The Use of Pink – My Name is Khan Review

It is a late review of the film, so I am not writing everything about it. Most of the things have already been said about the film, so I don’t think it makes much sense to revisit them. The review might have a few spoilers as it describes a few scenes in the film.

For a change we have an Indian film where a character is suffering from a disease but we don’t have any lectures, or doctors giving lectures, on how the character would behave. SRK simply plays the role and lets the people understand on their own the behavior of the disease by seeing the mannerisms of the lead actor and hearing his voice-overs. The disease was never highlighted in the film and I really liked that fact very much.

Karan Johar tried to do something different in this film while still managing to bring in the right emotions. There is lot of emotional manipulation done in the film mostly in the second half. We can see Rizwan Khan feeling the pain of losing Sameer especially in the church scene in Georgia where he speaks about Sameer. SRK delivered a very powerful performance in the scene where he had to express sadness but could not cry because he had Asperger’s. He smiles while mentioning his son’s death and yet he manages to express his sadness. We can see tears in his eyes that were not able to come out because of his condition. In the penultimate scene where he finally meets Kajol in the hospital, a drop of tear that was waiting to come out for a long time finally drops from his eyes. So, even though the film had made some sacrifices when it came to the disease, it was very rich in emotions and worked well for me.

My Name is Khan may not be a perfect film, but it is a very brave effort by the team who almost pulled off 3/4 of the movie very well. There were some unwarranted moments like product placement of Reebok shoes in the film or the introduction of the lead characters in a suspenseful way. I don’t think that suited a serious film like MNIK at all. I don’t know what was the need for President Obama’s role in the film and if it would have mattered if SRK meets President Bush instead of President Obama. Introduction of Obama’s role unnecessarily extended the time period in the film from 2005 to 2008. Also I didn’t quite agree with the job of salesman that Rizwan Khan was asked by his brother to do. I read that autistic people don’t like meeting new people, but the job of salesman is nothing but meeting new people.



Also I don’t agree much with the screenplay of the film. I don’t think the film deserved a non-linear screenplay. It was a kind of film which should have been told in a sequential order so that the reason of the journey is clearer to the audience. It is clear to those who have seen the trailers of the film, but a few years from now, for a person who is completely unaware of the film and catches it on DVD, the non-linear timeline might not work too well.

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My Name Is Shibani Bhatija & Then there was Rizvan Khan

Lets work in the reverse gear here. Now there is the film, MY NAME IS KHAN, there are the actors, the director, the song, etc. But before all this, it must have been the writer, who looked around and decided, away from all the fame and noise, perhaps in solitude or perhaps amongst people, that this story and these characters, had to be created and brought to the large screen. Here we probe that mind, which earlier gave us FANAA, KANK, etc and talk with the writer of MY NAME IS KHAN (MNIK), Shibani Bhatija. Having interacted, quizzed and probed her earlier, in SF and LA and NY, the one thing she doesn’t lack, is absolute conviction in her work. She is ready to face all questions, the true hallmark of a believer in their craft. Over to Shibani:

To you as a Writer, what is My Name Is Khan all about?
My Name is Khan is all about belief. Beginning with Karan’s belief in me where he, for the first time in his career, is directing a film someone else has written. Then, Karan and my belief in a love story, that encompasses not just romantic love, or filial love, but the greater love of humanity. The belief, of the entire cast and crew, in what was always going to be an out-of-comfort zone, and an immensely challenging film. And, last but not the least, the belief of the character Rizvan Khan that there are good people who do good to others and there are bad people who do bad and that is the only difference between human beings.

What made you take up this story, as the one that had to be told?

Every aspect of this story encompasses my own framework of beliefs. I believe that human beings can rise above the ordinary. I believe that love that has the power to literally move mountains and I believe that discrimination, for caste, creed, color, gender, religion or disability, is a scourge that we must actively work towards removing.

Your earlier collaboration with Karan, was not exactly a mushy story KANK but certainly a space that Dharma had been in, however, this time both of you collaborated on something “out of their box,” what was that experience like?
As clichéd as it might sound, the God’s honest truth is that the experience of working with Karan has always been wonderful. He has great respect for writing, is open, decisive, generous, demanding and approaches everything he does with passion and wit. But above all he never rests on his laurels and constantly strives to stretch himself. This is what has prompted him to take on something as demanding as My Name is Khan and I am so glad he chose me create the stage on which he can showcase his immense growth as a filmmaker. Not just that, he gave me complete freedom to tell Rizvan’s story from my heart and provided every support possible, including his own invaluable inputs, to make sure it was the best it could be.

Multiple geographies have been used in this story, some where you have spent a lot of time yourself, was that a conscious decision, to use locations in the Bay Area, etc,or was that more a product of the story flowing and deciding for itself, what location comes next?
Once the setting of the United States was settled upon. I was very keen to use San Francisco as a starting point. Yes, it is my favorite city and I have studied and lived there, but more so it was perfect for the quirky Rizvan and his quirky love story with Mandira. In San Francisco the love story of a man with Asperger’s and a single mom seems entirely natural. After that choice we moved into spaces the story demanded.

Read more HERE.