My Name is Khan Movie Reviews

My Name is Khan is the first movie created by Karan Johar without keeping the box office in his mind. Seemingly inspired by Forest Gump, the movie is based upon the hatred and bias towards the Muslim community because of the terrorist activities by certain groups, especially in USA after the unforgettable 9/11.

The movie very correctly emphasizes that a person should be assessed as a good person or a bad person only whatsoever religion he may be practising. Why should a good and kind-hearted Muslim and his family face the hatred and discard when they are in no way connected to the anti-human deeds of the Muslim terrorists ? Their religion is their identification and their faith. If they are good, loving and kind towards the other communities and the mankind in general, why should they suffer ?

However Karan Johar could not find himself able to underscore this point through a normal Muslim individual. For his cinematic convenience, he has created the character of Rizwan who is suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. He is naive and innocent like a child and hence believable with all his mannerisms. But then the story does not look like a really flesh and blood individual's story. It seems a bit artificial since beginning. After losing the little child who was born to his Hindu wife through her earlier marriage, in the post 9/11 hatred in USA towards Muslims, Rizwan has to face the brunt of his beloved wife who feels that she is a loving wife later, first a grief-stricken mother. Challenged by the discarding wife to meet the US president and convince him that despite being a Muslim, he is not a terrorist, Rizwan starts a journey covering many people and events full of sensitivity. In typical bollywood style, Rizwan ultimately succeeds in meeting not George Bush (to meet whom he had started the journey) but Barack Obama. Reason ! The US gets a new president, an Afro-Americal one, till Rizwan's journey comes to conclusion. Obama (the actor and not the real Obama) tells him - Your name is Khan and you are not a terrorist. And our beloved Rizwan (Shahrukh) Khan is happy to have achieved his objective and quite naturally regain his lost love.

The treatment of the story by Karan Johar is highly sensitive. The character of Shahrukh Khan is simply lovable courtesy his marvellous acting through which he has put himself aside completely and attained the soul of Rizwan Khan, a golden hearted person suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. However, some incidents are unnecessary as well as making the look of the movie a bit unreal. The easier path has been followed by the director to bring his movie towards the desired climax. However, for the first time, a director has shown the courage to depict a Muslim showing mirror to Muslims themselves by quoting Koran Sharif and the Muslim legends like Hazrat Ibrahim, warning them to beware of the Satan (the misguiding Muslim leaders in the modern sense).

Shahrukh Khan has made even those people his fans through his performance in MNIK who were earlier his critics. Simply a gem of a performance by him. Kajol is as natural as cold in Delhi in the month of December. But the complete supporting cast deserves a special mention for the cameos by different characters making a greater part of the movie's ultimate impact upon the viewers. Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jahan, Jimmi Shergill, Vinay Pathak, to name a few. The child artists have also done a splendid job.

The music is according to the mood of the movie. The art direction and the locations are highly impressive. Overall a good movie, not for the people fond of movies like KKHH or K3G (Karan's formula ventures). It is a movie low on entertainment value but high on inspirational value. A thought-provoking one.

Strongly recommended for all the Muslim and non-Muslim viewers who believe in the religion of humanity.

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My Name Is Khan and I am not a terrorist. The phrase not only has caught up with the audience like an anthem, but it also comes at a very crucial stage in the very beginning of the movie which accelerates the story further. I am not a huge Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar fan, but I have always felt that both have a tremendous potential to showcase their talent if given a strong script like My Name Is Khan. If you are looking for an entertainment movie like any other Karan Johar movies than you will definitely feel disappointed because the movie is not a regular Karan Johar love story. The story is about the spirit of humanity and how far one man can go to prove his love is stronger than all the false ideologies that we have about religion.

