PK: A Satyamev Jayate Mega Episode

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PK takes off from where Raju Hirani (the director of PK) finished 3 Idiots and Aamir Khan wrapped up the last season of Satyamev Jayate. In effect, both these protagonists carried forward the baggage of their past and rehashed it into PK. And boy it does work; at least for the masses or so it seemed sitting in the cinema hall and watching the audience lap up every bit of the satire and gags strewn in and everything in between. This is where Hirani seems to have got the pulse of his audience. Starting with the Munnabhai series, 3 Idiots and now with PK he has been able to kind of get the science of box office chemistry, effectively. In the long term, critics (me included) will sneer at these thoughts of creating templated success. But who cares? Least of all, does it matter? Yet one does tend to feel, somewhere, good cinema is about breaking norms, the fixed ideas and established traditions (See Boyhood, the sleeper Hollywood hit of 2014). But for now, Hirani rules the roost and he does not seem to be going wrong. Perhaps one of the reasons, why Aamir chooses to work with Hirani successively (something not seen with Aamir for a long time, barring his home production). Even he understands the power of going with the masses rather than trying to do off beat stuff and get trashed (but I am happy he continues to produce relatively meaningful cinema from his own banner).

But let us come back to PK for now! I would not be really tempted to talk of the movie much. It is the clichéd and hackneyed stuff with loads of OMG (Oh! My God) strewn in, though OMG was more stark and in your face. The largeness of Aamir Khan abundantly visible.Surprisingly, he decides to tone himself down and that was a relief (his permanent scowl and presence in the last few outings like D3 etc. was really getting on the nerves). PK essentially is a very Aamir Aamir movie. Each character is a pivot, be it Anushka or Saurabh Shukla (thoroughly wasted), or Boman or even the cameo from Ranbir at the end. Think of OMG and character's of Mithun, Govind Namdeo or Om Puri. Strong roles and especially that of Mithun literally takes it away from Paresh's role at times. Classic stuff! Pity, PK never really explores this realm. Sushant is wasted and most of the other characters like Parikshit Sahni etc. really are Hirani favourites who don different garbs to carry the social messages each one of the "Hirani" based genre films convey.

Even the music seems to be no different. Swanand, Shantanu, Sonu carry from where they left in 3 Idiots (notice the resemblance in the mood and tenor of songs like Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh or the romantic Zoobi Doobi), sad:(

The one moment in the movie that stood out perhaps when Sanjay Dutt walked into the scene. He lit up and so did we. We miss him and his charm. Wish we had some more of him. I guess we await Hirani's biopic on Sanjay Dutt, for that! 

Comments

Unknown said…
Even i was a tad disappointed with the movie......
December 23, 2014 at 6:05 AM
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