| Author | Message | ||
     Jalsa Moderator Username: Jalsa Post Number: 11074 Registered: 02-2008 Rating: N/A |
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| Jodhaa Hero Username: Jodhaa Post Number: 12193 Registered: 02-2008 Posted From: 117.204.65.109 Rating: N/A |
eppudu hyd velthaano, eppudu e cinema choosthano..Karan Johar  | ||
| Staples Junior Artist Username: Staples Post Number: 69 Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 98.231.226.64 Rating: N/A |
http://www.india.com/movies/movie-reviews/movie-review-my-na me-khan_7153 One day aliens will land on Earth to offer mankind answers to the secrets of the universe. But because of films like 'My Name is Khan' they will deem us unworthy and return to the Heavens once more in their cheese-free interstellar cruisers. 'My Name is Khan', quite frankly, is overblown and needlessly sugar-coated. Rather than go the long way around to your emotions, (you know, with sympathetic characters and good writing), Karan Johar uses movie shortcuts like retarded people, cute kids and blaring dramatic music. The story of 'My Name is Khan' is so unrealistic that it could only take place in a parallel universe. Its a mentally-challenged melodrama of self-aggrandizing proportions and its 2 hours of poorly written dialogue sum up the substance of the movie. Of course its a Karan Johar film, and subtlety goes flying out the window - but its time Bollywood discontinued with its redundant, overbearing references to 9/11, jihad, and overdone shots of the Koran, apart from the frustratingly forced sequences involving 'The Meek Protagonist' suddenly turning into 'The Bollywood Hero' (in this case Mr Rizwan Khan saves an African-American family from floods) . A movie where Shahrukh Khan meets Barack Obama to win his wife back is less drama and more Science Fiction. But that would have been fine had the film not been a never ending, numbing melodramatic nothingness drowned in the sticky syrup that a doctor prescribes to you as a remedy for cough. My Name is Khan's script (by Shibani Bathija) is intellectually vapid, and should come with a blood sugar alert what with its layers of cheese. Like other Kjo films, the script is soggy and flamboyantly manipulative. It lacks focus and consistency of approach, and the end result is a mixture of emotional manipulation and laughable caricature. If racism is so pervasive in today's world, why do we need such an elaborately contrived plot to drive home the message? The film's real message isn't anti-racism but pro-star power and pro-cinematographer - My Name is Khan seems to shout 'Look its Shahrukh Khan!' and 'Look how gorgeous the film looks!' Director Karan Johar, the visionary that he is, injects new life into the stale Bollywood drama genre by introducing a mentally handicapped leading man and his loving wife, only to pull the rug from under us by transposing their roles when you least expect it. The acting is expectedly over the top, but MNIK thankfully does not completely reduce SRK, one of the best screen actors of all time, to a mugging embarrassment. Shahrukh really tries hard to dole up a studied, thoughtful performance, but the story is just terrible and written, no doubt, to accommodate several agendas. The ploy works, for SRK's Rizwan Khan WILL melt fans' hearts and leave them chanting, 'Filmfare award! Filmfare award!! Get this guy a Filmfare award!!' The leading lady has a solid screen presence but the much-hyped jodi of Shahrukh and Kajol disappoints, because the duo are not in sync with the fundamentals and intricacies of the people they play. Jimmy Shergill remains as rigid as a bookcase while the half a dozen cameos (particularly Vinay Pathak and Sumeet Raghavan) are criminally misused. However Tanay Chheda who plays the young Rizwan is extraordinary, while Arjan Aulja and Sonya Jehan are excellent. Apart from Noor-E-Khuda, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music does not work but Ravi K. Chandran's eye-popping cinematography certainly does - the imagery of Georgia will especially linger in your mind long after you've left the theater. The editing should have been given a once over since 'My Name is Khan' really drags in its second half. Final verdict? If 'My Name is Khan' and 'Dariya Dil', a serious drama which has Govinda dressed up as Superman romancing a heroine in a Spiderman costume, were the very last two movies at the DVD store, I would pick 'Dariya Dil'. |