The story revolves around Rizwan Khan (Tanay Chheda) who grows up with his younger brother Zakir and a widowed mother in a middle class family, but suffers from autism. Though people consider Rizwan as mentally handicap, he is perfectly intelligent and good at repairing machines. He receives more attention from his mother which creates a kind of jealousy in the heart of Zakir who eventually prefers to move apart to United States for a better life. After the death of their mother, Zakir (Jimmy Shergill) sponsors Rizwan (Shah Rukh Khan) to United States and introduces him to his wife Haseena (Sonya Jehan) who is a psychiatrist and she confirms that Rizwan suffers from Asperger's syndrome. Rizwan begins to work under Zakir as a beauty products salesman and meets Mandira (Kajol) who runs a beauty salon. Mandira is a single mother and lives with his son Sameer (Yuvaan Makaar). Gradually Rizwan and Mandira come closer to each other and despite Zakir's disapproval they get married and begin to live a happy life, but their happiness is short-lived. One fine morning 9/11 happens and it changes the course of American history and lives of several Muslim people living in the United States and Rizwan is just one of them. Their beauty salon sales are hit because of the name tag "Khan" attached to it and their son Sameer dies in a racial school fight. Mandira is unable to bear the burden and shatters completely under the circumstances and blames Rizwan for all the happening. How Rizwan goes all the way to prove his love for Mandira and that he is not a terrorist is something really worth watching.

To be very honest, I hardly watch Karan Johar movies because they are nothing more than a typical masala entertainment, but this time Karan Johar has handled a very sensitive subject with immense care. The plot does not have any favoritism for any religion or sections of society and still comes out with a strong message that humanity is above any religion and full credit goes to Shibani Bathija for a powerful multi-layered story and screenplay that holds the attention of the viewers from scene one.

Shah Rukh Khan once again proves that he is the Badshah of Bollywood and if you enjoyed his serious performances in Chak De or Swades, I am sure you will love this one as well. Kajol is a power-house of acting and her performance tells us that talent is permanent and does not fade with time even if you are not performing. Jimmy Shergill does justice to his supporting role along with Sonya Jehan. Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is always at its best and songs like Sajda and Noor-e-Khuda are very soothing to ears. Technically, the cinematography by Ravi Chandran is awesome, especially the ariel shots are splendidly done and crisp editing by Deepa Bhatia makes the overall movie watching experience worthwhile. I would like to tell my readers that though there are news that the collection figures of the movie has slide down in the second week, I would humbly request that checkout this awesome movie and decide for yourself. I am sure when you walk out of the movie hall you will be happy that you made a good decision and followed your heart.

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MNIK is a sincere effort put forth by Karan Johar and his two best friends, Shah Rukh and Kajol to give the audience, an important message, that not all Musalman’s are terrorists. Read on to find how well the effort paid off. The plot is about an autism-struck individual, who is not just normal but much above normal. He can weave any machines, repair anything that is remotely motor and is highly innocent-yet-sharp!

The scene of Rizwan Khan’s childhood, where his single mother imbibes rich values pertaining to religion, by drawing a simple picture of a man beating a kid and the other where a man is offering candy to the boy, moves one’s heart completely. He grows up memorising words inscribed by his mother .Within minutes of the movie you feel proud of booking that seat. His habit of scripting everything reminds of namma Ghajini sir J

Demise of Rizwan’s mother, leads to him going to San Francisco to stay with his brother, who has an established business. His wife, a psychology professor, is tender and spiritual. She slowly understands Khan and his fobia of crowded places, loud noises and bright colours.

Big brother, meanwhile, gives Khan a marketing job that involves selling of beauty products. Rizwan does the needful, but not before he tries to “glow like a newly wed bride” himself. His candid nature, flow of words, expression of anger, fear and love keeps you interested despite the slow pace. His attraction to Mandira (Kajol), a single-mom of a seven-year-old, shows another side of the man who dreams of a love life, becomes effortlessly romantic and cunningly flirty when required. Like any lover, he doesn’t hesitate to drool, asking out for date or even proposing without going down on knees.

