MovieChat Forums > My Name Is Khan (2010) Discussion > My issues with MNIK

My issues with MNIK

posted 14 years ago by Babumoshai
78 replies | jump to latest

Let me be clear, this is not an attempt to bring KJo/SRK or the movie down, but want some genuine answers to the questions MNIK raises and hope folks on this board will contribute without the name calling.
--Spoilers--

Positives:
* MNIK is a brave attempt at tackling the Muslim stereotypes from a different perspective. Kudos to KJo for staying away from making another film on terrorism.
* The acting overall, was great. SRK is sure to win all the awards this year. Kajol was great as usual. Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jehan, Tanay Chheda were very natural.
* Cinematography was great. The shots of San Francisco and the desert were marvelous.
* The pacing was good. The movie doesn't bore you until the last 30 mins.
* Various scenes were delicately handled e.g. every scene with Rizwan and his mother, when Rizwan meets Mandira all the way to them getting married, the mosque scene, when Rizwan first tries to meet the president, Zakir and Haseena scene regarding wearing Hijab. Great work by KJo and reinforces my belief that he's one of the best when it comes to handling the human relationships.

Negatives:
* The movie tries to tackle way too many issues: Hindu-Muslim marriage, Divorcee, Muslim stereotypes, Autism, Extremists, etc. In the end, it doesn't do justice to any of them.
* The use of Khan and "I'm not a terrorist" phrase in every frame was unnecessary to make the impact. Even Mandira calls him Khan, instead of Rizwan, WTH? So much for a movie that's being promoted as a love story.
* The writing lost its steam and dragged during the last 30 mins.
* The hurricane scenes were completely tacky and defied any logic. The television crew and only the Muslims reach out to help the village and no one else in the world cares about them? Who and how carries them to the village through the storm?
* SRK overacts in some scenes and his behavior is not consistent. He tends to read-out loud every single line. He returns back to normal hamming ways during the speech in the church and made me actually laugh at that scene.

Now my issues with the movie:
* Mandira starts blaming Rizwan for the loss of Sameer, based on the information from the investigators that it was a racial attack. No one knew about the attackers until Rees confesses, so how did they even conclude that it was a racial attack?
* If Mandira's hate was based on just a suspicion, then the foundation of her marriage to Rizwan was shaky in the first place. Wouldn't a divorced single-mom make a better decision before marrying someone? Did she consider the issues of the inter-religion marriage on herself and her son and discussed with him? To further complicate the issue, the man is autistic, so wouldn't she have an open conversation with her 10 yr old? It was dismissed in one scene where they only discuss what their last name would be. Is the "Khan" the only concern of the movie… then why add all these other dimensions and ignore them completely?
* Why was Mandira so careless about her son? Wouldn't she have a dialogue with him on his issues at the school, especially when they were afraid of the 9/11 backlash? How does she let her son go to the museum under the supervision of a stranger who could barely care for himself?
* The biggest flaw that can't be ignored is the meeting with the president itself. Why is Rizwan telling the president that he is Khan (i.e. Muslim) and he's not a terrorist, when the president himself is half-Muslim? When America voted for a half-Muslim president, then doesn't it prove that most of the America doesn't believe in the stereotype anymore? It's not the change that Rizwan brought through couple of desi channels, but it was because of the changing socio-eco-political climate.
* Why would Zakir give Rizwan a sales job that he's completely incapable of? Didn't he fear the new locations, loud sounds, new people, so Zakir must extremely hate him to send him alone on the streets of San Francisco. How does his fear go away suddenly when he's on a mission to meet the president? That camcorder trick is good only to familiarize himself to the new places, but he's on the go and had to face a new place/people every other day.
* The movie that is set out to clear the stereotypes is ridden with the sterotypes itself. Why the security, FBI, police is all so dumb and ignorant? Why are whites bullies (school/shop/motel attacks), and blacks the nicest but poor and overweight? Why the motel owner has to be Gujju? How a white teacher professes that Muslims are Jehadis in the school and none of the other Americans speak for the rights of the Muslims?

Finally an advise for those taking young children to watch MNIK:
* Be prepared to talk to your kids when you return from the movie, as there are words Sex and intercourse are used explicitly. Secondly, the soccer incident may leave a long-lasting impact on the child. Best to leave them at home, as I saw 3 ~ 4 kids started crying right after that scene.

