Ye Maaya Chesave: short review

Though Gautham Menon's story and screenplay fail to impress, the music and cinematography are so refreshing in this movie that one gets nostalgic about some good old love stories. The romantic feel that oozes out of the perfect blend of music and visuals has become rare these days. Kudos to Rahman and Manoj Paramahamsa!

And though Naga Chaitanya fails to sink into the character, the new heroine Samantha is the scene-stealer. She looks good, emotes well and balances her newness to the film industry with her maturity in portraying the character. Sincerely wishing to see her be more a part of good cinema than going the glamor-only way which most talented actresses in recent times dwelled.

Good to watch with low expectations!!

MNIK: Exploration of Common-Sense

They all maintain silence grieving for those who died in the 9/11 disaster. And amidst the silence, Rizvan begins to whisper Islamic phrases to himself. And it causes commotion among the people surrounding, much to the embarrassment and apprehension of his Hindu wife.

As we were watching this scene in the film, a friend sitting next to me, suddenly whispered: “This is over-the-top, man! He (Rizvan) lacks common-sense.” Though I could not argue back at him, as I, at that point of time, could not arrange my thoughts in a proper order, I must confess now that, had my friend not made that comment, I would have never realized the core idea of this film.

Let me start with common-sense. Over the years, the parameters or the content of common-sense has changed so much that, we began to consider it as something that our little brain should apply so as to save us from social discomfort and embarrassment (the worst and bitter fears plagued across mankind) and blend us into the inconspicuous masses; even if it is at the cost of losing our own identity.

Though, I have been practicing nihilism for some years now (more for my convenience than its doctrine), I have known several people to whom religion is their identity. Wearing traditional dress, daily prayers, working ethically and living amicably are their way of life. In the film, the character of Rizvan is a religious man and chants holy phrases as his expression of grievance, or sadness, or fear. But when such an act invokes a feeling of lacking common-sense from the outsider perspective, I am amazed on realizing how far our definition of common-sense has moved from the basic importance of respecting other’s identity.

We began to hide the basic instincts of our identity in the engulfment of socially acceptable subtleness. We pride our capability to hide; and either mock at or look down upon those who can’t or do not chose to hide. And in the modern world, where being fashionable has become the norm of life, following religious practices and traditional values has become very uncharacteristic. Even if people chose to follow, most of them do so within closed walls or places where they can hide themselves among others. A very few remain unfazed and do not hide their religious and social identity.

Karan Johar’s latest film My Name is Khan keeps the modern definition of common-sense intact; and so the protagonist is characterized with autism. A normal-man characterization wouldn’t look plausible to make him be open about his religious identity, especially when the religion is Islam and the times are post-9/11. The compulsive instincts of autistic behavior are effectively utilized to make the character of Rizvan Khan be unabashed about his religious identity. And that’s the whole central idea of the film: The basic Right for any human to live his life without hiding his identity; be it religion, sex, creed, occupation, and even Common-sense.

“namaaz, jagah aur logon se nahin… neeyath se kee jaati hai.” – Rizvan Khan

My Name is Khan: Noor-e-Shahrukh Khan

It's an important soft message kind of story. And given the fact that, soft messages do not have much audience, I don't expect this film to do great at the box-office. And most of all, it's very far from being an entertainer; no songs and dances or comedy tracks. Also, it has enough flaws along the flow of the movie, thanks to the notorious Shibani Bhatija of Fanaa and Kidnap fame. After the initial hype owing to SRK's craze and controversies around the film, it may end up being just a profit-earner to the makers.

And if there anything that's worth talking about the film beyond it's good theme, it's about two people. Let me start with Deepa Bhatia. If not for her brilliant job at the editing table, the film would have moved at snail-pace, given Karan's over-indulgence in scene execution. It was her deftness that made up for the lapses in Karan's direction and Shibani's screenplay (though a few dialogues were touching); but only in the first half. But Deepa couldn't do much to save the dreadfully written second half. The only respite in the awful second half is: Shahrukh Khan.

Be it first half or second half, he doesn't discriminate. He doesn't care whether it's a bad scene or a good dialogue. He simply does what he is supposed to do: act good. And his performance works for everyone. Even if a person is hating the stupidity in a certain scene, what keeps them glued to the screen is SRK's histrionics. This would shine as his best performance probably for a few more years in future. Noor-e-Shahrukh Khan!!!!