Soon, the Hindu lady is in awe and decides to become Mrs Khan. Then starts the fall of their little world, with the terror attack on 9/11. The country turns enemy to the Muslim community residing in USA. Khan family undergoes business loss, wrath from nieghbourhood and finally a cruel moment of vengeance. Mandira erupts with anger and decides to get rid of the Khan factor in her life. Thus begins the journey of Khan to meet the President of USA to pass an important message.

From here starts a series of faulty elements in the movie and the script visibly loses its way. One will see just about anything like Hurricanes, formation of terrorist groups, US elections and the obvious scene of torture from FBI with Mr Khan. The scene where Rizwan reaches the hurricane hit area, where the sophisticated US army could not, leaves you wondering if you are watching the same movie that touched your heart initially.

Karan Johar’s failure is prominent, considering he did not complete the movie with the zest, it began with. The script moved from portraying an innocent man, with very straight forward ideologies to show a superman, minus the flying skills.

MNIK is worth a watch for the smooth and effortless acting of both Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, but definitely not for its loose storyline. For Karan Johar, it’s a good effort mate, but certainly not the best!

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Karan Johar may have had good intentions, but overall, MNIK is a poorly executed film. The first half of the movie was a huge drag, and I kept looking at my watch to know how much longer the torture would go on. The second half was a bit more interesting, the effects on 9/11 on Muslim families were realistically depicted. But again, the second half will not score too many points since the movie lacked a clear direction at this stage - examples: Kajol pursuing the case of her son's death, SRK impressing America with his show of compassion towards hurricane victims (SRK the autistic man was suddenly leading the hurricane rescue efforts in neck-deep water), SRK's quest to meet the US president and so on a case of too many ideas being pursued!

SRK, as usual, over-acted, and anyone who watched Dustin Hoffman in "The Rainmaker" will see a close resemblance.

Overall, I felt Kajol did a much better job with acting. All the hype surrounding the movie made me watch it but I was very much disappointed.

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I had followed the promos of MNIK from the start. I knew exactly what to expect. And the film met and exceeded my expectations completely.

Talking about the story, I can see how the plot could have originated. When every major terrorist group is belonging to the Muslim community, it becomes increasingly difficult for Muslims to walk with self esteem. How can you get your self esteem back? By telling the whole world that ' I am a Muslim but I am not a terrorist'! And that is the aim of Rizwan's journey. In his journey, he meets many people whom he classifies in only two religions - Good and Bad. He loved his Hindu wife and son. He saw his mother in Moma Jenny who is a Christian. Obviously all of them followed the same religion; the religion of love - Good. He also comes across a terrorist recruiter who misinterpreted the verses of the Holy Quran to sway the minds of innocent Muslim youth. Needles to say this person followed the religion of Hate - Bad.

His persistence helps him to finally fulfill the task he set out for. Assuring us that Good will always endure all bads. If entertainment means a burst of laughter for you, then MNIK is the least entertaining of films. However, if it means a soul stirring performance, moist eyes, gripping story and a socially relevant message, then you will find it here.The story has been told very honestly. No attempt has been made to increase the so called 'entertainment' factor. I never realized when the songs came and went as it took the story forward. However, there are some good lighter moments as well. Especially the scene where Rizwan blushes when Mandira proposes to him was simply lovable.

The movie has a very strong message that you cannot brand everyone a terrorist just based on the actions of a few people. It should be taken as a secular statement. Note that Gauri still follows her Hindu rituals at home just as Mandira. Also the logo of Red Chillies has Om and 786 together which is a symbol of the secular mindset of SRK. My request to all viewers would be to feel proud of the kind of actors we have in SRK, Aamir, BigB, Salman, Akshay, Hrithik and the likes.

As Fox is distributing the film overseas, there are chances that this film might be shown at many international film festivals. I would not be surprised if it even gets nominated or gets an Oscar or any other prestigious international award.

Go and watch the film; go and appreciate humanity!

