top class performance from Shahrukh Khan and the film deserves a watch for his strong performance as an autistic and a good human being. He looks to be in charge of his character and we can see him controlling his emotions on screen. So watch the film for Shahrukh's performance alone.

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