Akshay Kumar in the latest cola commercial advertisement is seen performing dangerous stunts and indulging in death defying sport Parkour. Like the advert?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Top Ten Songs of the week
Top Ten Songs of the week
1. Hey Ya – Karthik Calling Karthik
2. Noore Khuda – My Name is Khan
3. Give Me some Sunshine – 3 Idiots
4. Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji – Ishqiya
5. Uff Teri Adaa – Karthik Calling Karthik
6. Cham Cham – Striker
7. Neeyat – Teen Patti
8. Shaapit Hua – Shaapit
9. Rubayee – Click
10.Salam Aya – Veer
Teaser of Shaapit – The Cursed
Does ‘My Name is Khan’ Deserve 5/5 Rating? Movie Review
Does My Name is Khan deserve a full 5/5 rating? Or is it because KJo and SRK are big names and the movie has all the media hype. After watching the movie twice. I think ‘Yes it does.’ Full marks – 5/5 …. Here’s why!
Characterization: Meet Rizwan Khan, a middle class Mumbaikar, mildly autistic – suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. Rizwan is brought up by a very strong, secular, yet a very loving mother Razia (Zarina Wahab) who teaches Rizwan the most important lesson in life that not only shapes his character but also shapes the story – She teaches him that the only difference between people is of ‘Good and Bad’, rest all doesn’t matter. This theme continues as a leitmotif throughout the story against many divisions – Normal and Autistic, American and Asian, Black and White, Muslims and Non-Muslims, Terrorists and Victims, Love and Hatred!
Rizwan is simple, he speaks straight from the heart and manages to convey the most complex things in the simplest of ways. It just takes him two honest words ‘Marry Me’ to propose to Mandira, a hairstylist, and a single mom, a very regular girl, who fights her way out of a broken marriage into a happy life with her son. Later Mandira succumbs to the pressures of life and like most of us, lets hatred and bitterness motivate her and mobilize her to avenge her wrong doers. She is quite contrary to Rizwan, who personifies – unadulterated piety, optimism, hope, goodness and unfaltering focus on his goal that makes any other grief, pain, and hardship seem smaller! Nothing could crack Rizwan and embitter him, even the worst of griefs, the cruelest of tortures and harshest of injustice, bitterest of words – opposite to Mandira who is so strong yet so vulnerable.
Story, Screenplay and Dialogues: Well researched and well thought, the story of Rizwan is weaved intricately with respect to the others – be it Mandira and his son Sameer, his mom Razia, Professor Wadia – his teacher, Zakir and Haseena – his brother and sister-in-law, Sarah and Mark – his caring friends and neighbors, Mama Jenny and Joel – who shelter him on his journey or the rest of America who tests him at every step he takes. All this to meet the President just tell him few simple words – My Name is Khan, and I am not a Terrorist!
The script is a masterpiece, despite the vast scope of the story with many events and characters, the script is strong, straight-forward and precise, doing justice to every scene, situation, character, setting and the basic treatment of the film. The film absorbs you completely without being too heavy on the heart and mind. Rizwans journey through the length of the first half may seem too long and tiring but when the means meet their end, you walk back home inspired and touched.
Karan Johar and Shibani Batijha deserve accolades for their sensitive handling of the theme, their research into the basics of Autism and Aspergers Syndrome, aspects of Islam as a religion often wrongly interpreted by its own followers as much as the Westerners in the light of 9/11 in an extremely paranoid and defensive America.
And mind you, they are not taking sides here or giving an opinion on the West or Fundamentalists. Like Khuda Ke Liye, it just aims to bring out the stories of innocent Muslim people who pay the price of terrorism in the name of Islam, America’s paranoia and wrong interpretation of Islam by its own followers i.e. the fundamentalists in a divided world post 9/11.
Niranjan Iyengar and Shibani Bathija’s work on dialogues is noteworthy. They have this sparkling simplicity yet inspiring depth to them.
Direction: It is wrong for critics to condemn Karan Johar for his signature style of cinema, which was often about mushy love sequences and songs, grand and opulent palatial houses and the NRI elites who sang and danced through big fat Indian weddings. With this film, Karan Johar comes of age, he brings meaningful and moving cinema in his signature style which understands ‘entertainment’ as the bottomline of every film. He displays impressive maturity in handling sequences that demanded restraint and sensitivity. Perhaps we could count Karan Johar as not only one of the most commercially successful filmmakers but one of the most creatively insightful filmmakers India has produced.
Cinematography: Ravi K Chandran follows Rizwan Khan on his journey and portrays with elan every place in the film – be it the sparkling San Francisco, the dingy gullies of Mumbai, the poor hurrican hit village of Wilhelmina, the downtown Indianness of America, the lonely void of Rizwan’s journey at sinister and secluded places of a paranoid country, Mandira’s pain and agony – all beautifully captured and translated on screen.
