Zero
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif
Director: Aanand L Rai
Rating: 3.5/5
Babita Kumari storms out of her bathtub. The movie star is late for a public appearance and has decided to go as is, alarming her handler who frantically interjects, asking about her clothes, hair and makeup. She sticks to her t-shirt and boxer shorts, wears her hair down, and then declares herself so fair she doesn’t need to care about makeup. The heroine is a hot mess, and played as she is by Katrina Kaif, there’s the heft of honesty to the line about her complexion. India would let a fair-skinned girl get away with murder — or at least lipsticklessness. Zero is a film about preconceived notions.
One of Babita’s biggest fans is Bauua Singh, a man from Meerut who showers the movie screen with banknotes and yells, “Bring on all three of your Khans, here I stand meri jaan.” Shah Rukh Khan — one of the three Khans Bauua challenges — plays this coarse and cocksure dwarf, defined by defiance. His outlook is devil-may-care because he believes god has already done his worst.