7/10

Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. - Paul Carvel

[–] bk_connection 14 years ago

WOAW....that opinion of the movie is well said...many of those angle's U point out, I neva really thought of them....But they are absolutly correct.

Hey, U should be a film critic....At least we will have some honest views, instead of that "Taran Adarsh" who is just a true SRK As* licker.

[–] Babumoshai 14 years ago

Thx, but being a critic is not my cup of tea. I just wanted to hear other perspectives on the issues that the movie raises.

Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. - Paul Carvel

[–] princetonstyle 14 years ago

I completely agree with everything you've said, and commend you on a very well articulated critique of this film. I saw the movie yesterday, and my first impression of it was something you've identified as tackling too many issues and doing justice to none of them. It seems as though many of the issues in this film could have each been a movie on its own. For example, when depicting Rizwan's childhood, I assumed that the relationship between him and his brother might be one of the larger issues later on, but it wasn't. Nor was the very important issue of disability and ableism in society, or the issue of Hindu-Muslim marriage. Of all the possible directions Karan could have taken with this film, I believe he chose the wrong one and poorly developed it because there were so many other things going on at the same time. I am normally a fan of his films, but overall was very disappointed with this one and I find the positive reviews of it puzzling.

[–] badmaash9911 14 years ago

how you arrived at a rating of 7/10 with so many flaws is beyond me.

[–] bk_connection 14 years ago

What is worrying is that Indien Cinema go'ers can be so satisfied with a movie like this and rate it sky-high....in fact the same thing happened when VEER was released, most people loved the movie....Hmmm doesnt it take more to amuse the cinema-people ???

10/10, should only be givin to a movie which is a Master-Piece, And MNK is surely NOT A Masterpiece....the movie could have been good, but was a big dissapointment.

but cause of SRK and Kajol, I will still give it a rating 6-7....where as the direction: 4

[–] kyzasoze2003 14 years ago

What is worrying is that Indian Cinema go'ers can be so satisfied with a movie like this and rate it sky-high

I've always wondered that. What was a joke was when you had some saying that Sarkar was better than The Godfather. I just think that SRK fans love whatever he does even if it's crap and they'll rate it 10 because to them it's all about the competition with other films or actors like Aamir Khan. I find it very imature and just can't take seriously the reviews for bollywood films as well as the opinions of those who call this a masterpiece.

In my opinion MNIK is not even an OK film. It's just plain awful. But you can bet that this film will win best film and SRK best actor at all the (too many) bollywood film awards during the year. What can you say other than people in bollywood have bad taste.

[–] uchoosemoon 14 years ago

what nonsense. u dont like the movie, its your own personal opinion. movie is gud or bad is how you look at it. ur view is not the "idealistic view " so dont generalize. dont take pin to think about taste in bollywood.

[–] kyzasoze2003 14 years ago

movie is gud or bad is how you look at it

No, the movie is bad, period. Not my fault if you like bad films. I don't like the movie because it was full of crap. It was pure nonsense, full of stereotypes and was extremely cringe-worthy. Like other bollywood films it insults the audience's intelligence. It's too bad that supporters of this film have bad taste. You SRK fans over-rate his overdone acting all the time. It's a joke when people can say that this is one of the best Indian films ever. They really don't know what they're talking about. And you don't need me to tell you that. It's evident.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] uchoosemoon 14 years ago

who told you only muslims came out to save in huricane. did they all declare that ?

SRK overacts ?? where did that come from.

your pointing of the biggest flaw is the biggest blunder you have done. obama gets elected 3 days before rizwan meets him. all the way bush was the president. sorry this sole points makes u a bad critic.

his brother owns a herbal business. what do you think, he will give him a product engineer job ??

and for your stereotypes, hello but aren't all this true. aren't high no of African people are poor and fat, don't gujratis own business. whats wrong in that.

i cant go into detail to counter your review as i dont have patience that you have. but overall tell you man you cant be so so picky. ofcourse there are flaws, but its cinema, not an art or documentary where you have to get the minutes and seconds right. if thats the case then no movie will live upto your expectations.

[–] Babumoshai 14 years ago

In the hurricane scene all that I saw were the people that were connected to Rizwan in some way. No government machinery can reach them, there is no power, yet Rizwan's story broadcasts everywhere. Doesn't seem logical.

