My Name is Khan

My Name is Khan, recently released in cinemas in Malaysia. For Penangites you can watch it at Bukit Jambul (BJ) Cinema.

The movie stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol plus a number of other strong actors including a kid who acted in Tare Zamin Per as Khan in younger days in the movie. SRK (Shah Rukh Khan) plays the role of an individual with autism well, not over-doing it and Kajol also performance well. For most Malaysians, the SRK + Kajol couple most remembered is Kuch Kuch Ho Ta Hai.

Quoting from http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/11858-my-name-is-khan,

"Shahrukh Khan, the actor playing Rizwan Khan, explains: “it’s not about a disabled man’s fight against disability. It’s a disabled man’s fight against the disability that exists in the world—terrorism, hatred, fighting . . . It is also about Islam and the way the world looks at Islam but we are not taking any sides. We are only trying to say that there are only good people and bad people. There are no good Hindus, bad Hindus, good Christians, bad Christians. Either you are a good person or a bad person. Religion is not the criterion, humanity is.”

Overall the movie was strong and nice. It had many positive messages, and was well edited. There were some sweet moments, laughter, and also sorrow. I did find the part of Khan returning to Georgia a little to long winded, however I guess it was needed for the movie to justify Khan meeting the President after his heroic work there. However the movie picks up again after the Georgia section.

It seems a certain part was edited out of the movie, not sure why, either since typically Hindi movies are little long (cinema's can then play lesser showings per day) OR due to sensitivity. Again, just guessing. Talking about Hindi movies, if you've seen them in the cinema, you'd notice half way, it comes up "INTERMISSION". Yes in India, there is actually a physical break where the movie stops, so people can go buy some more popcorn, drinks and even bio-breaks. A good marketing approach wouldn't you say?

In an interesting interesting quote un-quote the director Karan Johar to say "[...] What's really shocking is the fact that when I was writing the film, I never thought that what happened to the protagonist of the film would happen to Shah Rukh."

The most entertaining part would be the beginning thru mid part of the movie, which later continues to carry a heavy topic.

So what's your name? ....

Enjoy.