The movie of the year that stars Shah Rukh and Kajol in a Karan Johar direction, first hits you like a movie and then becomes a moving experience for you!
Story
A simple journey of a Muslim autistic man Rizwan Khan who wants to prove to the world and to the President of the United States of America that he is not a terrorist. His wife Mandira, a Hindu single mother falls in love with the innocence of Rizwan's love. As the movie unfolds their love story, you feel the happiness and you feel the pain.
The story is realistic and praise must go to Shibani Bhatija for scripting an amazing screenplay and to Karan Johar for sticking to realism, when it could have been easy for him to divert.
Shibani and Karan please do make the screenplay available for the public, this will be great for those who want to aspire to make great movies, it will be the perfect template.
Characters
Rizwan Khan is the character you remember when you walk out the cinema hall. The goodness of this character is like a mirror to your own soul. He makes you wonder about how good your life is and how good we are as human beings. Rizwan is very happy about his religion and very proud. However, he never sees the differences that we judge others against, whether that is race, colour, nationality, religion and caste. He only knows that if you are bad...that bad things are going to happen to you. If you are good then good things will happen to you. Even when bad things happen to him, he never blames anyone. He goes beyond the blame game and sets on correcting his ways. The great thing about Rizwan is that no matter what event or person comes in his way, he is adamant to go and meet the President of the United States just to say 'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist!'
Mandira is the character that moves the story and is the true motivator behind Rizwan Khan. She is the perfect wife but as she struggles to understand what has happened in her life, she blames Rizwan. She allows her feelings to surrender to hatred. A direct opposite to Khan, yet Khan never sees fault in it. Mandira is no doubt a good person but she shows us how vulnerable we are as human beings.
Ammi is Rizwan's mother. She is the life force and soul of Rizwan. Her very sacred and precious teachings give him the essence of how to live a life. Ammi installs only goodness in the young child and she understands her son without questioning why he is the way he is. She shows him pure love and Rizwan lives and breathes by that pure love.
Sam is Rizwan and Mandira's son. Sam is the metaphor for how relationships are beyond blood. Rizwan sees Sam as his own son while it is Mandira's child from a previous marriage. Sam suffers due to ignorant youths, who only know how to brand and judge people. Sam is the reason why Rizwan goes on his journey and it is Sam who guides Rizwan's footsteps to achieve his goal.
Direction
One needs to celebrate Karan Johar for choosing such a difficult topic and sticking to it. Most directors would have failed to create this perfect film. There may be scenes where most critics will not understand but life is like that and that is what Johar does, he shows realism. He shows life as it is on screen. He makes you become one with the journey that Khan takes. The way he tackles the 'storm and church re-construction' scene are amazing! The whole aspect of the media, he handles with such passion and respect. He allows us to see the negative and the positive of how the media operates. All scenes are handled brilliantly. When you look back at Johar's library of work, it is hard to believe that you are watching a movie of the same director. He keeps the movie light and allows it to flow with you.
One needs to also praise the Director of Photography Ravi Chandran as he captures the landscapes of America beautifully and without such great camerawork, this movie would not have been so great.
Editing by Deepa Bhatia is excellent. I wonder that if the edit was more sharper than it was, would the messages still have the same significance? I am glad that the movie is the way it is. You are meant to take the messages inside your mind and heart and Bhatia gives us the pace to do that effectively.
The music is awesome, seriously it weaves with the plot peacefully and elegantly. The background music is out of this world. If Karan Johar is listening, I will buy the background music if you release it on CD or allow us to buy it via Itunes! Tere Naina lasts with you, Sajda makes you celebrate, Noor-E-Khuda grabs your heart and Allah Hi Rahem makes you appreciate the Lord!
Well done to everyone, especially Karan Johar! Seriously, those who thought he wasn't capable of completing such a task, you are going to eat your words. He is one of the brightest directors that India have!
Actors
I am only going to talk about the main two actors. However, every person who acted in this were perfect and gave stellar performances. One must say to look out for Arjun Mathur and Sonya Jehan.