Obama gets elected 3 days before Rizwan meets him, but the campaign itself runs for couple of years, so that's even before Rizwan starts his journey. The public opinion doesn't change all of a sudden on the election night. Even if one considers that Obama was elected because people were unhappy with republicans, still the fact is that the democrats were willing to accept the candidate that had a Muslim parent. Above all what's the point of telling a half-Muslim president that all Muslims are not terrorists?

May be I'm over-critical and I agree that it's lot better than most of the run-of-the mill movies churned out by BW. It's great to raise social issues through movies, but if you don't address them well, it doesn't do much good.

Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. - Paul Carvel

[–] tuhin_srk 12 years ago

To all those who have understood and loved the movie: Don't give a damn about these cynics. Even TITANIC had topped a 'Worst Movies of All Time' list. Does that prove anything? MNIK is definitely one of the most intelligent and moving films to come out of Bollywood mills in recent times. SRK's performance was impeccable.

And moreover, Rizwan's story got broadcast because the two journalists were involved with him and they also contacted his brother n bhabhi. It's a pity u missed that.

It's not possible for any movie to develop so many issues fully. But MNIK deserves kudos to have been able to address them briefly but subtly. But I respect everyone's views. After all, we live in a democracy, and that's what even the film upholds.

[–] scarlet_pyro_786 14 years ago

Shahrukh Khan overacting, where did you get that from, this is probably the only movie along with Swades and Chak De! India where he has acted, agreed there are minor flaws, but im sorry the church scene had the greatest effect in the whole film on me, it shows that language is no barrier for expressing love for you son, sorry but i dont think you know what hamming is, chech out Om Shanti Om for hamming at its best. Definitely none of that here.

You also talk about stereotypes.....hmmm so i suppose you want to see an Afro-Carribean owning a corner shop, sorry mate but where i live it IS a Gujurati family that owns a motel.

As for black people being poratrayed as poor, overweight, have you actually been to Georgia, Wilhemina, go there and youl see how correct this reprisentation is

As for Barack Obama being half-muslim, the idea is that he is not a practising one,infact MANY Americans dont even know he is a half muslim, they know him as Barack Obama not Barack Hussain Obama, so the idea of that stereotype being abolished doesnt even occur.

Mate one of the bullies is a black person aswell, watch the scene where Sameer dies.

Also the crew that helps the people in the hurricane are not just muslim, have you actually seen the film, there are also white people there aswell!!!! It was clear to me. No racial attack there.

Zakir owns a herbal remedy range, what job do you expect him to give Rizwan? It seems you are making issues without considering the narrative as such. If anything this shows Zakirs ignorance towards his brothers condition (like in the opening)

Bro, as for Kajol thinking before she married Rizwan, 9/11 hadnt happened yet, therea your answer, the "dimesions" weren't added in the first place, the idea of discussing Autism with you child wasnt in there! Before 9/11 Muslims where like any other people, so why should she (Mandira) think twice before marrying a muslim, many muslims today are married to hindus and vice versa, so where was the problem before 9/11? Its clearly shown that 9/11 happens during there marriage NOT before it.

They concluded that it was a racial attack from the way he had been beaten, a football thrown at him, plus the 9/11 event has also happened. Did you watch the film? But i will also say that where where the supervisors for the practice? It was a school football practice.

Also there is a white family in the film (Reeses family) that is shown not to be ignorant of the Muslim (or even Asian) issue after 9/11, only there son is influenced by his sons.

I will however agree with you on the white teache who says all Muslims are jehadis, like you say this was a wrong representation and should be taken out of the film. American schools dont teach this , they never have, and I would hate anyone to leave the film thinking they do.

For me the president scene was the flaw in the film and its not to with the muslim issue, Rizvaan doesnt get frisked before meeting him, why?
Also he shakes his hand twice, why, he refuses to shake the hand of anyone in the film, so why Obama, special treatment for special people? Sorry but that doesnt agree with me.

And another thing, why 7/10 if you had so many problems with the film?

[–] Babumoshai 14 years ago

Thanks for posting. That's the perspective I was looking for.

IMO SRK was trying too hard. To be fair, it's an extremely difficult role to play and it's hard to be consistent throughout the movie. I felt he was completely normal all of a sudden in his little speech at the Church. KHKN, Swades and CDI were completely natural and effortless performances, so this is not in the same league IMO.

Agree with most of your points on the stereotypes, but I think the movie comes across as the fight against whites. Why wasn't Bush shown as accepting that message, when the hate against Muslims was at it's peak, instead of dragging it for 8 years until a half-Muslim president was elected? What's the point of telling a half-Muslim president that all Muslims are not terrorists?