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The director is sincere in his intentions when he decided to make this movie BUT the final output came out of the factory is little disappointing Why?? the product is wrapped in a shining wrapper with great brand names but the product besides the wrapper is losing the standard ingredients..

MY NAME IS KHAN .....Rizvan Khan and i'm not a terroist is hyped like MY NAME IS BOND ..James Bond through out the movie. the same problem was with KAL HO NA HO few years back.

A few questions with no answer at all

1) Is the word KHAN the only identity for MUSLIMS?

2) Why producer need to go America to meet US President when in My own Country and neighbour countryMUSLIMS need a better recognition?

3)Why Kajol was used as a topping to the movie ..her Role was not just enough to justify her comeback.

4) Was Shiv sena drama was just a drama since just after few days ofbumper opening every news channel stopped talking about this controversary.

5) SinceoneCorrespondentwas covered in the movie thats why NDTV and its alliance hasgiven around 100 hours of footage?

6)Since FOX and STAR Networkis associated with the movie didevery news channel and Critic were biased in giving their reviews since more than 20 crores of ruppees were spent just to promote the movie inIndianmedia.

The movie could be watched once if one hasto see SRK since as RIZVAN KHAN his performance is good but his soul lies with KHAN only..Shahrukh Khan

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Karan johar could had saved the suffering of lacks of people who watched this movie by making it an 2 mins documentary , all this movie has got one dialog and one message "My name is khan and I am not terrorist", since 2 mins of cinema is not profitable so they added a failed love story into the movie , the overall experience could had been better without srk, he has hijacked the whole movie, negligible role by kajol and others, all the people who are praising srk role , just go and watch hrithik roshan koi mil gya, when role is big you need great acting skills to back it up , but srk as usual doing his overacting. I think he somehow know inside him that movie is crap so lets create some controversy , so if movie flopped I can then blame on shiv sena for that . some times srk become Einstein in the movie and some times dumb as a 5 yr old boy . again no logic.

Lets jump to the message what srk trying to give , Muslims are innocent and are very intelligent and they are taught in there upbringing to not to hate other religion. Muslims are harassed and targeted by people of other religion but they still love them. I don't know why our media was so biased toward this movie . At the end I will like to give a message to srk. Religion is not everything.

Consider nationalism our it , if you love your country then don't promote and try to give bad portrait of that country which give u a status you got today and lastly, don't fool people of your country just to earn some extra money.

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This movie is a perfect combo of over hype due to premonition. From the story to the performance of actors, the movie is a big disappointment...

The story is repetitive...the movie new york has the same story without any mentally upset melodrama, but it was quite reasonable...i do not know for how long indian directors would use the same content in an effort to touch the veiwers but end up in a mess like my name is khan...

Shahrukh khan’s performance as being mentally unstable is not up to the mark..it does not attract the viewer sympathy at all...he looks like the girl who performs main lead in the serial "antara" shown on zee tv.the serial is pathetic and so is shahrukh’s performance. Kajol’s performance is okay but she is too fat to be seen as main lead in the movie. Some of the scenes in the movie are completely baseless like when shahrukh goes to Georgia during flood. He opens the door of the church and finds whole town waiting for him. Today us is aiding a lot of nations in crisis and natural calamities so why can’t it help its people. Why shahrukh is the first one to help the people in the town and then the media and shahrukh’s acquaintances reach there....

There are so many scenes that seem ridiculous like when a Muslim dr. Is preaching jehad to his fellow Muslims, shahrukh intervenes and then calls fbi about him and his terrorism plans. Also kajol’s fight to get justice for her son does not seem to be touchy. Lastly, the end scene when shahrukh meets president of us was simply pathetic since the president does not say anything substantial about injustice faced by shahrukh and kajol.

