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Other Critic Reviews
'MNIK' Compelling mirror of troubled times
By Minu Jain  3.5 Stars
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3 stars My Name Is Khan has its share of cringe worthy scenes, but the film as a whole works. The second half ruins what should have been a thoroughly satisfying experience.
 - Ashok Nayak    Fri, 12 Feb 2010
A film like My Name Is Khan needs no introduction.

- One, it stars the legendary onscreen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol who return to sizzle after 9 long years.
- Two, it's from the makers of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
- Three, it's distributed worldwide by Fox Searchlight Pictures who also distributed the Oscar sweeping Slum dog Millionaire.

My Name Is Khan is about Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh) who suffers from a peculiar disease, Asperger Syndrome that makes him different from the rest around him especially due to his odd behavioral patterns. With autism comes fear or disgust towards certain things, like he can't stand too loud a noise or the color yellow. So after spending most of his life in Mumbai, he moves to San Francisco and lives with his brother and sister-in-law. But despite all his disabilities, he soon finds love in Mandira (Kajol) and settles in martial bliss. But post 9/11, when attitudes towards Muslims undergo a sea-change, their happy home falls apart. Tragedy strikes in and devastated Mandira decides to split ways with Rizwan. To win her back and to regain his respect, he embarks on a touching and inspiring journey across America.

The film starts off very well; Karan is completely in control of his craft, deftly churning out crowd-pleasing moments. In no time, you fall in love with Rizwan Khan and later with the charismatic Mandira. The two share great chemistry in the romance filled first half. At interval point with fingers dipped into hot pop-corn and expectations of an equally good follow-up, Karan disappoints. The second half is slow-paced and filmy with unnecessary cinematic liberties and scenes that stretch beyond your imagination.

Karan as a director has matured, My Name Is Khan is unlike any of his other films; there is no running around trees here, nor lip-sync songs. Yet he plays to the gallery. Blame the expectations or his own insecurity, but MNIK falls slightly short of being a classic.

Shahrukh as Rizwan Khan is lovable. His performance isn't close to consistent nor is it completely convincing, but his expressions and charisma succeed in making you root for Rizwan. Kajol is amazing and puts across a genuinely heart warming performance. Sumeet Raghavan, Navneet Nishan, Vinay Pathak have short roles. Soniya Jehan is very effective. Arif Zakaria is perfectly cast.

As mentioned, there is no singing and dancing in the film, still the music plays a major role in enhancing the experience. Tere Naina, one of the better tracks in the album, is repeated often.

To sum up, My Name Is Khan has its share of cringe worthy scenes, but the film as a whole works. The second half ruins what should have been a thoroughly satisfying experience.


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