My Name is Khan Film Review

If you are a fan of Shahrukh Khan, you will definitely be surprised by this review! This review of My Name is Khan does not extol Shahrukh Khan as has been done in most of the reviews. On the other hand, it gives a different insight into the film My Name is Khan. Sure, Shahrukh Khan was good, but there were two others in the cast of My Name is Khan who stole the thunder from the Khan.

Read the review below the film poster to find out who did that ....

My Name is Khan should have been named My Name is Wahab because hands down sheer luminous acting comes from – no, not Shahrukh Khan & not Kajol - but Zarina Wahab as Rizwan’s mother. It is her scenes that give much needed heft to a movie that is maudlin and sentimental. Another gem of an actress is Sonya Jehan as Rizwan’s sister-in-law.

Of course, there is sparkling chemistry between Rizwan and Mandira. But this is restricted in the “moments” in the first-half. After that Rizwan’s constant stream of babble, though part of the character’s Asperger’s Syndrome, becomes tedious in the extreme. The diary sequences tend to drag the picture down into voice overs. Kajol oscillates between extra-chirpy to screaming banshee. There is no nuance, no graph. Her scenes with the son are terribly enacted. Badly written as well, in an otherwise well written screenplay by Shibani Bhatija.

The film tends to drag mainly because the focus shifts from the Rizwan Mandira story to Rizwan, Rizwan and more Rizwan. It would have been more interesting to see Rizwan fight for justice for Mandira’s son but instead we get a tour of USA - courtesy Rizwan - and a half-baked struggle of Mandira to go it alone.

The film falters towards the end because a story that started with a simple ordinary man attempts to become extraordinary. What is extraordinary is the subject and that should have sufficed. It could have been a gem of a movie like Harishchandrachi Factory. My Name is Khan attempts too large a canvas so it remains just a beautiful film that warms the cockles of the heart but doesn’t leave you asking for more.