After watching the movie shahrukh’s criticism by shiv sena and the whole violence by the party to prevent mumbites from watching the movie, seems to be a planned activity by movie’s crew just to arouse curiosity among public to watch the movie and invigorate a sense of discrimination on the basis of religion among Muslims.

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I went with lots of preconceived notions to watch MNIK. I mean how many of Bollywood movies do we see with some real research work done for the story. Being a mother of an autistic child myself, I had my doubts (about the grasp of the complex subject) from the Director/actors of the movie, but hats off to Karan Johar for picking up the facts correctly and to Shahrukh Khan for picking up the nuances very well, the character detailing has been done very thoroughly (in all the three Khans played by three different age group actors), the mannerism, facts about Asperger's were a perfectly and effortless blended in the script without boring the audience with the complex details about the disorder.

Some may ask why was the main protagonist required to be a person suffering with Asperger's and not some normal guy. But that is the beauty of this story.People suffering with Autism lack complex and abstract emotions(or at least unable to process them), they are devoid of cunning, hypocrisy, cynicism, for these are abstract emotions for them, and that's why things or people are either good or bad for them and what is taught to them never changes. It remains with them through out their lives "unlike the normal us". Are we not told like Khan's mother in the movie about the good guy and the bad guys but we tend to forget and that is what essentially the film is about and lets not try to forget it.

Though in the later half I think the director got carried away with the Hurricane Katrina episode which just dragged the movie a bit, but overall it has a very universal theme and I think lots of people world over would be able to relate with it.

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Most of the reviews written here are fake. Most of which rated as 5 stars are written within a single hour or a day to the max. See their history and you will find promotion of SRK movies. I never knew so much could go in promoting a movie. Everything you see in TV, websites, blogs atc which talk about this movie looks like made up to me.

This movie is an average movie. Acting was not that good, many flaws in scenes (Kajol holding a board abt finding the murderer when a whole bunch of spectators are watching from the podium as if they are watching a match / USA govt not initiating rescue efforts even after many days of news flashing about certain towns caught in floods and downfall etc).

Overall, message is good but a lot of manipulation has gone into promoting the movie.

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Open Letter to Mr Shahrukh Khan

Everyone knows that your movie My name is Khan is a trigger from your recent experience at New Jersey Airport, real life is a little different - it does not always follow the path predicted by a scriptwriter or by paid media puppets. And proof is in the pudding.

Today’s Business news confirms that in India the movie has NOT done well. Because it was released in Muslim countries, by virtue of the name it may have grossed some. And you ought to know why it has not gone well with Indian audiences contrary to your paid media reports that falsely claim that you had the last laugh. You aren’t laughing right now and that is evident.

Recently you said, “It (Pakistan) is a great neighbor to have. We (India and Pakistan)are great neighbors. They are good neighbors.” You tried to defend Paki player Shoaib Malik’s apology to the Muslims, living

all over the world, for failing to win the final T20 match against India. “I don”t think he meant to segregate Muslims and Christians and Hindus and say this was a match between Islam and Hinduism. I don't think

that..”  You did not really have to respond for somebody else but perhaps you could not resist the temptation to show your brotherhood and solidarity.

Reminds us again of Dr Ambedkar’s observation that, “Thebrotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only.” Partition of India was what Pakistan

wanted and got. Since then Pakistan has offered us only hatred. It has imposed on us three major wars, the Kargil insurgency, the Kashmir conflict, the series of serial blasts, the routine violation of border ceasefires, attacks on the Parliament House and the recent Mumbai 26/11 attack.  In almost all occasions of terrorism, questions are raised about possible role of Pakistan, its terror bases and its terrorist organizations, as either directly or indirectly involved. Be it state sponsored (as recently admitted by President Zardari) or by non-state actors, Pakistan or Pakistani born are prime suspect in terrorist activities all over the world.

The ISI has been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks including 9/11 in the USA, terrorism in Kashmir, Mumbai Train Bombings, London Bombings, Indian Parliament Attack, Varanasi bombings, Hyderabad bombings, Mumbai terror attacks or the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Do you believe these are marks of a good neighbor?

