My Name is Khan - Review of A Highly Awaited Movie

Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Jimmy Shergill, Zarina Waha

Director: Karan Johar

Overall Rating: 8.0/10.0 (A movie which is definitely worth a watch)

“My name is Khan” was one of the most awaited films in the year 2010. For anyone who saw the trailer, the base of the storyline seems clear, whatever be the issues, questions about national and religious identities, lack of support from near and dear ones or not completely sound mental state, what Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan) wants to convey to people divided with prejudices and the racist behavior unfolding in the United States as an aftermath of 9/11 is that, “My name is Khan, and I am not a Terrorist.”

The story starts with Rizwan Khan as a kid in the slums of Mumbai, who is suffering from a medical condition called Asperger’s syndrome. This condition causes him to have fear of new places, feeling of insecurity when in crowded places, hyper-sensitive to loud sounds and scared of bright colors like yellow. He also cannot easily communicate his feelings, and he can view the world factually, but not emotionally. Nevertheless he is a genius when it comes to brain-power and becomes popular in his mohallah (locality) since he can fix almost all electronics. Being specially-abled, results him in getting more of his mother’s attention, which leads to sibling jealousy and rivalry with his younger brother. (Jimmy Shergil)

The story moves on and years later, when his mother dies, Rizwan moves to the United States, with his brother, who then ushers him into the business of selling beauty products. Though he is afraid of new places, let alone new people, Rizwan battles on in this new phase of his life as a salesman. This is when he meets Mandeera (Kajol ), who is a hair stylist at one of the beauty parlors where he goes to sell the beauty products. Mandeera is a Hindu by religion, and also a single mother, whose husband left her and eloped with another woman when she was 22. The first half of the movie moves on in this phase, with Rizwan trying to woo over Mandeera in his “normal” way asking her to marry him. Finally, the movie reaches its peak of happiness when Mandeera marries Rizwan and even Sam (Mandeera’a son) becomes Rizwan’s best friend.

Then comes the next era, which as Rizwan puts it is the third era. The first is BC, the second is AD and the third is Post-9/11 era. The United States goes in frenzy and Rizwan’s Dream-world is shattered. His son and “only-best friend” Sam becomes a victim of a racist attack, because he shares the last name “Khan” from Rizwan Khan. In a state of shock, Mandeera accuses Rizwan for being a part of her world and asks him to meet the President of United States and convey to him the message that, he is a muslim and not all muslims are terrorists. The rest of the movie conveys parts and pieces this journey, with its highs and lows, of this differently-abled common-man wanting to meet the President against all odds.

Not wanting to have any spoilers, I am avoiding the risk of spilling more information about the story. However, the movie has some wonderful incidents and witty one-liners. It contains even aspects like Presidential change from George Bush to Barack Obama, but most of all, it shows us a glimpse of the post-9/11 United States, where saying Allah in a public place is as good as committing a crime and uttering the word terrorist and having a last name “Khan” is proof enough to lock you up for interrogation without giving you legal rights. But the wonderful aspect of the movie is the fact that Rizwan sticks to his goodliness, which has become a part of his character from his mother’s teaching.

For me, the highest point in the movie is that part when Hindu-Muslim riots were on in the city and young Rizwan enters home reiterating what the people outside were saying about Hindus being bad and should be killed, his mother, draws 2 stick figures, one with a stick and another with a lollipop and asks Rizwan which stick figure is good and which is bad. When Rizwan says the one with stick is bad and one with lollipop is good, she asks which of the stick figures is a Hindu and which it is a Muslim? When young Rizwan is unable to tell the difference, she says, the only division this world has among people is that there are good people and there are bad people. There is no other way to divide people like caste, creed or color, everything boils down to just “good people” and “bad people”. This is one thing that sticks together with Rizwan, and when he is on his quest to meet the President, and cannot do it at a Presidential fund-raiser, since it is open to Christians only, he leaves back his $ 500, which he gathered for his event and says, “Keep the money, it is for the people in Africa, who are not Christians”.

Final Verdict:

This movie sees the trio of Karan Johar, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in an area of Cinema, where they have never ventured before as a team. Shahrukh does really well to move out of his normal chocolate-boy roles, but in some parts of the movie, the transition doesn’t seem to be complete, however, it is a meaty role which is played well. Kajol plays her part pretty well, and Shankar Ehsan Loy music add wonderful sound tracks taking the movie to the next level.

To be honest, this is not a movie without flaws, and yet it is a wonderful watch irrespective of its shortcomings. I felt the movie was about 20 minutes long, and it could have been shortened in some places to make it more compact and more effective. However, the characters, their struggles and the realities they face live with you even when you walk out of the theatre hall. The broad mindedness and the tolerance that the movie resonates with is a necessary lesson for every citizen in our small-globalized world.

And in a lighter vein, due to the confusion in the city of Mumbai for the release of this movie, since Shahrukh made some statements about Pakistani players not being a part of the 3rd Indian Premier League, which the Shiv Sena did not quite approve, probably the next quest for Shahrukh would be to meet Bal Thakrey and tell him, “My name is Khan and I am not an Unpatriotic Indian”.