My Name Is Khan

Before I begin with my views on the said film, I would like to narrate an incident that took place many months ago. It may come across as some random rambling to some…well then rambling it is.

I had gone to the beach with my 5 year old niece. Yup, those were the days I was possessed by the fitness bhoot till the real me took over again, but that’s another story. Anyway, there I was doing my runs while my niece made sand castles with the help of her toys. 45 minutes into the run and then I decided it was time to retire. As I walked up to my niece I noticed a couple of tiny toddies helping her build the sandy caricatures.

They were just regular kids… sharing toys, giggling at each other’s silliness, looking proudly at the sight of their handmade monument. But for some reason I didn’t notice them just as that. To me the only bit that was very visible was – These kids are Muslims – And they are playing with my niece.

Yes better sense did prevail and I did let the kids play to their hearts content. But for many days I was not able to rid myself of the guilt for thinking something so irrelevant. Had those kids been of any other faith, would have even noticed or given a crap?

Cut to the movie…

As part of the elitist group of movie goers (the self appointed ones, mind you), most often I would crib over the fact that our popular productions houses & directors lacked balls of steel when it came to experimentation. Thinking out of the box was hard, sticking to tried & tested formula came but so naturally. And Mr. Karan Johar was no exception.

He made big budgeted, highly diabetic candy floss films and as professional sugar addicts we licked it all up time and time again. That is till Kabhi Alvida Na Kehana happened.

My Name Is Khan is bundled with flaws; be it where airlines don’t reimburse a passenger unnecessarily detained by immigration officials or the so not needed Bollywood clichés or the lead protagonist’s trademark stammering.

But, for me, you see the movie began and ended every time Rizwan Khan uttered “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”. The sincerity was crystal clear right there and then. Not all fingers are the same and rightly, not all Muslims are terrorists. A fact we all are aware of. And yet a fact so easily forgotten. Therefore I am glad Karan Johar made this film.

But then again, I’d rather have him selling candy floss.