I agree that Obama is not practicing Muslim as a religion, but during the elections, the right wing did play the trick of stressing on the "Barack Hussain Obama", but it didn't work. America voted for him despite the fact that he's black and half-Muslim, not everyone, but most. Some may have voted bcz he's black, but most because people wanted a change, irrespective of who was bringing it. That's a huge shift from the social climate portrayed in the movie.

Yes, one of the kids that attack Sameer was black, but I didn't notice the white people in the hurricane relief. I'll take your word though.

Rizwan's brother grew up with him watching him struggle with the day-to-day aspects of life, why would he send him out on the streets and the environment that's completely alien to him? Didn't Mandira gave him the accounts to maintain for her business? Being the owner of the business, he could've found some back-office job or production job that Rizwan could've managed. In a movie that's anything but subtle, I think it was ignorance on the writer's part.

I totally disagree with you on discussing (or rather not discussing) the re-marriage to an autistic muslim man with Sameer. As a concerned mother, she must've found out whether Rizwan would be able to be a father figure for him. Hindu-Muslim marriage is still a huge issue for most Indians and I've seen that closely in my own family. To dismiss it as well as the re-marriage issue was perfect example of not making justice to various issues raised in the movie.

The kids fight all the time in the school, so the cops concluding that it was racial just because of recent 9/11 attack was irresponsible. Anyways, hating her husband merely based on a suspicion shows that she didn't love him enough to begin with and couldn't share her emotions/problems with him. That brings back to the same question, why did she marry an autistic Muslim man?

Why 7/10? That's just for watching my favorite pair SRK-Kajol together on screen and re-creating the same magic as ever. My problems are with the story and if you discount these issues, it's not a bad movie at all.

Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. - Paul Carvel

[–] mr-mash 14 years ago

SRK felt mostly natural to me. the only time he felt out of character is when he is jumping around helping people in hurricane hit Georgia. he felt like a Raj/Rahul in that scene.

The character was shown as a very driven one. his mothers teaching had made him believe that 'Khan's always keep their promises'. he followed everything that he believed very diligently. he had made a promise to tell the president "My Name is Khan....and I am not a terrorist". it didnt matter who the president was.

And also, he was not on road for 8 years. it is very clear in the church speech scene that his son (Sam) died in November 2007.

yes there were white people coming for relief work in the hurricane scene. somewhere, i read that people had issues with the scene with respect to people being able to come in for relief work, but the stranded people were not able to get out. IMO, it was shown that all that were left from some 200 odd people from that town were either injured or old or children. almost all of the people coming in were young were able to wade through the flooded region. also, it was clear that the worst of the hurricane had already passed. the roof of the church crumbled because of the damage already caused. it could have been possible to reach there somehow.

Rizwans brother was always ignorant of his condition. it was mentioned earlier in the film that the family had no idea what his condition was called. also he was always jealous of the constant attention that Rizwan got from his mother, and so he hardly cared about his brother. Rizwan was very good at mugging up stuff. remember the Wadia family scene. he repeated everything that he had read somewhere about the Wadia family. So, all his brother knew was he can repeat everything that he reads in the product brochures, and that was all that was needed for a salesman.

the timeline in the first half is not clear, so we can never be sure as to the time spent Rizwan spent with the child. but it is implied after they win the quiz that the child and Rizwan get along very well. Rizwan had even shown concern for the child in an earlier scene by bringing balloons (because Mandira had mentioned that Sam liked balloons). it is never shown on screen whether Mandira discussed the marriage with Sameer or not, i agree they should have shown something.

i agree on the issue of the cops jumping to conclusion as to the cause of Sameer's death being racially motivated. they should have shown them reaching to the conclusion with some investigation from their side. if it had been immediately after 9/11, there was no need for an explanation, but 6 years down the line, the hatred towards Muslims being on the wane, the jumping to conclusion looked irresponsible.

even with some flaws, i loved every bit of this movie. a very good job by the entire team.

[–] Babumoshai 14 years ago

Well said mr-mash. Excellent, excellent explanation. I agree with everything that you've posted here.

Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. - Paul Carvel

[–] alian19801 14 years ago

Yes, overall it wasn't up to the expectation.

Too much of Hype was created before the release, and the movie didn't lives up to it.

