Superfluous Rants

The first trailer for Karan Johar’s Shahrukh-Kajol starrer “My Name is Khan” was released today. You can find it on Youtube by clicking here.

According to IMDB, the film is about Rizwan Khan, a Muslim from the Borivali section of Mumbai,  who suffers from Asperger syndrome (a form of high-functioning autism complicating socialization). The adult Rizwan marries a Hindu single mother, Mandira, in San Francisco. After  9/11, Rizwan is detained by authorities at LAX who mistake his disability for "suspicious" behavior. Following his arrest, he meets Radha, a therapist who helps him deal with his situation and his affliction. Rizwan then begins a journey to meet US President Obama to clear his name.

In all honesty, when I first heard about this project I was very skeptical. Karan Johar doing a serious film on humanity. Hmm will it be another Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna? A supposedly “mature” film about infidelity but in fact a big forced tear fest.
Having seen the trailer, however, I am more optimistic.
I understand everyone and their grandmother will already make the assumption of dismissing this film based on any/or all of the following:
- Karan Johar cannot make anything but bubble gum candy flavoured films that follow the typical outline for the massses.
- Shahrukh Khan always overacts
- Karan Johar…seriously? GTFO..Lots of Kanta-behn references, homoerotic jokes, scantily clad skanks, poorly dubbed foreigners etc.

Granted these assumptions are fair and understandable, consider the following:
- Shahrukh Khan did an extensive study on Asperger syndrome. It has been reported that he has stayed in character even at home, while on break from filming.
- A copy of the script and a director’s cut was sent to the National Autistic Center to make sure the disability in question was portrayed properly.
- Karan Johar and screenwriter Shibani Bhatija has met and constantly worked with Chris Aston (Asperger syndrome sufferer) and his wife, the couple who was the inspiration behind relationship of Kajol and Shahrukh in the film.
- Following the current trend of new-age Bollywood cinema, songs inspired by the film are either situational or in the background. (Yes, no extended romantic duets featuring Shahrukh and Kajol in the wheat fields of Punjab)
- 20th Century Fox will be distributing the movie worldwide and the trailer will be attached with James Cameron’s Avatar.

Why am I stating all this? Well, from personal experience….I have seen many dismiss Shahrukh Khan often quite unfairly on the basis of the vast number of type casted roles he usually portrays. While I completely agree he has hammed up more than often (can’t blame the producers for making films with guaranteed returns)….he has also done gems like Maya Memsaab, Hey Ram, and more recently, Chak De India.
I am interested in seeing how Karan Johar handles a realistic film dealing with underlying socio-political themes for the first time. He is a proven formulaic director, no doubt about that. So this will be something completely different from him. The trailer gave me a feel-good-Forrest-Gump-like vibe. 
Will this movie be great/flawless/epic? Who knows. But at least come February, those who wish to see it, I hope leave their biases aside and make judgements after having seen the film. 

PS. All that and I didn’t even mention how hot Kajol is.