Subhash K Jha turns the focus once again on the Farah Khan directed Main Hoon Na, which released in 2004 and is now considered a cult classic. As a bonus, there is a throwback interview with the star Shah Rukh Khan that is not to be missed!
Hefty hints and wacky whispers harking back to the ‘golden’ era of masala cinema, carpet this perky piece of pop-art, buoyed and held aloft by the defiance of every law of gravity.
And how can you stay grave when Shah Rukh Khan as Ram Prasad Sharma (giggle!), in his most politically correct role ever( ahem!), goes back to college to protect his army- boss Kabir Bedi’s rebellious daughter Amrita Rao from harm? How can you stay serious as (chuckle!) Ram, disguised as an over-age student in scenic St Paul’s in Darjeeling(Munnabhai, move over), is heckled by the long-haired dude-with-an-altitudinal-attitude Laxman (Zayed Khan).
The Ram-Laxman parallel from the Ramayan (“Yahan pe to poori Mahabharat aa gayee hai,” Laxman rolls his eyes) is just one of those things in Farah Khan’s debut film which makes you smile indulgently. Oh, for those days of movie watching when brothers would be daggers- drawn and guns -withdrawn as Mama sobbed in front of her favourite deity.
One thing is for sure. The debutant director loves Hindi movies. Rather than be condescending about the conventional formulas, she uses them to her own advantage to build a pyramid of narrative exclamations which stop over at many of our most important masala products from Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay to Shekhar Kapur’s Masoom, to Karan Johar’s Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham.
Playing a straight-faced spillover from Masoom, Naseeruddin Shah (named Shekhar Sharma, to remind us of Masoom’s director?) is cast as a man who, on his deathbed, tells his illegitimate son Ram(SRK) about another son, the legitimate one. If Chote Bhaiyya Hrithik Roshan could get Bade Bhaiyya SRK back from London in K3G, why can’t Big Brother Ram redeem his bastardized glory by winning over Laxman?
Bombastic and cliched? Farah Khan enjoys every morsel of the kitsch-ree and even turns into a kind of impromptu feast of fury, farce, and familial values.
Unlike other recent chalu–cheez products, Main Hoon Na never resorts to double meanings to get us interested. Vulgarity….yes, there is. But of a very funny and innocuous variety. Satish Shah, as the spit-spraying teacher, and Bindu, as his buxom lingo-lost colleague, provide what in filmy parlance could be called the cheap thrills.
“You come to my backside when I’ve free period,” Bindu guffaws to the embarrassed Shah Rukh. Dialogue writer Abbas Tyrewala is too smart for words, no?
Sushmita Sen is there for the oomph. And how! Taking off from where Simi Garewal left off as the sexy Catholic teacher to pubescent Rishi Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker, Sen in clingy chiffons is a hip-swinging diva full of song and fury signifying sensuality. Except for one fantasy song where she goes too far with her femme-fatale act, Sen defines the film’s mode of renewable homage to statistical perfection.
Some of the film’s most innovative scenes are between smitten student Shah Rukh and his senstional teacher. The sequence in the Staff Room (do we look for a pun in the venue? ) where, much to his own embarrassment, Ram burst into ‘Ek ladki ko dekha,’ replete with a bunch of phantoms- violinists to egg on the romantic mood, is a beaut.
There are many tooth-and-nail defining moments in the long but seldom lingering narrative. The love for R.D. Burman’s music is evident in the composer’s recurrent melodies and in Anu Malik’s spirited score. Ranjit Barot’s sound design is a prominent measure of the film’s technical impeccability.
Whether it’s V. Manikandan’s sweepingly specified cinematography or Abbas Tyrewala’s tongue-in-shriek banter… the film’s technical gloss romances the posh without sacrificing the good old story.
Farah Khan goes for a heady mix of brotherly bonding and political terrorism. While the SRK-Zayed Khan team gives the film its sentimental theme, the SRK-Suniel Shetty axis provides the director with a chance to let the macho side of her vision have a field day.
The Matrix styled action doesn’t quite melt into the main event. But we never really feel the absence of a unifying vision. How can we when the director doesn’t ever deploy duping devices ? From the first to the last frame, Farah Khan is the debutante in control. She uses her stars and ingrained affinity to the cult of stardom to her script’s advantage.
There‘s never a rustle of a tussle between the director’s inherent sophistication and her massy motivations.