1) I agree, why would his brother give him a salesman job in an alien country that too knowing that he is autistic and has problems communicating. A salesman needs to be a superb communicator. He could have asked him to do some office work where he doesn't needs to travel OR was it because of his childhood enmity with his brother since his mother used to shower all her love on Rizwan, if that was the case he should have left him to die in India instead of calling him to US.

2) He isn't shown selling the product anywhere else except in the Salon where Kajol is. He has all the time in the world and even agrees to take his son to the museum.

3) Wouldn't a Mom think twice asking someone who is autistic and is a newbie to a place to take his son around.

4) How long in terms of years does he travels to meet the president. 9/11 happens in 2001 and Obama was elected as President in 2009. So was he travelling all the way for 8 years.

5) How does he funds his traveling around the US. How can he afford to buy a Air ticket. What was his source of income?

6) The love story is too mawkish. He gets a good hair-cut, and asks Kajol to marry him... WTF?

7) How does he gets all the schedule of where the President is going. He has no access to TV or newspaper (at least its not shown in the movie).

8) His long speech in the church, I dont know if anyone understood what he was trying to say because it was mostly in Hindi.

[–] ddlj_2009 14 years ago

I can help you with point 4. As I have stated in another thread, his journey begins only in November 2007(the first scene at the airport). So, time the journey from there, it only takes a little more than a year.

[–] Babumoshai 14 years ago

I don't remember the timelines, but if the journey began 1 year before he meets the president, then the hatred against Muslims was eroded drastically from it's peak after 9/11 and the US was getting ready to embrace a half-Muslim black president. Can you also tell when exactly Sameer was attacked?

Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. - Paul Carvel

[–] onandonandon92 14 years ago

alian...

1 & 2) His brother probably gave him the most meaningless job. I didn't find this odd at all. That's why he hangs out at the shop all day probably because the brother doesn't truly care if he does any work or not. He is just giving him something to pass the time

3) hmmm... this too i thought!!

4 & 5) Ya I think he was traveling for many years. But also remember, the incident that forced him to leave wasn't directly after 9/11. I don't remeber when it said. I thought it was somewhere around 2007 actually. He got money by fixing things, cars, appliances, etc. Most of the time he is walking or taking bus rides which is cheap. I think the scene at the airport is near the beginning of his journey so probably he had more money at that point

6) I think this depends on your opinion I don't think there is any right or wrong here. It's a love story, some people will like this aspect some won't. There is no logic in love :D

7) I think they showed at the beginning him looking things up on the internet. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult, even on the road, libraries and such

8) haha typical flaw in Hindi films... whenever the character is in US... they always deliver a speach in Hindi to Americans!!! and they magically understand :P

HEISENBERG WAS HERE.... (I think)

(yes it's a chemistry joke so sue me!)

[–] calhobbes99 14 years ago

that chemistry (Heisenberg) joke cracked me up :)!

I will use it, cos thats the right thing to do!

[–] onandonandon92 14 years ago

hehe, thanx!!! I stole it from my very unfunny inorganic chemistry professor :P Ironically though I just changed my sig!

My name is Khan... and I am not a terrorist!!!

[–] Babumoshai 14 years ago

@alian19801 & Nazia1987

Good points. Mostly agree with what you said, except for #1 and #6. I think there was not much thought behind either of them, Zakir throwing Rizwan into new territories to sell his products or Rizwan/Mandira proposing to each other.

Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. - Paul Carvel

[–] Miss_Weasley_Potter 14 years ago

8) haha typical flaw in Hindi films... whenever the character is in US... they always deliver a speach in Hindi to Americans!!! and they magically understand :P

Ooooooook. Now, actually didn't they mention it in the film that his speech was really in English but for Indians' benfit, it was translated to us in Hindi?

And I don't see how it would have been a flaw--The film is for Indians, made by Indians and targeted at Indians. Simply because you can understand English doesn't mean that everybody can, you know. Most Indians still do not speak English.

Every end is a new beginning. English Proverb

[–] AllrightyThen 12 years ago

"There is no logic in love" ......

I LOVE THAT!!!!!

[–] kamal2060 14 years ago

It seems you happen to watch the pirated version of the movie buddy because most of the issues you have raised have been already answered in the movie. If possible watch it again, I hope you will be able to find them.

[–] goyamjain 14 years ago

@ topic nice points ... avg . movie with some good acting...