My Name is Khan....and I AM a Mumbaiikar!

Strange, isn't it....the aim of MNIK was to show the world that the words "Muslim" and "terrorist" aren't synonymous, but the lead-up to the film has all been about SRK trying to prove that he is a true citizen of India and Mumbai, forget terrorism! Little had he known that one small yet slightly naive comment could jeopardize his movie so deeply. But luckily for him, his fans have not let him down, and the film has managed to connect with the audiences in spite of its oh-so-familiar theme.

One thing you will notice as you sit through the 2 hr 40 min journey known as "My Name is Khan", is that this isn't exactly the same Karan Johar brand of cinema that we are used to seeing - no extravagant settings and costumes, no pot-pourri of song and dance, no irritating over-acting by cast, no emotional attyachar (not that much anyway...climax is debatable). But Karan does tend to go overboard with his story-telling and screenplay, and that is definitely evident in the second half of MNIK. The whole Georgia angle with him wading through waist-deep water to reach "maama Jennie and funny-hair Joel" was really over the top in my opinion. And then when Joel shouts "Maama, look!!" and the camera pans behind him, I was hoping that there would be a huge tidal wave ala 2012 ala Day After Tomorrow coming at them, but alas, this is Karan Johar's movie, not Roland Emmerich's! In the climax, the movie should've ended once he gets stabbed - they could've done without the last 10-15 minutes. I was also disappointed at the length of Vinay Pathak's role.....he is too good an actor to have such an itsy-bitsy portion in the movie.

Having said all this, the movie isn't actually all that bad, and does well especially in the acting department. Shah Rukh does go back to his restrained style of acting we've seen in films like Chak De and Swades. He doesn't overdo the autism portion of his character, although he did leave me a little confused as to how people with Asperger's syndrome actually behave - I've seen only one other character on television with the same disorder, and that's Jerry Espenson on Boston Legal, and his behaviour is pretty different from Rizwan Khan! But I suppose even with the disorder, each has his/her own personality. Kajol is graceful and refreshing, and the chemistry between the two leads works well, as it was expected to. Tanay Chheda plays the role of young Rizwan superbly, and is yet another example of the acting talent that India's next generation possesses.The remainder of the supporting cast including Jimmy Shergill, Sonya Jehan, Parveen Dabas etc. play their parts more than satisfactorily. The musical trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy haven't had much to do in this movie, but the two songs and the background score blend in well with the theme of the movie and have the required effects on the audience.

Who knows....given the current situation in Mumbai, maybe SRK's next project will be about a paan-chewing, Hindi-speaking guy who travels from Ambernath to Bandra (Matoshree) on foot to tell Mr. Balasaheb Thackeray/Mr. Raj Thackeray: "My name is Yadav, and I AM a Mumbaiikar"!!! Until the next, cheers...

Preparing for change..

That rare but truly desirable feeling.....relief....feels good, doesn't it? An emotion that grabs all yours troubles and anxieties and tears 'em to shreads. A feeling that brings with it hope for more goodness to follow. Something that clears all those cobwebs in your , brings a smile to your face and gives you sound sleep at night. Some would imagine that my first emotion upon receiving the news of my selection into SIBM would be sheer delight and ecstacy, but somehow only one emotion swept through me: relief! Relief 'cos of the fact that I can finally accomplish what I had set out to achieve 3 years ago: complete my MBA from a prestigious B-school. Relief 'cos of the fact that I can finally move on from a job that honestly was taking me nowhere but down the depths of mediocrity and monotony. And relief that I will finally get a chance to explore and realize my true potential and abilities.

18 odd months after embarking on a new phase of my life, it begins all over again. One chapter closed, another about to be written. It's time for me to prepare for yet another major change. The first step for me is arranging for funds to finance my MBA, and that has introduced me to the ominous world of "loans". All about the fine print, baby - that's what I've realized after checking out websites of pretty much every bank that exists in the country, calling half of them and visiting half of those I called! Things seem so rosy when you first come across them, until you've seen the bigger picture, when you realize how screwed you are! Whether its the requirement of collateral, interest rates, co-applicants age, loan amount....one by one I've had to cross almost every bank off! SBI does seem to have a favourable scheme for SIBM students, so I hope to get it done there. SIBM has put us in quite a spot though, giving us less than 15 days to cough up 3.25 lacs for the first installment - not that it can't be done, but it sure puts those less privileged souls in a pickle (thanking my lucky stars I'm not one of them!). I'm sure they have their reasons though, so I ain't complaining....

Hmm...also need to consider my specialization options carefully....finance would obviously be my first choice....second is what has put me in a quandry. (a) Operations management is something I find interesting at the outset, but not having a background in it is what bothers me a little 'cos I have no idea how good I'll be at it (b) HR is kind of a default choice for people if not finance, esp. at SIBM...so I wanna avoid going down that road (c) Marketing....well lotta people have figured me out to be a marketing guy in the future, except for one - me! Somehow I can't see myself in marketing....have no interest in it, so am ruling it out for now. It's gonna be a toss-up between Operations and HR, but I think I'll mostly go for the former.

Anyway...rest later....time for some Seinfeld (need to finish 7 seasons of Seinfeld and 5 seasons of 24 before April!!)....