Farah Khan tiptoes through our biggest masala movies with the glee of a child at a huge toy store. She knows exactly what she wants and gets it from her cast and crew with a deft formula-defining toss of her hair, which defies her gender. The whole sequence on the roads of Darjeeling where SRK chases the militant Khan (Murli Sharma) on a manual rickashaw isn’t only a tribute to the ‘chal-Dhanno-aaj-teri-Basanti-ke-izzat-ka-sawaal-hai’ sequence in Sholay, but also incontrovertible evidence of Farah Khan’s unrelenting grip over the grammar of commercial Hindi cinema.
The Indo-Pak peace message, which crops up intermittently, is sparingly projected into the plot. We feel the politicization of Shah Rukh Khan in palpable but digestible measures. Subdued but omnipresent, Shah Rukh is as solid and reliable as his role requires him to be. The denial of bravado is welcome specially since he lets his younger co-star do the flamboyant act so generously. Zayed Khan is just the right foil to Shah Rukh—cocky and conceited, Zayed makes a new beginning as an actor. Among the rest of the accomplished cast, Boman Irani, as the forgetful principal, is outstanding. Suniel Shetty’s bad-man act is controlled, cool, but choleric and convincing.
The temptation of extravagance looms over this glamour-clogged film. Farah Khan never gives in. In a brilliantly edited sequence (Shrish Kunder’s scissors snips into the sumptuous storytelling with a slurpy suaveness), SRK discovers Zayed is his brother just in time to save the sibling from falling to his death.No Hindi film by a woman director has ever looked Like Main Hoon Na. The absence of the namby pamby and the presence of a truly charismatic cast are the film’s two USPs. There isn’t much here to chew on.
Shah Rukh Khan spoke to Subhash K Jha on Main Hoon Na. “It’s actually a true blue masala film like Manmohan Desai’s cinema. It pays a tribute to the films of the 1970s. To me, masala films are a complete genre. To call all commercial films masala is a misconception. I’d define masala films as what Mr Bachchan used to do with Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai—caring mother, estranged brothers, the works. Like these films Main Hoon Na takes us on a wild trip. It’s larger-than-life film. But to contemporize the film, my role has been made politically correct. You can’t be true to life in a commercial film. Because commercial films are untrue to life by their very definition. They sell a dream. We’re hoping to re-introduce the genre of masala cinema through Main Hoon Na. Nearly four years ago, Farah Khan conceived a situation for Indo-Pak friendship in the script at a time when such a friendship seemed far-fetched. I guess life does imitate art in that sense. For some years now, Pakistan has been portrayed in some of our films as the enemy. I don’t see why the whole country should be condemned for the sins of a handful of people. Bad guys are bad guys regardless of their nationality or religion. Let’s make films with a positive outlook. However, Main Hoon Na isn’t heavily into messages. I’m older, if that’s what you mean. I should and am playing my age. I look older and more mature than I did earlier. I hope I’m growing wise as well. I‘m still very energetic as an actor.”
Interestingly, Shah Rukh revealed that he was not the first choice for his role. “When we were starting Main Hoon Na, we couldn’t get anyone to play the younger brother. I suggested we get Sunny Deol to play the army officer and that I’d play the younger brother. I think it would’ve worked. I’d put my whole soul into any part, young or old. When Farah was choreographing Kaho Naa …Pyaar Hai, she had got Hrithik to agree to play the younger brother. But I thought Farah needed to work on the script more. So her film got delayed. Then Hrithik started doing Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. He even shot for a day for Main Hoon Na. And Hrithik and I had already played brothers in K3G. If after Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai and K3G Hrithik played my sibling, then the script would have to be altered. We needed someone more new. Zayed Khan fitted the bill perfectly. To my delight, he turned out to be a very respectful boy. I like that. He was artless and very likeable. Nowadays, one hears horror stories about the behaviour of the younger generation. Even Sohail Khan is very respectful. I think it’s because of the way they’ve been brought up. I really like Zayed and his co-star, Amrita Rao. Main Hoon Na is a big break for both of them. Suniel Shetty came into our film a little late. We had first thought of Mr Kamal Haasan and, Mr Nana Patekar and Naseerbhai. When Suniel was offered the role, he was more than eager. But we had to make sure that his stardom didn’t suffer in any way in the transition from black to white. Both Suniel and Sushmita are really nice. They haven’t taken any money. We’ll have to find some way of repaying them. When awards are given at the end of the year, I hope Farah Khan and Suniel get theirs. Me? I can live on the awards I’ve received for the next forty years.”