Our ancestors may be the same but we from the same original land of Bharat want to keep her intact, they want to break it into thousand pieces. Do you think that the Indians nationals who died in all the above wars, the Indian soldiers who lost their lives in cross-border ceasefire violations or the Indian civilians who are killed by the ISI trained Islamic terrorists and their affiliates, in all those serial blasts, all over the country, willfully

sacrificed their lives as a friendly neighborhood gesture?

Can you face the families of the victims of 26/11, or the martyrs of the Kargil war and try to explain to them that “They are good neighbors. Let us love each other.” Can you explain why the two gunmen at Cama hospital, during the Mumbai carnage, asked the man who gave them water, what his religion was, and shot him

dead when he said he was a Hindu? Let us remind you, your own statement “I am a Muslim in a country called India. We have never been made to feel this is a Hindu country.” Can you find me a Hindu in Pakistan who can reciprocate that sentiment?

So DO NOT ask us to love Pakistan, DO NOT insult the land that gave you your life, name and fame, by claiming that her worst enemy, who wants to break her into 1000 pieces, is a great neighbor. Otherwise DO NOT feel offended if somebody accuses you of putting your religion ahead of your country or for acting like a buffoon!!

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Ever since its release, reviewers and audiences have been busy comparing MNIK with Forrest Gump. So, is it true? Definitely Not! While Forrest Gump was an extraordinary lifetime journey of a low-IQ-nice-guy, MNIK deals with the mending of a relationship smothered by typecasting of communities in the aftermath of terror attacks. The protagonist’s condition, Asperger’s Syndrome adds a third angle to the story.

Born with social interaction disability, Rizvan detests anything yellow or loud, but is gifted with the ability of repairing appliances. Events lead him to the US where he falls in love and marries the vivacious Mandira. Things change post 9/11 when Mandira’s son is killed in the communal hatred for his last name ‘Khan’. She now hates Rizvan for giving them the last name. It is now up to Khan to regain his lost love!

While being sentimental, MNIK packs in a message that every Muslim is not a terrorist, and Khan wants to tell this to the US President. Too many obstacles are thrown in, including a hurricane, terror suspicions, imprisonment, et al. But northing bothers our undauntedhero who even simplistically offers to repair the Air Conditioner in the prison! Ah yes, he also teaches us about pronouncing “Khan from the epiglottis”.

Religious tolerance is a hackneyed Bollywood theme. But, MNIK does it with a lot of heart. Khan lives by his mother’s principles that no religion is bad, but it is people who are either good or bad. His sincere journey touches hearts, admonishes hardliners and pines to re-unite with Mandira who now finds strength in hatred and prefers it to the weakness of love for Khan. The SRK-Kajol pairing here is simply beyond words!

Coming from a director best known for ‘loving your parents’ family movies, Karan Johar has carefully blended his ‘relationship’ skills with stronger themes of religion and disabilities, all into one film. Considering that SRK is one the producers, I won’t entirely believe that his airport security drama was not a publicity stunt! The producers must also thank the politicos for giving a nitrous boost to the release and its profits!

What makes MNIK tick is its cast. While King Khan is probably the best ‘emotion’ actor, adding Kajol to the combo makes it a killer. Tannay Chheda of Slumdog fame as the young Khan has some resemblance with SRK and Zarina Wahab as his mother is apt. Jimmy Shergill as Khan’s brother is decent but Sonia Jehan is outstanding in her role as the professor sister-in-law of Khan who identifies his condition and helps him.

Some of the songs like Sajda are Tere Naina make Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s work worthwhile. The songs don’t interrupt the flow either; a credit to the editors. Filming locations are the glossy as usual but those one that is over the top is the little Georgian town that propels Khan to Stardom. While it is undeniable that MNIK has an overdose of drama, it has packs in a lot of little moment