Summary: If you really knew the teachings and philosophies of different religions, you would know this movie is really a misplaced interpretation of Hindu Dharma. Yet, it takes the popular version of our religion and targets it, while shamelessly leaving out other religions which preach similar or even worse things.
Chronological Review:
Aamir Khan’s an alien, doing what he does best. Darting eyes and making silly faces and such sh*t. (Rehash of his Dhoom3 autistic(?) brother portrayal)
Anushka Sharma is too distracting with her BIG Botox lips and weird acting in her opening scene. She meets with Sushant; is friendly first and cold later when he says he is a Pakistani. Why is that? Is her mistrust politically motivated or is it communal? Before you can even complete the question in your head, she is following a song-singing Sushant through streets of Belgium.
Bin pooche mera naam aur pata,
Rasmon ko rakh ke pare,
Bin kuch kahe, bin kuch sune
4 kadam, chal do saath mere…
Oh so silly of me to feel that’s a total euphemism of love jihad? My personal feelings aside, *Boom* Anushka’s holding hands, hanging out, making out…I’m glad that happened quick. I almost felt happy at the progressive portrayal of women and…. Chaar kadam kya saari umar, Chal dungi saath tere… Nopes! Spoke to soon. *Love has happened*.
Isn’t it too premature to involve the parents, but anyway they are. We can imagine the her mom’s priority list when her first question is “Munda karda ki ye? Joint family se toh nahi ye?” Thank you writers for quite a caricature of Indian parents.
Now parents are shocked that he’s a Muslim and that too from Pakistan. Mom expresses genuine doubts : Burkha pehnegi? namaz padhegi? (Convert karegi?) I can see where this is going…love is above religion rebellion? But then the movie’s not about that, is it? What about the guy’s parents? There is no mention of them or their (happy?) feelings towards marrying a Hindu girl or even guy’s stance on conversion to Islam by the girl. And as Bollywood has always taught us, ‘should do anything for love’. What is religious freedom got to do in life when you have love. Wannabe-liberals and psuedo-secularalists have grown blind to this manipulation by the media and movies. Dear Hindu love jihad naysayers please wake up to the reality.
Coming straight to the point of the movie: Anushka’s dad is a follower of ‘Godman’ Tapasvi. That is the butt of all jokes. That and Hindu Idol worship.
Following a book is acceptable, but a human being, Oh no! That’s stupid!!
Call Hindu religious leaders/teachers Godmen, who use people’s faith for personal benefit. Meanwhile, Popes and Maulvis are doing great service to their religion and of course, they have nothing to do with money-making. Hindus who follow some gurus are victims while others are devotional to attend sermons and mass.
A barrage of over the top exaggeration follows with Mr. Tapasvi’s face printed on quilts, school bags and posters in the bathroom. What genre of comedy is this? I am struggling to find the humour. They said it was satire? Only satire is in the other film reviews of PK.
I thought I was well-travelled. Alas, I never got to go to a place where people behave like the way these writers imagine. Keeping Hanuman’s idol (from a god-box) on the treadmill, question giving online donations and have seamless wi-fi connectivity. The trivialisation of faith and belief of Hindus for comic relief shows the extent to which filmmakers are taking Hindu audience for granted. And what do we do, laugh along. Over the years, Bollywood has slowly brainwashed us into believing being a devout Hindu is uncool. The hero has got nothing to do with god while the villains wear a tilak or a skullcap.
Anyway, cut to the ‘baba’ with his bhavishyavanis and slight-of-hand magic.God talks to this fellow. Anushka rolls her eyes.
Ahem ahem, aren’t all other religions just this? God speaking to/revealing truths/messaging through a human being. Gosh! Anushka you are so insensitive.
There is difference between astrology and religious philosophy and religion. There are hakims, healers and such hoaxes, and it is utterly stupid to show Maulvis or priests being all about that in Mosques/Churches. And it is never shown. Yet, with Hindus anything goes. This kind of scene blatantly belittles the credibility of Hindu gurus, their knowledge and ability to help people. The media champions this cause with their Hindu Godmen bashing. And the youngsters are believing it, moving further away from their religion, even being ashamed of it. Things on TV are so bad, so politically motivated and so anti-Hindu and pro-minority and I have quit watching all these 24X7 news channles and minority apologists newspapers and now watch headlines in 15mins on Doordharshan which is surprisingly neutral and to-the-point.
Now, this Tapasvi is pretty political. Pakistanis have given nothing but chhal, kapat and dhoka, says he. History is proof, says he. True. Especially now.
In his bhavishyavani, Tapasvi follows it up by totally illogical clause of Sushant/Sarfaraz sleeping with Anushka and not marrying her. Tapasvi is now associated with making idiotic claims and we are now forced to dismiss everything this fellow has said, truth or not. Spare us the Aman-ki-asha narrative. It can’t be more ridiculous for our movies to show oh-our-dear-Pakistan after the recent happenings in Kashmir.When will they learn?
Did I mention, Anushka decides to get married the next day just to prove the Godman wrong. I wouldn’t say Tapasvi’s bhavishyavani came true but any rational person, Paki or not, would flee for his life from such a weirdo that’s Anushka. Sushant doesn’t turn up the next day and breaks up via a note. Seems legit. First of all, Anushka’s Hindu and Sushant is Muslim, then why are they getting married in a Church? Second of all, Anushka, why would you tell a cab drive in Brussels to take you to New Delhi. Lady, you need help.