Editing: Deepa Bhatia’s editing is crisp and fruitful in layering the story well – back and forth in time. Smart move to reduce the length of the movie strictly to 2 hrs 40 minutes only. Any longer than that could’ve diluted the impact of the story and screenplay.
Performances: Shahrukh Khan takes us by storm, rightly said, this is his best act so far – much above his finest (which I consider Asoka, Swades and Chak De India). He prepared for his role putting in a lot of research and hardwork which was obvious. His mannerisms, gait, body language, eye movement, laughter within a limited emotional graph of an autistic character are well enacted. He emotes brilliantly in the proposing scene, the wedding night scene, death scene of his son, detention and torture and the church speech about his son.
Kajol makes a refreshing comeback, she looks gorgeous in a well styled character, displays her signature strength in handling emotional and traumatic scenes with sincerity. Tanmay Chheda and Yuvaan who play young Rizwan are good too. Zarina Wahab remains the most impressive of remaining performances. Almost everyone right from, Mama Jenny to Reese and Sam have given great performances but Shahrukh remains the heart and soul of the film. Absolutely brilliant!
Music:
Shankar Ehsaan Loy perfectly understood the temperament of the film and impressed with soulful melodies like Noor-e-Khuda and Naina wonderfully sung by Pakistani singers Shafaqat Amanat Ali and Adnan Sami, while Sajda a romantic sufi melody with Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan displaying his vocal expertise with the soulful Richa Sharma. Very impressive indeed.
Above all, its an extremely well made historically significant movie that touches the heart and inspires the mind in today’s divided and biased world. It makes us go back and retrospect about the only bifurcation that matters – of good and bad.
I give it full marks too.
- Fareeha AK
SRK thanks his fans for making MNIK a success
Shah Rukh Khan has thanked his fans worldwide for making My Name is Khan a roaring success that it is ready to rewrite history by becoming the first Hindi movie to have smashing world wide box office collections.
SRK thanked his fans who braved the terrorizing threats of Shiv Sainiks and went to watch his movie in full swing.
SRK tweeted: ” Thanks for mnik. truly touched by the response & love. keep it flowing..we can repair everything in the world. after all v only made it !!I am humbled by this show of love & kindness. so dont know wot else to say. overwhelmed & promise will make india proud with my hard work. i realise today…i am just a film hero…u all in the theatres r the real deal. god feel so loved & humbled. hats off to all heroes.”
Thanking his fans further, he wrote, ” Am i gushing too much & regretting too often.well let me.its the first time i am fan..of my audience. a huge hug.u all r rockstars.will u all give me ur autographs and pose for pictures with me…will keep it in my heart forever. my name is fan…& i am not a star..u r.thanx again…am glad most of u liked the film. makes me very happy and relaxed.”
Congratulations SRK for the success of the movie.
Bollywood condemns Pune blasts on Twitter
The bomb blast yesterday in German bakery, Pune has left 9 people dead and 57 injured. Bollywood folks furiously tweeted about the terror attack in social networking site Twitter.
Amitabh Bachchan: “When will this mindless violence end. Will we ever resolve this? Our heart and prayers to those who suffer.”
SRK: “Pains me to no end to see innocent lives lost again. wot is the cause… does anyone remember..how is this the solution. (sic)”
Priyanka Chopra: Tragic to hear about the Pune blast.My condolences to the families who lost their loved ones..Lets condemn this hatred.. Spread love n peace
Anushka Sharma: Prayer for all the victims n families of pune blast, pls god let love prevail n this cruel , mindless spread of terror get wipedout entirely.
Hrithik Roshan: “When will these madmen realise that war is never the answer. My heart goes out to the victims n their families. But tweeple don’t allow this terrorism to instill anger in you. cause that’s what they want. that will make us just like them. only incisive investigation n deep human understanding can eventually uproot the evil for good. An eye for eye makes the world blind. my prayers for the victims. the attackers must be brought to justice (sic),”
Shahid Kapoor: Shocked to hear bout da poona blasts … Y for god sake .. A silent prayer for all of humanity.Happy valentines day people spread the luv. Tats da only thing that can keep this world goin. All this madness needs to stop. Mindless purposeless inhuman acts (sic).”
Sonam Kapoor: i urge young ones to be idealistic,be aware,have a conscience only our right choices can better our circumstances and the future of india.cant believe that the german bakery was bombed,spreading terror is the work of evil.i will pray for the 8 vict,the injured & their families.
Vivek Oberoi: Driving back 2mumbai, my thoughts are with those who lost their lives in the blast…and the ones they left behind in mourning.
Celina Jaitley: oh God mostly its a confirmed terror attack ..if only we would all concentrate our energies the real threat n real issues
Imran Khan : Be strong Pune. All our thoughts are with you.
Reitesh Deshmukh: Absolutely shocking- German bakery blast.pray for all the victims n injured
We at Bollywood celebden condemns the attack on German bakery in Pune and prays for the people who have lost their lives in this gruesome attack. RIP
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