Thursday, December 17, 2009

Polished pursuit of perfection

Karan Johar likes directing movies with Shah Rukh Khan in them. His latest - My name is Khan - is no different. Based on the preview, which was released recently, it seems to be a mishmash with many different themes running through it. In other words - a typical Bollywood melodrama.

Let the tears roll!

10 comments:

Leela said...

I find it weird that Indian film-makers feel that if the lead character is a Muslim, then the story must be related to terrorism(9/11 or riots etc)!

Why can't Bollywood make films where Muslims are "regular" people?

Jaunty Quicksand said...

That's a very interesting and valid point, L.

I spent a long time (the better part of a day or more) trying to think of one Bollywood movie in which the hero happened to be a Muslim bloke and it was treated in an incidental manner and not as a plot element.

My mind draws a blank. Anyone else with exceptions to this rule?

Leela said...

C'mon now...Iqbal, of course!
:-)

Jaunty Quicksand said...

Okay, I'll give you that. :-) Maybe it was too obvious for me to pick up on!

Any more? Or is that the exception that just proves the rule?

Axis.Mundi said...

good point, leela.
also typical and massively hypocritical : shahrukh khan in his first role as a muslim demonizes america. now, if america is really so evil, why go there, why film there and and contribute to their bottom line, why do your tacky shows there?
if shahrukh khan has an honest bone in his body,he should boycott america and deprive them of his melodramatic talent.

Leela said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leela said...

JQ,

Well there is Chak De India; sure the fact that the coach is Muslim is an important aspect of the story...but it's not the main point.

Other than that... I draw a blank.

Axis.Mundi,

Totally agree.
BTW stay away from Kurbaan. I cannot fathom how Saifina agreed to act in that film.
If I were a Muslim, I would be so offended.
Heck, I am offended!

Jaunty Quicksand said...

A-M, welcome to the blog. I am curious about what Karan Johan and SRK have to "say" with the movie and will reserve judgement until after the movie is out and not base my complete thoughts on just a preview.

L, even in Chak De India SRK being a Muslim is a big subtext, especially considering who he was supposedly in cahoots with when he lost the game. What I am looking for are movies where the hero is Muslim and it is incidental, like when the hero is named Vijay or Karan and it does not matter one bit that they are Hindus. So search on we must for more examples...so far, I have Iqbal (though I have not watched the movie in one sitting so I am vague about the exact details).

Leela said...

Well there was Maqbool... though I forget now if the main characters being Muslim was incidental or an important subtext.

Jaunty Quicksand said...

I have not seen Maqbool though if it is a reworking of MacBeth, I cannot imagine religious affiliation being an issue.

(And yes, while we are on it, I have not seem Omkara either. I know, I know).