A very well-written unbiased review by one of our readers, Akhlaq. Worth a read.
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Every life is a journey…pain; joy; love; hate, all are like milestones along the road. Starting points are different, destinations are different and even rout maps a re different as well, but irrespective of these differences, the four milestones are there in each and every journey. MNIK is nothing but such a journey, and what a journey it is !!! A journey of Smiles & Tears, Realism & Exaggeration, Love & Hate. This journey is not only physical, but has a beautiful soul in it as well.
First thing First, As a Muslim, I can confidently say that this is the most Pro-Muslim movie ever from bollywood. The references of Quran and Hadith are 100% relevant and correct. There are only few things which are not properly propagated…
A. Zakat is not applicable to non-muslims. But charity is very much allowed. A little bit more research in this aspect could’ve made the makers use the word charity or help instead of Zakat. Anyways this is just lack of accuracy and not at all a negative portrayal of Muslims.
B. The marriage between Muslim and Non-Muslim issue. Not allowed in Islam. But what can we say? majority of Muslims in Bollywood are married to non-muslims.
Mind it…Both of these issues are not at all portraying negative image of Muslims in anyway. Its just a lack of understanding. Otherwise Muslims have never been projected in a more positive way than MNIK. Even the Pakistani film “Khuda Key Liye” had more negativity about Muslims than MNIK.
Honestly speaking, when I saw the trailers of the movie, i thought that SRK is going to be way over-the-top in this role (as he has a tendency to do so). But I must admit that this is the very first time when I feel that he really deserves awards for this performance. I rate this performance by SRK above Chak De or Swades or a=for that matter any of his earlier performances. In a role that could easily made him go over-the-top, he restrains himself beautifully and literally makes you fall in love with his character. One of the rare characters for whom you really feel. In my humble opinion, this is his best work ever and this should work big-time in further strengthening his position.
Frankly speaking, I didn’t like Kajol’s performace that much. Well its not bad at all, but she has been doing much better than this. The scene where she tells Rizwan Khan to leave…well the scene was well written and well executed, but I felt that Kajol has gone a bit to loud and glimpses of over-performance. She looks elegant though.
The support cast is as good as it was allowed to be !!!
Direction wise, this is definitely Karan’s best work. No second opinion on this. Execution might seem a bit slow-paced to a few, but it is this execution which makes MNIK something special and unique. Loved it.
Dialogues are nicely written. Few of them are out-standing. (for example… “Namaz jagah aur logo’n sey nahi…Niyyat sey parhi jati hey” & “meri ammi ka dil kuch zaroorat sey zyada hi bara ho gaya tha”)
Music was in sync with the narrative and thank God there was no lip-syncing.
There are a few small aspects though which (if handled differently) could’ve enhanced the impact even further…
- The scene at the church where Rizwan speaks in Urdu and everyone understands him is hard to swallow. If you notice there is another scene later on in the film where Sonia Jehan (Rizwan’s sister in law) started wearing Hijab again. In this scene she’s speaking in English but Urdu is over-dubbed on it. Now that makes sense. If the church scene was also handled similarly it could’ve been better.
- I don’t know why, but the climax could’ve been better.
- I personally feel that rizwan’s relationship with his brother should’ve been a bit more deeply defined.
- The short episode of Rizwan gettign stabbed seems unnecessary.
Anyways… these are just minor things…which are minimal in front of the simplicity of the narrative, good story, brilliant execution and SRK’s career-best performance.
At the B.O. the curiosity factor and the wait of SRK fans will ensure a grand opening and then the movie itself has enough spunk to make it a Block Buster. Though i don’t think that it can break the records of 3 idiots at all, as the entertainment quotient and repeat value of this film is far less than 3 idiots.
For now, grab the tickets; soften up your heart and enjoy the spiritual journey of Rizwan Khan, who is not a terrorist.
My Rating: A confident Rating: 
I watched this movie yesterday, one thing I was confused is about Rizwan Khan .Is he Indian or Pakistani?
When his mother died they showed Pakistani Flag, so I watched whole movie thinking he is Pakistani, but
at the end media potrayed him as Indian. Please someone clarify ?
@unknown
hey man, why are u insulting the original ‘Forest gump and a beautiful mind’ with this mimicry artist..
Sharukh has no talent of his own.. previously he used to imitate Duilip kumar & Amitabh, and now he has started imitating hollywood stars.. I bet Johny lever is a better mimicry artist than him..
Aamir or Salman atleast maintain some dignity by not imitating others, hence I have more respect for these stars.
To those u didn’t liked the movie are people who live in this world only for entertainment of foolish actors.
Comparing 3 Idiots with MNIK is totally nonsense, bcoz in 3 idiots there is a effort of 3 actors & 1 actress & in MNIK only 1 SRK has done his masterpiece of work. The story of the film makes sense that there are good people & bad as well, but good people do succeed. Terrorism in the film has been shown in a sensible manner, the story teaches that terrorism cannot effect a muslim if he is good human being. Hats off to Karan, SRK, Kajol.
