My Name is Khan is the journey of a Muslim man through Indian riots and American 9/11. It is the story of a man with Asperger's syndrome (which I am told is a form of autism) who is incapable of understanding unsaid things, and has several child-like mannerisms. He tells his own story through his life's struggles, especially those following his son's death in a hate-crime.
Nothing to take away from the scriptwriter because the story is for the most part original, but MNIK is inspired at a high-level from Forrest Gump. For it too is the story of a man with limited mental capabilities facing untold hardships while possessing uncanny luck. The subsequent comparison to Tom Hanks does not undermine SRK as he has performed quite well in the movie. Granted, the role invited a lot of histrionics, but SRK acts admirably and shockingly, manages to keep his hamming under check. His narration especially is quite effective. His body language too. I don't know how people with the actual disorder behave, so I cannot speak for the genuineness of his performance. But sincere it is.
The movie itself has many nice things about it. For one, it moves away (not completely) from the American stereotype and shows Americans of various hues and shades. The usual blatant racism exists, but hey, that's the subject of the movie! 9/11 provides a good backdrop to justify the injustices shown in the movie. Its the (surprisingly high) American content in an Indian movie about NRIs that struck me--usually such movies are about little Punjabi islands in foreign lands.
Alas, this movie's biggest liability is the same as other Karan Johar movies--Karan Johar's direction! He has the ability to stretch the simplest of scenes till they break, and beat you on the head with a hammer several times until you are tired of getting the point. Showing the loyalty of a Muslim man in the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina was a nice touch, but why the "we shall overcome" followed by immensely filmy rescue sequences and public outpour of help? The two dialogues between Rizwan and President Obama could not have been more contrived and to me were the mother of all anticlimaxes. Johar also manages to make Kajol's character overly dramatic. The whole justification of SRK trying to make it to the US president alone is just too filmy to fly. Kajol's presence in the movie was largely to showcase the SRK-Kajol jodi to attract more audiences.
Overall though, I recommend you give MNIK a chance if you haven't! The overall movie eventually feels okay once you have forgotten the intermittent scenes that refuse to end.
