02-20-2010, 02:39 AM
Karan Johar's My Name is Khan (MNIK) is one form of social engineering. However its targetted to IM settled in USA. Its not about Hindu India as there is only one Hindu character in the movie played by Kajol.
From the 'bad' slums of Mumbai the path to Promised land is the USA. TSP is just skipped over. The movie highlights the thoughts about a sense on entitlement of Ind Muslims in US which got thwarted after 9/11. It imagines a US that is gora India where the laws and society nroms can be turned on itself to find a space for IM. Same time it has the distorted medieval Indian Muslims image of Blacks or habshis.
At same time it has elements of Bible: floods in mythical Wilhemina, Khan getting stabbed by a radical Muslim(shades of Jesus and betrayal by Judas), resurrection (Khan gets to meet great new "White" father aka US President who is black, after getting cured) and redemption(the shorn Sikh reporter and the little kid who confesses about the crime). And "Ham honge kamyab" gets rendered as a Gospel music in English: "We shall overcome!"
And a side note. Hindu women betrayed by Hindu husbands can be redeemed by marrying autistic Muslims.
The one real upright character who follows the American formuala of success through hardwork(Horatio Alger type) is Khan's brother(Jimmy Shergil) who imigrates to US and starts a business and succeeds yet maintians Indian family values: supports mother and autistic brother who gets all the care, marries within the religion and gives his brother a job to survive in US.) And he gets a sidey role.
One complaint is the penchant of SRK to denigrate successful Indians in is movies. In this movie,MNIK, the beauty products icon being denigrated is Shenaaz Hussian who created a successful beauty products company in US and has dozens of saloons in US. In Om Shantii Om, the actor Manoj Kumar the star of yesteryear patriotic films was ridiculed.
From the 'bad' slums of Mumbai the path to Promised land is the USA. TSP is just skipped over. The movie highlights the thoughts about a sense on entitlement of Ind Muslims in US which got thwarted after 9/11. It imagines a US that is gora India where the laws and society nroms can be turned on itself to find a space for IM. Same time it has the distorted medieval Indian Muslims image of Blacks or habshis.
At same time it has elements of Bible: floods in mythical Wilhemina, Khan getting stabbed by a radical Muslim(shades of Jesus and betrayal by Judas), resurrection (Khan gets to meet great new "White" father aka US President who is black, after getting cured) and redemption(the shorn Sikh reporter and the little kid who confesses about the crime). And "Ham honge kamyab" gets rendered as a Gospel music in English: "We shall overcome!"
And a side note. Hindu women betrayed by Hindu husbands can be redeemed by marrying autistic Muslims.
The one real upright character who follows the American formuala of success through hardwork(Horatio Alger type) is Khan's brother(Jimmy Shergil) who imigrates to US and starts a business and succeeds yet maintians Indian family values: supports mother and autistic brother who gets all the care, marries within the religion and gives his brother a job to survive in US.) And he gets a sidey role.
One complaint is the penchant of SRK to denigrate successful Indians in is movies. In this movie,MNIK, the beauty products icon being denigrated is Shenaaz Hussian who created a successful beauty products company in US and has dozens of saloons in US. In Om Shantii Om, the actor Manoj Kumar the star of yesteryear patriotic films was ridiculed.