My Name is Khan is a terrific film, and of course I really enjoyed seeing all the Bay Area scenes. It is amazing that, despite living in India, how much Karan Johar has an NRI mindset. All the scenes, dialogs, situations, characters, and extras seemed so authentic as if he's taken actual snapshots of life in the US. Minute details such as California fashion, American dinners, the Autism alert card, arrogant attitude of interrogators, or even gospel choir in the rural South have been paid close attention to.
Kajol acted flawlessly as always. The role of Rizwan Khan is an utmost demanding one and really has tested SRK's limits. Dustin Hoffman has immortalized his character with his perfect performance in Rain Man. While SRK has the milder Aspiringer's Syndrome, rather than autism, comparisons between the two performances are unavoidable. It looks like SRK didn't win this competition, but his performance was still relatively good, no doubt. All the supporting actors did a fantastic job. I particularly liked Aunt Jenny, Jimmy Shergill's wife, and Sarah.
While KJo has done a fantastic job of making his film look truly American, it has been presented in a "too polished" manner. I don't believe realistic cinema is KJo's forte. His films are too glamorous, glossy, and fine-tuned to bring out the raw emotions of a dark world. KANK was a disaster in this regard, while MNIK is a huge improvement but still could have been better. Well-established stars also can be a deterrent. We all know what the film is about, but come on; every Bollywood fan wants to see SRK-Kajol in a Bollywood musical romance--not the way they were paired in this movie. Films like New York and Kurbaan have done a much better job with the post-9/11 genre. For the first time, KJo's film didn't have a must-buy soundtrack. Sajda is a nice song, but that is the high point of the soundtrack. Another major flaw in this film is the timeline; the "incident" is shown to occur in the wake of 9/11 (not later than 2002), and SRK begins the search to meet the President; 6 months later, it is 2008.
Kajol acted flawlessly as always. The role of Rizwan Khan is an utmost demanding one and really has tested SRK's limits. Dustin Hoffman has immortalized his character with his perfect performance in Rain Man. While SRK has the milder Aspiringer's Syndrome, rather than autism, comparisons between the two performances are unavoidable. It looks like SRK didn't win this competition, but his performance was still relatively good, no doubt. All the supporting actors did a fantastic job. I particularly liked Aunt Jenny, Jimmy Shergill's wife, and Sarah.
While KJo has done a fantastic job of making his film look truly American, it has been presented in a "too polished" manner. I don't believe realistic cinema is KJo's forte. His films are too glamorous, glossy, and fine-tuned to bring out the raw emotions of a dark world. KANK was a disaster in this regard, while MNIK is a huge improvement but still could have been better. Well-established stars also can be a deterrent. We all know what the film is about, but come on; every Bollywood fan wants to see SRK-Kajol in a Bollywood musical romance--not the way they were paired in this movie. Films like New York and Kurbaan have done a much better job with the post-9/11 genre. For the first time, KJo's film didn't have a must-buy soundtrack. Sajda is a nice song, but that is the high point of the soundtrack. Another major flaw in this film is the timeline; the "incident" is shown to occur in the wake of 9/11 (not later than 2002), and SRK begins the search to meet the President; 6 months later, it is 2008.