We’ve never really been huge fans of Karan Johar films – Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was good, K3G was okay, KANK was terrible. Hence we were slightly cynical about My Name Is Khan.
But the film is special for several reasons; it has one of the biggest stars in the country playing a not-so-perfect character and two, SRK and Kajol return for what could be their last outing together. Do they recreate on-screen magic with MNIK? Read on to find out.
Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan) suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, moves to San Francisco after spending most of his life in Mumbai. Here he comes across Mandira (Kajol), a charming lady who steals his heart away. They get married and start a business together. Everything that’s happy and perfect suddenly turns upside down and turmoil starts creeping into his life after the 9/11 attacks. Muslims, now seen as idols of evil, devastates the life of Rizwan. Confused and upset of loosing his dignity and love, he embarks on a touching journey to win back his love.
What works for My Name Is Khan
- MNIK is inarguably Karan Johar’s best work to date. Its the simplicity of his narration that works for the film. There are times when certain scenes get over-dramatic, but Karan can be forgiven, simply because he gets it right more often than not.
- The Asperger’s disorder that Karan’s protagonist suffers from, works big time in favour of the film as you cheer for Rizwan Khan all through. Its the character’s innocence, charm and niceness that you willingly let your heart go out to him.
- Aided by the magical chemistry that SRK-Kajol share, the love story works like a dream.
- The music is good, Tere Naina and Noor-e-Khuda are the best tracks in the album. Karan has sensibly avoided lip synced song and dance routines.
- The dialogues (Shibani Bathija and Niranjan Iyengar) are effective and funny when its meant to be.
- Cinematography is excellent. Ravi K Chandran has captured San Fransisco very well.
Scenes to watch out for
- Almost all scenes involving Rizwan Khan – him selling products, first meets Mandira (Kajol), hospital scene, after the wedding – to name a few, all exceptionally well executed and equally well performed.
- Scenes following the tragedy.
- SRK – Kajol romantic portions in the first half are cute.
Some negatives
- While Karan in MNIK has tried his best to break away from the so-called filmi formula, he does succumb to the temptation on more than one occasion. (More on this later)
- The climax doesn’t work.
- The character actors don’t get much scope.
Performances
- Khan is King and he proves just why with a performance comparable to some of his best – Chak De and Swades. In MNIK, SRK the star is hardly visible, its Rizwan Khan all through. We think, its the greatest compliment you could ever give to an actor.
- Kajol is fantastic. She effortlessly slips into Mandira, her character and stays there through the film. The chemistry she shares with SRK is electrifying, not that we expected anything less anyway.
- Child Artistes : Both Tanay Chheda (young Rizwan Khan) and Yuvaan Makaar (Sameer) do well.
- The rest – Jimmy Shergill, Vinay Pathak, Sonya Jehan, Zarina Wahab – don’t get enough scope.
Overall, My Name Is Khan is an entertaining film that makes you laugh and shed a couple of tears. Its a journey that’s worth the price of your ticket and a bit more.
Rating: 
3 for the film, 1 for SRK and Kajol, they were brilliant!
Hey guys, Saturday collections of MNIK are out….It iis close to 9.2 crores. according to a trade analyst,it is a fairly nice collections keeping in mind the saturday blasts in Pune. Night shows everywhere were dull.. Expecting a good sunday of around 9-10 crores. After that its all about the public word of mouth. God Knows wat is going to happen to this film.
excellent movie my name is khan.greater then three idiots, muslims again won the match as history shows . i love u srk.
@aman
Dude this is a fantastic reply to SRK fans . Keep it up great going. Srk fans can you digest this .
@ Ar
Show me wer i have used bad words or abused somebody? N if u wanna see d class of SRGAY fans like fathiya, adiii(wasi), megha(basturd) just open veer bo pages u will see how 3rd class cheap grade words dey r using where wer u at that time?
We know dis site is visited by many peoples & we always behave sensibly so u better cry for MNIK & dont advice us.
@Vishal…beat Ghajini? I thought it was meant to beat 3 Idiots? What happened?
I am a fan of Salman and Aamir. I like SRK movies because he is a good actor and was looking forward to seeing it here in aberdeen but word of mouth is really bad and I cannot afford to waste £7.50.
