Re: My Name Is Khan/Reviews N Collections
[CONTINUED]
The film, like all Karan Johar products, is beautifully cinematographed (director of photography Ravi K Chandran). The difference this time is it is not the typically bright coloured, candy floss flavours that permeates Karan’s films.
If there is one quibble, it would be the fact that Karan Johar could have made effective use of the talented bunch of actors who make cameo appearances.
Good actors, even in cameo roles, make an impact – as we have seen in many films recently. In My Name Is Khan, they are unfortunately wasted. Anyone, for example, could have played the roles Vinay Pathak Images ] or Sumeet Raghavan did. Praveen Dabas, in fact, was miscast – Sumeet Raghavan would have been much more effective in the same role.
The lead pair, however, is clearly well-cast; Shah Rukh and Kajol share a superb chemistry that highlights all their films, and is an important part of My Name Is Khan.
There are three films in which I have really liked Shah Rukh Khan (yes, I do like him otherwise too, SRKisms and all, because he can make you smile) – Saathiya Images ], Swades Images ] and Chak De! India Images ]. To that, I’d add My Name Is Khan.
I’ve never met anyone afflicted with Asperger’s Syndrome, so I can’t say with certainty that Shah Rukh has portrayed the condition correctly. But he is believable and makes you like and feel sympathy for Rizvan at the right moments. It’s the first time in the star’s 18-year-long career (his first film was Deewana in 1992) that he has essayed such a character. He’s not the chocolate hero, he’s not beating up the bad guys, he’s not trying to look good or entertain you as Shah Rukh Khan. And it works!
Kajol is, as usual, superb. Mandira’s laughter, her determination, her joie de vivre, her grief, her anger – Kajol brings it all to life. And, if I may say so, Kajol, no one runs up a hill dressed in a night suit, wearing floppy slippers, with no make-up on, as well as you do.
Others, too, do well – Sonya Jehan is very beautiful and portrays her part with great sympathy and, hopefully, we will get to see more of this talented actress. Tanay Chheda (Taare Zameen Par Images ], Slumdog Millionaire Images ]) is clearly very talented and does an excellent job as the young Rizvan.
Arjan Aulja, you were excellent. I wish I could talk more about what you did, but it would give the plot away.
Let’s end this review with the climax – it’s a tad filmi, and there were some bits that I thought were a slight stretch of the imagination. But hey, this is a Karan Johar film and everyone likes a happy ending!
**Rediff Rating:
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