PK — Not great but very necessary!
The sequence of events in my head while watching ‘PK’:
1. A few minutes into the film: Me — “WOW! What acting Aamir Khan! Tremendous. Such a tough role yet not overdone, not underplayed, just perfect!”
2. When PK stands in a church realizing that he should take wine instead of a coconut: The guy behind me — “Ab wine leke jayega??? Hey Bhagwaaaaan!!!”
3. When Aamir walks towards a mosque with that bottle of wine: Me — “I think Raju knew that PK shouldn’t be seen entering a mosque v/s a church or a temple coz then the worst protests may have come from those quarters.”
4. Midway through the film: “Even if the ass Bajrang Dalis attempted to extract a reason for protest, the film doesn’t offer any, since Raju Hirani & Abhijat Joshi make it a point to cycle all religions continuously and in fact, while most of the questions may have been asked by Aamir, most of the stands were taken by Anushka”
5. During a 20-minute interval filled with ads: One ad read — “Shree Balaji Wind Park — 48 Luxurious Bungalows” with 3 murtis of Shree Balaji hanging on top of the screen. It seemed even more ridiculous then than it usually does!
6. Post-interval: “Actually this is perhaps Raju’s weakest film. Not a well-rounded story, lots of loose ends and liberties. But then the message is such that I don’t feel like analyzing this film from a cinematic perspective. Such messages, such films…are absolutely necessary. And it is a comment on people’s so called faith when they feel threatened even by such weak criticism!”.
7. Just before the end: “It seems as if Raju made a list — India and Pakistan, inter-religious marriage, terrorism, right-wing extremism, Godmen and the superstitions amongst Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Jainism…and put all of them together. But boy am I glad he did this!”
8. In the climax: People around me — “Achha hua, saale Tapasvi Maharaj ki chop ho gayi”, Me — “People aren’t bad. They’re just consumers. Throw religion at them and they’ll consume. Throw anti-religion at them via entertainment and they’ll consume that too. They aren’t bad, they’re just stupid followers”
9. Coming out of the theatre: Lingaa’s poster on the wall and PK fresh in my head. Me — “Why is this 64 year old moron (Rajinikanth) making such a fool out of himself!”.
10. In the lift, going down into the parking: Two parents entered with their tiny child lying in his pram. They came and stood such that the child was facing me, his eyes straight into mine. Me — “Man!!! What innocence, what curiosity, what eyes! Wait a minute! This reminds me of PK!!”
