MOVIE REVIEW June 2004
MOVIE REVIEW
Main Hoon Na
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Zayed Khan, Amrita Arora
Producer: Shah Rukh Khan
Director: Farah Khan
Music Director: Anu Malik
If Main Hoon Na reminds you of the commercial hit cinema of the 70s?well, that's exactly what Farah Khan set out to achieve. It doesn't preach. It doesn't go by logic. But it's an entertainer all the way, much like the Nasir Husain and Manmohan Desai's masala potboilers of yore.
Shah Rukh Khan is Major Ram Prasad Sharma, who is asked to go back to college on a secret mission. The purpose is two fold - to find his long lost brother (Zayed Khan) and to provide security to Sanjana (Amrita Rao) daughter of General Bakshi (Kabir Bedi in a cameo), who has initiated a peace dialogue with Pakistan. Raghavan (Suniel Shetty) is the bad guy trying to thwart the good guy's efforts.
Main Hoon Na has some thoroughly enjoyable moments in the first half. There's a college principal with chronic amnesia (Boman Irani), a professor who can't get her pronunciations right (Bindu), there's another professor who spits every time he opens his mouth (Satish Shah) and of course, there's a new chemistry teacher (Sushmita Sen) in her sizzling chiffons. Particularly delightful is the use of peppy RD Burman songs throughout. Post-interval, the movie moves into the action zone when the focus shifts to the terrorists and their mission.
After a long time we get to see Shah Rukh Khan in true-blue action hero garb, though he also gets ample chance to emote the way only he can. While it's true that the Khan towers over and above the rest of the cast, a proof of Farah's directorial skill lies in the wonderful performance she is able to elicit even from Zayed Khan. SRK and Zayed bond warmly on screen. Suniel Shetty comes up with a refreshingly restrained act. Amrita Rao enacts her bubbly role well and Sushmita carries her part with verve. Boman Irani doesn't exactly bring the house down like he did in Munnabhai, but he still does a great job.
Music by Anu Malik is in sync with the mood of the movie and the qawwali has become a rage. Dialogue by Abbas Tyrewala is whacky and touching by turns. V. Manikandan's cinematography is excellent.
The director says she is quitting choreography and plans to take up direction full time. Good decision, Farah.
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