SRK was all praise for Sushmita Sen. “In Main Hoon Na, I think Sushmita is wonderfully apt for the part. She deserves so much more. Unfortunately, because of her strong personality, there’s a fear that she might overshadow her co-star. I only saw her in her debut Dastak, and then I’ve done shows with her. But like all models turned actresses, she’s amazingly professional. They come on the sets laughing and entertaining. They’ve no complexes about what other actors are doing. I think all actors should be cast according to suitability. For instance, I can’t be cast as Spiderman and Superman, much as I’d like to.”
Main Hoon Na was SRK’s first film with a female director since Hema Malini in Dil Aashna Hai. “But with Farah, it doesn’t feel like the first time. In all the films where she has choreographed me, she has directed me for at least 25 minutes. In Main Hoon Na, she has directed me for a longer duration. As a director, Farha has the guts to step into a male-dominated arena. Without taking away from what they’ve achieved, I’d like to say women directors generally make issue-based films. Here’s a girl who has taken up a subject on India-Pak relations and woven it into a theme of sibling bonding. She has made the film like a man. Zayed and I play the kind of roles which Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty did in the movies some years ago. Main Hoon Na is a very masculine film. She’s as mainstream as Manmohan Desai, Raj Kanwar, and Aditya Chopra. In the film that I wanted to make earlier, Farah wanted to cast me as a Mama’s boy and how I get out of the feminine shadow. That was a little girlie in the mood. We decided to make something more masculine. Years ago, I asked Kalpana Lajmi to cast me. But the dates didn’t work out. Since it was a small film, she couldn’t wait for my dates. Deepa Mehta also offered me a role just months before 1947 Earth was to start. Meghna Gulzar wanted me in Filhaal. But I couldn’t see myself adding to the film.”
Generously, SRK credited the success of Main Hoon Na to factors other than he. “I think the stunts and Sushmita Sen have gone down very with audiences in centres where I’m not supposed to be a hot favourite. Since I play an action hero in Main Hoon Na, I’m quieter than in my other films. There’s no point in holding the floor. The younger brother (Zayed Khan) and the bad guy (Suniel Shetty) talk a lot. Suniel is known for his economy of words. But here, he gives speeches. If you look at it, Main Hoon Na is more a musical than a talkie. Main Hoon Na is a massy entertainer with class. The reviews abroad have been more than kind. They loved it. Actually, in Hindi commercial cinema, there’s no stereotype. But yes, there’s a hero-type cinema. Like what Amitji (Bachchan) used to do. I play a hero-type in Main Hoon Na. Come to think of it, I played a hero-type in Kal Ho Na Ho. Main Hoon Na is more masala. I wanted to be a hero without blowing my trumpet. My character is a larger-than-life without making a noise about it.”
He added, addressing the story of the peace plans between India and Pakistan in Main Hoon Na, “The bad soul is played by Suniel Shetty. His character has a problem with the peace plans between India and Pakistan. Everyone wants peace between the two countries. And that, according to me, is the more important part of Main Hoon Na. It isn’t only trying to entertain. It addresses itself to a very important aspect of our political life. We should’ve spoken of peace between the two countries from long before. To the average man on both sides of the border, violence is undesirable. According to me the essence of the film is in the last ten minutes when both us brothers become symbolic of the two countries coming together. We in the two countries are like two brothers with the same mother squabbling over certain issues.”
He said, “Main Hoon Na worked everywhere, including Bihar and UP. It’s topping the US charts as well. I’m specially happy since this is my own production and Farah Khan’s first film as director. Everyone worked really hard on the film. The bottom line of cinema is that it should entertain. And that’s what Main Hoon Na does. My responsibility is to entertain the audience. I take my job very serious. But I don’t take myself too seriously. I’ve never considered people’s expectations to be a responsibility. I enjoy every film I do, and given the parameters we work in, I try to make each film as different as possible. I normally leave behind a film and start looking at the next one as soon as my shooting ends. I’ve seen enough of what I thought were wonderful films falling. I may fall again. And again, there will be talk about how I’m slipping. You can take neither success nor failure too seriously.”
