Fun, funny & preachy

Nonika Singh

Finally the most-awaited film of the year, PK, is here and finally all speculations about the movie can be laid to rest. Indeed, Aamir Khan plays an alien and indeed the movie does dare to take on Gods, ahem correction God-men and our blind faith in them.
Not exactly a fresh ground, for we saw another meaningful film Oh My God! walk the same path sometime ago.
So, what does PK offer that OMG didn't deliberate upon? Well, for one it is far more  entertaining and  greater fun. Besides, it not only packs in a love story, but also tries to bridge the India-Pakistan divide. Again, not the first time a Bollywood film has gone in this direction. After we bid adieu to the shrieking jingoism of movies like Gadar, India-Pakistan prem-kahani is another muse that caught the fancy of many a director, including Yash Chopra, who gave us the memorable love-story Veer Zara. Never mind that like the alien PK from another planet, this India-Pak bhaichara too is a mirage. But who better than art and artists to talk about love across borders and who better than an alien to question Gods, rather our ritualistic ways to be one with the supreme power? Actually, by placing a man from another planet at the centre of this much-needed debate on religion, the director achieves a master flourish without offending sensibilities. Who else but an outsider can see our foibles with as much clarity?
Where the film falters is that it does get preachy even heavy-handed in parts, especially the second half. But by and large director Rajkumar Hirani, the story-teller gets it right; even hits the right emotional notes.
Not the least because of his actors especially the gifted one Aamir Khan as the lead. Mr Perfectionist is pitch perfect both with his Bhojpuri dialect as well as his ‘lost on the earth’ mannerisms, the wide eyed dazed look and peculiar characteristics. Only he and he alone can don a ghagra with a coat and not look like a caricature. Only he can lend both gravitas and fun to his part. Actually, Khan invests so much in his role that not for once do you lose him or the interest in his story, even when it doesn't proffer anything new. Anushka Sharma as Jagu short for Jagjanini matches him step-by-step and is sheer delight from the word go. Sushant Singh Rajput, in a small part of lover-boy, is endearing and Raju's (make that our own) Munna bhai Sanjay Dutt in a cameo is spot-on, but surprisingly the actor who leaves us a trifle disappointed is Saurabh Shukla, undeniably one of film industry's finest actors. Wish he had got more meat and style in his character of the fraudulent God-man.
Then as with many of Raju's other films, like the much-acclaimed and hugely successful 3 Idiots, this one too has a tail and unnecessary interjections — the bomb blast for instance. Yes, yes we get it… religion as it exists today is more an instrument to divide than to unite. Actually much of what Hirani wants to convey gets across simply and lucidly. And that is the film's biggest USP and Achilles heel too. For while much said in a lighter vein hits home, the bit about Gandhi's image on currency notes is telling, a lot runs at a superficial level too and  fails to delve deep.
Yet nothing stops the film from combining entertainment with social purpose, though the fun quotient is far higher in the first-half where the narrative and PK in particular hug you in a warm embrace. Indeed, at the end of the day, PK may not be a perfect film. But Hirani can certainly take a bow as a master of sugar-coated pills, something that not only Indian society but cinema too needs desperately.
More than watchable, actually there is no reason why you shouldn't watch it. Will it transform the devout faithful blinded by greed and pain in equal measure, we reserve our verdict. But the film with winning p erformances will certainly tug at your heart-strings. The chances that you will walk out with a smile and moist eyes are bright…very bright indeed.