There was so much hype surrounding it that I expected the film to be really hot but it is a bore. All my friends who are SRK fans are so disappointed and the cinema has been empty since Friday. I respect all Indian actors and they all do their best, flop or no flop….calling them names simply because their films flop is disgusting.
What makes me laugh is the fact that Salman is being called all kinds of names here because of his fans! Amazing. Yet he is the most searched Indian celebrity on the internet. For a “supposed washed out actor” that is an achievement. The fact that certain people do not like SRK is not a fault of Sallu….get real and stop throwing insults at fans! As for MNIK, reality is that the film is not entertaining enuff to hold people in the UK for more than three days especially with a lot of films from other countries being released.
Its just three days and here in Aberdeen the cinemas have been empty (Percy jackson and valentine’s day have more queues!). SRK fans who went to see the film and who are friends of mine said the film is just okay but SRK was smashing in it. Flop or no flop…shouldn’t it be the acting we should be commenting on? At least Salman Khan with all his so called flops is still one of the hottest selling actors in Bollywood and the most searched indian celebrity on the internet! That goes to show u do not need movies to be hits to be regarded as a star! So lets leave him out of this and face the topic: Will MNIK be a hit? Lets wait and see! for all the hype by the press it made only 8! I was really disappointed cause I was expecting more….I have seen all SRK films cause I like his movies but unless I get a free ticket, will not be paying £7.50 to see MNIK. Everyone around me that has seen the movie is so disappointed.
So Sallu and Aamir fans: wish SRK luck.
SRK fans: wait for the verdict to come out and stop bashing Salman and Amir Khan cause they a re all fab people and actors in their own way!
@Vijay
you are absolutely right dude . They need some mental treatment or electrical shock. they always use abuse languges on salmans page . This time they are given lectures to us . What a poor peoples they are?
SRGAY
guys even karan johar and shahrukh said let the film be accepted, if accepted that means box office. nOW ITS BEING REJECTED. SO NO BOX OFFICE,THEATER OWNERS,AND DISTRIBUTORS ARE LOSING MONEY HEAVILY, ALL OVER. LOOK AT ALL THESE PROMOTION THEY LEFT NO STONE UNTURNED,AND THE RESULT IS WORST. WIDE RELEASE ALL OVER. THEATRES ARE CRYING HERE IN LONDON, AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY,ACTALLY EVEREYWHRE. SRK AND KARAN SUCKS, I FEEL SORRY FOR KAJOL SHE IS SUCH A BRILLIANT ACTRESS WHAT A WASTE OF HER TALENT. ABOVE ALL I FEEL SORRY FOR THE DISTRIBUTORS FOX.
Fathiya
i really appreciate ur last comments about shahrukh khan is gay.u are really well said.
i also feel the same thing.i thank u for that.
these people are just haters of shahrukh that they cant digest success and popularity of shahrukh.
@ Vijay
I didn’t advise u . But u used rude words. Read again ur comment. I like both Salman and Amir i m not against anyone but I like srk most and i am proud to be fan of srk. Everyone has his/her own view and fav star. Each star has his own value. So we are all here as bollywood lovers we shouldn’t use wrong words for each other.
@ Aman
Now u want to say world media has also given money by srk. Overseas mnik has smashed all records. At
uk mnik is at no 4. So stop rumoring . Srk is the king of overseas. In india in this condition movie has opened with one of the highest openning. Its a great achievement. No other actor could survive in this situation.
I just watched movie today its average movie perhaps expectation was high but little bit disappoint.
3/5
My Name is khan truly belongs to Shahrukh khan. He has really acted well in the movie. Shahrukh is loveable, inspiring and trend setter as Rizwan khan.
From Islamic Point of View:
Positives:
1.Hadees and Quranic Ayats have been used accurately.
2.Scenes in mosque where Rizwan Khan differentiates Hazart Ibrahim‘s (A.S) sacrifice of his own son Hazrat Ismail for Allah’s sake from Jihad is outstanding.
3.Rizwan khan’s interpretation of Namaz (Prayer) is heart touching. As he says for Namaz intention is important rather than circumstances. What a beautiful thought :)
4.Rizwan khan’s help of non-muslims portrays Islam as a very inspiring religion.
Negatives:
1.Muslims can’t marry non-muslims. Rizwan khan’s marriage with Mandira is not acceptable. For a muslim to marry a non-muslim conversion to Islam is essential. Here I will like to mention Pakistani movie Khuda K liye in which Shaan marries a Christian because muslims can marry those non-muslims on which books have been bestowed by ALLAH. Bible has been bestowed on Christians.