Shah Rukh Khan gives his finest performance to date. One wonders where was Shah Rukh Khan here because all I saw was Rizwan Khan! SRK plays a man with Asperger's syndrome to perfection. The little nuances, the expressions all make you feel for the character. This performance proves to the world why he is the most popular actor in the world. He proves to the world that he is one of the best actor's to come out of Hindi Cinema. Those who doubted his performance will now regret those words because no actor in the Hindi Film Industry can match up to the acting that SRK has done. The way he remains expressionless when a normal person would feel something...that is a very hard thing to do, but SRK makes it look easy. SRK makes you cry for Rizwan and makes you happy for Rizwan. He has set a new milestone and has proven yet again that he is the best and is going to stay for a long time. A true gem!
Kajol gives yet again, surprise surprise an amazing performance. Only Kajol could do justice to the role and she proves that when it comes to tugging your emotions, she can do it with ease. Watch out for her breakdown, it is one of the finest moments not only for this movie but for the history of Hindi Cinema. She plays her character with ease and perfection. She matches up to SRK in every scene and that is difficult. She is one powerhouse of a performer. Kajol's eyes are beyond beautiful. I fell in love with her. She made Mandira so likeable and the audience could relate to Mandira's reaction to certain things. This is only due to her powerful performance.
I know this is too early to say but best actors awards are going to these two. There will be no performance that will be able to top these two.
The romantic scenes that are brought to us can only be done by Shah Rukh and Kajol. Their chemistry is top notch and you feel so happy to see them together and you break apart when you see them depart.
Personal opinion and audience reaction
First of all, this may contain spoilers and it is my opinion. Audience reaction was amazing. Everyone loved it and people laughed at the right times, i heard gasps at the right time and there was even clapping at the end!
My personal opinion and this is where I divulge what this movie meant for me. This movie has made me appreciate Islam even more. I always knew that it only propagated peace for humanity and love. The difference is with this movie is that it proves that. Watch out for the scene when Rizwan is in the Mosque...it touches your heart. The subject has been dealt with respect and the sensitivity has been realised earlier on hence such a powerful movie.
The movie shows how the only difference in human beings is whether we are good or bad. Religion is the path we choose on our own accord to guide us to become a good person. The film doesn't get preachy but when you come home and you are on your own, you do think about the message of the film. People may claim that the movie is slow...but think about it...the film is a journey of the protagonist. When we are on life's journey, is it very fast for us? Or do events in our life slowly unravel infront of us? I am sure anyone with the right mind will see it as the latter.
When you leave the theatre and if you are with friends, take my advice...don't discuss the movie until you have had 10 minutes to recall the movie and its messages. The film first hits you like any other movie but when you absorb the messages, you just realise that you went through an experience alongside Rizwan Khan. Also, Rizwan Khan shakes Obama's hand and I feel this happens due to Sam. Rizwan overcomes his fear of shaking hands to prove justice to the message that gave birth to his journey.
I felt that love should be like Rizwan's. It should be unconditional and full of pure innocence. I feel so inspired by the message that the movie gives. Truly I do feel that I need to become more like Rizwan.
The movie is NOT about terrorism, it is a love story at the core! The movie shows how great the message of Islam is and how humanity is the core of its teachings. The film confirms my pride and joy in having muslim friends!
Hollywood will accept this movie with open arms. This is the true crossover movie and it will be easy for anyone to understand. I believe the film is done in 40% english but I do believe that even if the dialogues are not heard, the film can still be understood. The acting is immensely powerful that the dialogues feel like a bonus treat for us.
Good people will accept this movie and will welcome the message into their lives. Bad people will not understand this movie. That is the judgement the movie gives too when we introspect into our own lives. A movie that contains so many little but effective messages needs to be watched more than once. It is a layered film if watched with the heart and one cannot capture it all in one viewing!
So here comes the crucial part. What is the rating for this movie? The movie does not meet the expectations...it goes beyond the expectations. Since it's positive in all areas, I am giving it a 5/5! Watch it to believe it!
Rahul N. Singh - My name is Singh and Humanity is my mission!
Please note: This is a review on what the movie meant to me. I am not a professional critic and I am only stating how I felt.