My name is ” Chirag Gandhi” & I am a Hindu by religion, but I do feel that there are some people in this world who discriminates between religion & sensible movie like MNIK will clear many peoples mind. I am big fan of SRK & Aamir, but felt that SRK has done a bit of good job than Aamir ( 3 Idiots ). I only think that a movie if gives a msg of love & peace is very brilliant than what boxoffice figures are shown ( 100crs, 200crs, 300crs etc.).
I have seen this movie 2 times & I am loving it to watch for the third time.
SRK – U may or may not make 250crs to break record of 3 Idiots, but u have made my mind with peace & love with this movie.
Karan – From now stop making movies such as Dostana etc, this is the best of all that u have made till now. So, keep making MNIK types of Sensible movie.
Kajol – Love U & not more than that. Ur presence makes diffrence for a film.
Chiragghandi: thx brother for yr nice comment, but why are you asking KJ not to make comedy movies like Dostana? I liked Dostana and found it very funny and interesting (and I’m looking forward to seing Dostana2)
Karan Johar by making this movie MNIK proved for all indians that he’s capable of doing different category movies.. he’s a very good director, so he can make any thing.
what kind of a review is this ??? this fellow is finding small problems in the depiction of namaaz etc but hasnt commented on the overall mpact this film makes or doesnt make…in the end khan meets pres and all ends well.. did pres learn anything from khan??? the guys responsible for the sons death are already behind bars so what is there for khan to achieve.. the plot goes for a toss and completely haywire.. bad review by mr akhlaq i dont buy that .. if it is such a sensitve portrayal why isnt the film breaking all records??? sadly it has flopped and will get no mercy from us
Haha..hahaha..hahaha Megha!!! I think u were “asleep” all these years and knew nothing about which way american ppl treated innocent muslims and what happened to them after 9/11.. didn’t u see hundreds of movies after 9/11, hollywood, bollywood, foreign language movies or read in newspapers or heard on tv news.. which way American ppl treated them and how many victims suffered from the torture and how many ppl couldn’t even enter USA because of their “name” just by seing their name in the passport as Mohamed or any Arabic name, so there was a doubt about them that they were some terrorists!! Some muslim psycho ppl committed a sin and all the muslims in muslim’s countries suffered because of that!
U said: Did the press learn anything from Khan?!!!! Megha: let me ask u a question: where u completely asleep while watching MNIK?! Didn’t u see which way american ppl looked at the muslim ppl after the tragedy of twin towers but a guy like Rizwan, who just said in the crowd: Mr. President.. Mr President and was caught and put in a jail and was torturned only because he tried to speak to the president and did nothing! was accused being a terrorist!! the movie showed how us government was unfair to some muslim ppl and used to keep them in prisons, torture them, with no evidence of any crime.. just because of the “hate” that’s the only reason!
In the the last part of the movie, Rizwan goes to the area which was floaded with water and helped an “american” black woman and saved her life – which american ppl would’ve never done it, if they were Rizwan! so Rizwan “proved” for the press and for the president of us that he’s a much better humen being than what they are.. he lost his son, and that could never create the hate in his heart or tried to revenge, and what he thought about to create some justice for the rest of muslim ppl living there, that us government would consider it and would release the innocent ppl in jail.
That was the message for the President of US and the press in their country.. that there’re in life good and bad ppl everywhere and innocent ppl shouldn’t pay the price for other ppl’s mistake, bad muslims attacked innocent american ppl in the twin towers, bad americans tortured some innocent muslim ppl but there’re still some good muslims who helped some americans when they needed a help, despite the torture!
Watch the movie again and then u wl understand it
Akhlaq bhai nice review..
chiraggandhi well said… but like fathiya said karan needs to make a comedy with srk now.. srk has great comic timing… i love his movies like Duplicate, Baadshah etc
Megha get your facts right.. its beating records all over the world. Indian people are plain stupid
all that happened deary because the guy suffered from some sort of autism and so the press was little sympathetic guy..why in amarica?? in india too the sikhs suffered a lot after the assasination of indira gandhi but not once did anybody take akk sikhs as terrorists..!!! nobody had to hold out a plackard claiming it but in contemporary times acommunity has to hold out a card and claim innocence!!! thats the pity…any nomal person in place of rizwan would have gone through hell…because the crime was horrendous and was a declaration of war on the soveiregnity of usa .. so if few people suffered on account of it .it was expected..but to make a movie over it ..sheer idiocy..the movie doesnt touch me anywhere ..3 idiots touches u amply and im the same person who like million others loved the film ..so why not this??? simply because it is low on complete entertainment ..tedious and not withe current times ..
will someone tell me why rizwan doesnt lose his cool when he hands over a yellow pumpkin to a blackie in a song sequence????
hasnt it flopped big way???
I am not sure I know you, just got this post forwarded from an ex-colleague at Infy. It’s rellay brilliantly written your way of writing about deep personal experiences is very warm and touching, but not unnecessarily dramatic. Wish you good luck with everything. Personally, whatever I know of autism is mostly from a close friend who graduated in special education from Columbia’s Teachers College, and now works with a non-profit that primarily “trains the trainers” in municipal schools in Bombay. You might already know about the novel “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” I read it on her recommendation, and found it to be an absolutely fascinating glimpse into the world of autism, unlike any other novel I’d ever read. I wish more people read that book than watch TZP or MNIK.