2.Zakat can’t be paid to non-muslims. It doesn’t mean muslims can’t help out non-muslims; It just means that Zakat is specifically dedicated to deserving muslims only.Rizwan could have helped non-muslims but shouldn’t have called it Zakat.
3.In Islam one can’t give one’s sirname to one’s step child or adopted child. Child must retain his original father’s name.It was wrong to call Rizwan’s step child as Samir Khan.And funny part is the whole movie’s essence lies in this very mistake.His son was killed because of his name. Because of khan sirname Samir became muslim but he didn’t convert to Islam in his faith as his mom Mandira was still Hindu in faith and so was he.
MNIK presents Islam in positive manner but basics of Islam have been ignored badly.Director Karan Johar has failed in his research work.It could have been better.Strange thing is that a guy like Rizwan whose basics are so weak how cum he codes Ayats correctly?
As a muslim without becoming biased I rate it as 3/5.
Not from Islamic Point of View.
Direction:
It is a well directed movie. Shahrukh’s characterization is superb. Seems like karan has worked on Shahrukh’s character only. Because MNIK becomes very boring when Shahrukh is not on screen.Karan has not concentrated on Kajol at all.She is a stranger in the movie.Movie has been shot excellently which you expect from KJO.
Positives:
1.Shahrukh’s Performance.
2.Sales scenes of Shahrukh are very hilarious.
3.Tere Naina song brings out old chemistry of Shahrukh-Kajol on screen.
4.There is such a lovely message in the movie about peace aspect of Islam.
Negatives:
1.Movie is lengthy and inconsistent. Rizwan khan is afraid of yellow colour when Kajol wears it but he is not afraid from yellow sign boards :). Rizwan khan is scared of noise but he is comfortable when he is in crowd to meet the president .Sometimes Rizwan behaves as normal sometimes he looks to have a strange disease.Period from 2001 to 2007 how it passed nobody knows.
2.MNIK is unrealistic and unconvincing. Rizwan a troubled person is nothing less than a spiderman on screen.He moves to every city.He meets president. He goes back to help black Americans. I mean whatever and where ever Rizwan wants he can go. He can speak in Hindi and everybody in church can understand. He repairs cars n wears good clothes.
3.Music is disaapointing.
Just for Shahrukh’s Performance my rating is 3/5 for MNIK.MNIK is not for everyone but at box-office it will work only because of SRK’s Star-Power.
@Hina thanks for updation .So you loved this movie but according to my point of view just average movie.Movie working or not on boxoffice.
@Zeeshan ..You are welcome.I didn’t love MNIK I have mixed feelings about it.But Thankfully more positives than negatives.I also feel it is an average affair.
What do u think whether it will be hit on boxoffice or not.
4o cr. in 3 days, 3 Idiots generate 100 cr. in 4 days. Now comeon all SRK fans stop fighting for the records, Pray for the Super Hit status. Even Ghajini is much bigger than this. Oh Where u all who was saying MNIK will break all records. Yahoooooooooo, Aamir Khan You the real Emperor………………………
Sumair & Adii: thanks brothers for yr compliement.
By Anand Sharma
Having managed to set the box office cash register ringing by generating close to Rs 40 crore in its opening weekend (Friday to Sunday) from India and abroad, Shahrukh Khan starrer My Name Is Khan (MNIK) has managed to find place amongst the top grossing Bollywood films of recent times.
The few other films to have grossed in the same range as MNIK in the opening weekends include 3 Idiots, Ghajini and Love Aaj Kal, say film trade pundits. Trade pundits expect the movie to gross over Rs 100 crore before the first week run is over. Only other films to have managed to cross the milestone in recent past are 3 Idiots and Ghajini, both starring Aamir Khan.
“MNIK opened to packed houses across all major international centres just like it did within the country. Combining the initial collection figures from UK, US, Australia and other overseas centre, the film would have grossed over Rs 40 crore in the first-three days,” says a leading film distributor from Mumbai.
The much-awaited and controversial MNIK had to face stiff opposition from Shiv Sena workers who did not wanted the people to see the film in protest of a pro-Pakistani statement made by Shahrukh Khan last month after the IPL-3 auctions.
