An enjoyable piece of inspiration, though quite cheesy
and melodramatic
The film centres around the flashbacks of an autistic Muslim
man from Mumbai called Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) who, having been bought up
to know the truthfully simple difference between right and wrong by his mother,
comes to San Francisco and unwillingly falls in love with Mandira, a Hindu girl
who works at a local hair salon (played by Kajol). As their seemingly random
but loving friendship develops, so does the world around them as the terrorist
attack of 9/11 unfolds before them. Unable to understand the now forceful (and
wrongful) anger and hatred that the western world has upon not only Muslims but
Asians in general, and struck by a personal family tragedy, his relationship
with Mandira is suddenly broken as the world begins to crumble in conflict as
the racial separation hits his world and starts to tear it apart. Rizwan thus
takes it upon himself to fulfil a vow and to show the world what his mother
taught him: "that there are only two kinds of people in the world; good
people who do good things and bad people who do bad things", and begins a
journey that will take him all over the US as he tries to confront the
President and tell him that "his name is Khan and he is not a
terrorist". Unbeknownst to him however, he also unwittingly inspires a
revolution and a unification between all people of all colours, religions and
creeds.
Love it or hate it, I thought this film definitely had heart. It's more about the simple discrepancies of the human spirit and the fact that it takes someone who sees life through black and white who is actually the one speaking the most sense. As Khan is an autistic person he doesn't see the complications of such things, he just understands what is right and what's wrong in a world where people seem to have forgotten as they have put so much weight and details that everything has become unnecessarily complicated. It's about going back to basics and the roots of the soul to unify the human race together again in a time where we try so hard to join yet are still split up due to conformed rules and regulations, and though everything seems to work as one, there's still a lot of problems under the surface which can easily manifest and show it's true colours, and all it needs for chaos to resume is a singular event, in this case the tragedy of 9/11. It's about how one can overcome any difficulty if they just keep going and focus on their commitment. It's about conforming and eradicating hatred and prejudice. It's about dealing with loss and the anger, hatred and chaos that can come from it. And most importantly, as any Bollywood movie- it's about love.
The film is well directed and unlike most Bollywood films, there's no singing or dancing because it's more of a serious film that is catering for the western market as well. However, there's a juxtaposition of songs that are put as background music behind scenes instead, which makes for a nice change. The music is decent for what it is as well, both the songs and the orchestral score.
The central performances were very strong indeed, and the film had to nail this in order for us to connect- thankfully, it did so perfectly. Shah Rukh Khan is very convincing as someone who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and he didn't go over the top as some people might have- he was just on the right side of believable. Kajol was sweet in her role as well and when things got emotional she gave a terrific performance to convey it.
My problems with the film now is that it is, unfortunately, a tad too cheesy, and this is apparent especially in the latter half of the film. During the film's climax it reaches to super-cheese level, and though this is the standard tone for Bollywood films, most western audiences might be put off. There's also a lot of inconsistencies, such as the relationship between the two characters just comes from nowhere and takes random turns, as well as the other characters than Khan meets (some of the scenarios is just too unbelievable for my liking). There's also little details which I didn't understand at all and didn't work. Most of these are trivial however but the main problem is the over-dramatic factor which really does teeter over the edge at times, if not go completely over the top to the point of cringeworthy and very much unintentionally hilarious at times, too. I enjoyed the messages and themes, but saw through it at times as it seemed to try too hard- most of it seemed quite ridiculous and i know that it would never happen in real life, but as a fictional film, we must take it with a pinch of salt. This is a message and result that i hope one day happens in our world but sadly i don't think it ever will. I only wish this movie was based on a true story!
Overall, it's an entertaining, inspiring film which does raise a lot of good points, and although it's a film about 9/11 it doesn't focus on the ins and outs of this, more so the people themselves, though it's very careful not to paint stereotypes and point fingers at the good or bad people- everyone is represented and given equal blame. But most importantly it's about one man and how a disabled person is actually the one who speaks the most sense in a world where everyone else are supposed to be normal and sane; here we have someone who is looked upon as different (or weird/insane) yet the one we should all aspire to be like.
If you can deal with some melodramatic cheese in the typical Bollywood style, then it's well worth a watch.
Love it or hate it, I thought this film definitely had heart. It's more about the simple discrepancies of the human spirit and the fact that it takes someone who sees life through black and white who is actually the one speaking the most sense. As Khan is an autistic person he doesn't see the complications of such things, he just understands what is right and what's wrong in a world where people seem to have forgotten as they have put so much weight and details that everything has become unnecessarily complicated. It's about going back to basics and the roots of the soul to unify the human race together again in a time where we try so hard to join yet are still split up due to conformed rules and regulations, and though everything seems to work as one, there's still a lot of problems under the surface which can easily manifest and show it's true colours, and all it needs for chaos to resume is a singular event, in this case the tragedy of 9/11. It's about how one can overcome any difficulty if they just keep going and focus on their commitment. It's about conforming and eradicating hatred and prejudice. It's about dealing with loss and the anger, hatred and chaos that can come from it. And most importantly, as any Bollywood movie- it's about love.
The film is well directed and unlike most Bollywood films, there's no singing or dancing because it's more of a serious film that is catering for the western market as well. However, there's a juxtaposition of songs that are put as background music behind scenes instead, which makes for a nice change. The music is decent for what it is as well, both the songs and the orchestral score.
The central performances were very strong indeed, and the film had to nail this in order for us to connect- thankfully, it did so perfectly. Shah Rukh Khan is very convincing as someone who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and he didn't go over the top as some people might have- he was just on the right side of believable. Kajol was sweet in her role as well and when things got emotional she gave a terrific performance to convey it.
My problems with the film now is that it is, unfortunately, a tad too cheesy, and this is apparent especially in the latter half of the film. During the film's climax it reaches to super-cheese level, and though this is the standard tone for Bollywood films, most western audiences might be put off. There's also a lot of inconsistencies, such as the relationship between the two characters just comes from nowhere and takes random turns, as well as the other characters than Khan meets (some of the scenarios is just too unbelievable for my liking). There's also little details which I didn't understand at all and didn't work. Most of these are trivial however but the main problem is the over-dramatic factor which really does teeter over the edge at times, if not go completely over the top to the point of cringeworthy and very much unintentionally hilarious at times, too. I enjoyed the messages and themes, but saw through it at times as it seemed to try too hard- most of it seemed quite ridiculous and i know that it would never happen in real life, but as a fictional film, we must take it with a pinch of salt. This is a message and result that i hope one day happens in our world but sadly i don't think it ever will. I only wish this movie was based on a true story!
Overall, it's an entertaining, inspiring film which does raise a lot of good points, and although it's a film about 9/11 it doesn't focus on the ins and outs of this, more so the people themselves, though it's very careful not to paint stereotypes and point fingers at the good or bad people- everyone is represented and given equal blame. But most importantly it's about one man and how a disabled person is actually the one who speaks the most sense in a world where everyone else are supposed to be normal and sane; here we have someone who is looked upon as different (or weird/insane) yet the one we should all aspire to be like.
If you can deal with some melodramatic cheese in the typical Bollywood style, then it's well worth a watch.
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