There are movies which entertain and those which try to drive home a message and then there are those which manage to accomplish the arduous task of doing both like MNIK. As far as KJo is concerned. From loving your friend, to loving your parents, to loving someone else’s wife, to loving all humans, he has come a long way, and in the process, he has crossed the thin dividing line between commercial success and creative immortality.
A story with a message, told without unnecessary distractions, powered by effective and moving performances and soulful lyrics, breath taking cinematography and its greatest USP is its simplicity.
Remember the way Karan has been digressing from the essential story to intersperse the movie with unnecessary tracks... like Poo in K3G, Lillette-Delnaz in KHNH, Big B’s cheap flirtations in KANK. But when he deals with a story as touching and intense as MNIK, he sticks to the core and that is where he has it right (he could have done a Lillette Dubey on Navneet Nishaan, but he has thankfully refrained from doing that)
Remember SRK in DDLJ: " Meri ma kehti thi, zindagi ke har mod par tumhein 2 raaste milenge, sahi aur galat ". Karan comes up with an equally powerful barometer to judge humans: the good ones and the bad ones. There is NO other difference between them. Period! If half the world understands this, the whole planet will become a heaven on earth.
Then comes another bombshell: That the divide between BC and AD is passe, the new calendars are pre and post 9/11. Kajol’s love affair with the camera continues and when she is on the screen or her voice is heard, you just can’t ignore her. Her smile, her eyes are a pleasure to watch and show why she is still a more salable brand ambassador for consumer durables than the Katrinas and Deepikas. But the writers were a bit unfair to her, sketching her character hazily in the first half and in the second half, showing her struggle for her son after his death adequately but avoiding her love pangs for Rizvan and what leads to her change of heart for him... just a voice message by her American friend, not very convincing.
Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jehan, Tanay Chedha, Parveen Dabaas, Vinay Pathak, Arif zakaria demonstrate that the length of the role is not at all instrumental in making an impact on the viewer, if it is honest to the storyline.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have come up with a fitting score for the movie, in tune with its theme. And Karan has finally given the latest nightingale of India, Shreya Ghoshal, a chance to lend her voice to the powerhouse performer, Kajol. Shafqat sings for SRk again, after Mitwa from KANK. And what to say of Raahat FAK, who is on a roll with Aj Din Chadheya, Sureeli Ankhiyon wali, Dil To Bacha Hai Ji and now Sajdaa...!
Niranjan Iyenger has come up with a word perfect lyrical scrore (almost reaching the level of Javed Akhtar)... "Khaali aankhein khud se sawaal karein, aman ki cheekh behaal kare, behta lahoo fariyaad kare, tera mitta chala hai nishaan" in Noor-E-Khuda, is it any less perfect than Javed Saab’s "Sandese aate hain" or Prasoon Joshi’s "Tujhe sab hai pata, hai na... Maa"?
The cinematography (Ravi K Chandran) is awesome, especially of the hurricane-hit Georgia and San Frisco.
Ironically, the movie that carries the message of triumph of love and humanity over hatred, suspicion, fear, apprehension, bias, got embroiled in a controversy created out of a man’s conviction in favor his brothers from another country which was not palatable for people who only know how to exploit the superficial differences between people (other than Good v/s Bad) against those very people. I am tempted to say this is KJo’s best even though it is not his most entertaining (KKHH still holds that distinction).
Without taking credit from SRK for portraying Rizwan Khan the way he has, I have my doubts calling it SRK’s best. After all, he has played 2 iconic and immensely motivating characters (Mohan Bhargav and Kabir Khan).
Overall, a must watch!