In India, the film was initially released across 1,300 screens.
Another 500-600 prints went to the overseas centre. Most multiplexes in the country like PVR, Inox, Fame, Big Cinemas, Cinemax and Fun Cinemas among others have witnessed 100% bookings for the weekend shows.
“The bookings for all evening shows on Monday and Tuesday for MNIK are also overwhelming. We may see full-house even in the coming weekdays going by the advance booking figures,” a senior executive in DT Cinemas in Gurgaon said.
This is a wrong article don’t believe this. As firday collections are 25 crore. so waiting for tomorrow.
40 crore in the first weekend from overseas and india very poor considering the amount of money paid to fox to distribute. Some serious loss for distributors. Face it people, unless he keeps up with publicity….the movie might go down! Word of mouth is not good at all. Die hard SRK fans are so disappointed. Salman Khan or Aamir fan or not, I love Kajol and SRK together…have all the movies they did together but this is not doing it for me. Word of mouth has killed my enthusiasm seriously.
So can we all relax. Its obvious that the film is going to suffer a lot of losses. Great publicity, but word of mouth is important. It might have smashed records overseas but what about in India? It is not doing so well so lets all relax on this mud slanging at each other because of SRK, Sallu and Aamir okay? They have acted their films and have all moved on to the next project. Flop or no flop. The reality is this: If word of mouth was positive believe me MNIK would be a blockbuster, a clean hit but as it is negative word of mouth is killing its chances. My friend Mansi, is an SRK fan not an Aamir fan, she went see it and she was disappointed…She kept saying it was okay but 3 Idiots was better! So lets relax okay! MNIK may be a clean hit overseas but in India, it will do average!
@AR…I have nothing against SRK and I wish him all the best, though I do not think I will c d movie as my friends who are SRK fans have rubbished it before me, so can’t spend that much going to d cinema. This is just what I think. I believe in appreciating people for what they are. Comparing people is ridiculous because everyone has different talents!
@Hina- Nice review…. thank you 4 pointing out those negative points, which are against islam…… but i think MNIK succeeds by beautifully portraying that every Muslim is not a terrorist….
i thnk it wud b a hit.
Hina…Agreed how he Rizwan can go here n there..unconvincing…Yellow sign board s also true..
Really not realistic..Muslim portion u better know..but they may be promoted secularism..
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
My Name Is Khan has had a huge weekend at the box office in India with early estimates coming in at around 29.50 crore nett. The film lost around 2.25 crore nett on Friday and a further 50 lakhs nett on Saturday due to the problems in Maharashtra.
The film grossed 8 crore nett approx on Friday, 9.50 crore nett approx on Saturday and 12 crore nett approx on Sunday. The collections fell slightly on Saturday in circuits like CP Berar, CI and Rajasthan but Delhi/UP, East Punjab, West Bengal and Mysore were slightly higher.
Maharashtra came into play on Saturday though not completely. A major centre like Pune was a late starter as the film started there at around 12 noon on Saturday. Nasik another big centre also started late.
The collections were extraordinary all over on Sunday. Single screens across India showed noticeable falls on Saturday which probably means single screens will fall over weekdays but multiplexes look like doing big business on weekdays especially in the metroes. The first week may finish in 45-50 crore nett range but everything will depend on the all important Monday.
indicine team
is 3 idiots collect 196 cr in india or worldwide????
hai everyone!
even if mnik has had a huge weekand,it is way behind 3 idiots which netted 40 cr.
mnik’s first weekand is not even close to the second weekand collections of 3 idiots which were around 34 cr.
AAMIR KHAN rocks.
BOX OFFICE: MNIK
Friday- 8cr nett
Saturday- 9.75cr nett
Sunday- 11.50cr nett
Overseas
US- $1,860,000 in 120 theaters = 8.35cr nett
UK- £956,300 in 89 theaters = 6.98cr nett
Others- 7cr nett
hai ADIII.
196 cr are only from india.
it has grossed about 385cr globally.
unbelivable!
Aditya
wow! i dont believe yar!
just watch the film, its a totally disappointing film, why u people give rating 4/5??? worst film of jodi srk-kajol
Aditya
so i think 70 -80 cr mnik will do bussiness india
and same from overseas market.
oveall globally 160 cr around and it is below half bussiness of 3 idiots.