So now she’s a TV reporter. She meets Aamir in a Delhi Metro. Wait what? What is Aamir saying? I can’t make out his sh*t over his scary face. Aamir is supposed to be looking for God. He is carrying Missing pamphlets with him.Why do they have only Hindu deities printed on them? Why only paste stickers of Hindu deities on your face? Why steal money from a only temple handi and justify it?
Anushka, like most youngsters in our country who refuse to see the anti-hindu stance prevalent in our generation, is impressed. Anushka wants her TV news channel to cover him. Her boss says no news on religion because followers of Tapasvi stabbed his bum with a Trishul. That’s true of people from all religions, no. All followers even. To come the facts, which religion’s fundamentalists need to feared for saying anything against their religion is a no-brainer.
The humour in this movie is just beyond me. Pissing in public, black-ticket hogging old men, giving bribe to policemen, homophobic jokes, getting slapped for holding stranger’s hands….ughhh! And to that add the irritating background score. Don’t force your lack of humour on us, Hirani.
And Aamir has been sent to do research on Earth, right? Yet he is without any prep or equipments or anything. Zzzzz….Spent the last 30 minutes not writing anything. Nothing to write about.Aamir thinks only God can help him find his remote which can help him contact his alienship. Couldn’t think further than ET, could you? And in Delhi he comes across only Hindu temples. If that’s not targeting what is?
All the other reviews I have read invariably state that PK asks very pointy questions about religion. Here’s the list of questions.
- What’s the difference between small and big idols?
- Do Hindu idols work on battery?
- Whether there’s a transmitter in the idols?
- Why do we have to pay fees to Hindu temples to be heard by God.
- Are Hindu gods mute?
Ouch, so pointy..it tickles.
No thanks for your preachy anti-idolatry stance. Yet, there is more to Hindu religion than idols.
If I had to ask questions about illogical things across religions, including Hinduism:
- Why do religions need to increase the number of their followers?
- Why should people follow something written in an ancient text?
- What is the need to pray multiple times a day?
- Is it not hypocritical to not eat meat on auspicious days while you gorge on it on other days?
- Why do we have to believe the translations mostly done by non-Indians of our texts?
- Why haven’t many people heard of Advait/Dvait philosophies, it is same as plain monotheism?
Anyway, moving on…
Another policeman talks about riots following a Christian visiting a temple. Can we stick to a bit of realism? Introduction of church and frivolous jokes on crucification and wine offering. Then Aamir takes to a mosque and is driven away before he can make any silly comments on Allah. Hmm…. Smart way to try to be totally anti-Hindu while dedicating a couple of frames to other religions to assuage our anyway tolerant secularists. Now I saw some news about questionable Censor board whose head is Leena Samson deleting anti-Christian stuff. Muslim groups were able to get Vishvaroopam banned and PK, well the courts told Hindus to just deal with it. Who is going to stand up for Hinduism?
What follows is a comparision of religion with an commercial establishment and comments on equality of all religions. All religions are for-profit organisations, according to PK. Yet, some use it for maintenance of temples, while others use it to fund conversions. If religions are so equal in this country, then why do we haveHindu endowment act which makes it possible the use of the revenue and donations from Hindu temples to be used for several other activities including financial support for other religious institutions. If they are so very equal then why aren’t the huge acres of land given to Christians under the British Rule or the property owned by Wakf boards not talked about? They are hardly proportional to the population percentage of the religions’ followers in the country. India has been neither a secular not an equal country for too long.
Oh, we are back to the godman Tapasvi, who has the remote that belongs to Aamir and is lying that it is Shiv’s damru’s part for which he wants to make a temple with donations of gullible followers. Of course, Hindu gurus are liars and by extrapolation all things considered holy by Hindus must be part of a sham. So, lets blast the bodhi tree, desecrate idols and demolish temples. All sham. And well-aware Hindus, don’t you dare protest because your religion is a bunch of lies. That is what is the learning here. When is this movie is going to end?
Turns out Aamir can now read minds too. Anushka believes that he’s an alien and wants to help him get the remote from the cluthches of Tapasvi. Aamir gets a revelation that God speaking to/through men is a sham. And I thought Aamir was a good Muslim. Come on.
Feeding cows, performing gulatiyan, milk pouring on shivling is senseless but sacrificing animals in the name of God is perfectly fine, no?
The film touches upon the use of fear in driving religion. Yet, Hinduism is the last religion which needs to resort to fear. It doesn’t ask you to follow procedures, it doesn’t stipulate a judgement day or facing god’s fury for changing religion. Jo darr gaya who mandir gaya is a dialogue. Really. Which Hindu devotee goes to a temple out of fear? Or even prays to god because if he didn’t it would make him less of a Hindu. Where is the fear in our religion? It’s ample focus on a person’s morality and call towards performing (non-religious) duties and even the ability to imagine God as something one can be unified with is proof that no one needs to ask anyone to do something specific in the Hindu Dharm. Why are you further misleading the youth of our country, Hirani? Just to make Rs.300cr+ revenue?
Aamir places a stone at an examination center and makes a joke about followers praying to it. It is less of a joke and more an indication of Hindu philosophy. God is accessible to anyone in any form. An idol is not a God till a devotee prays to it, wants to see God in it. Our god is very accessible that way
Ultimate dialogue: “If god wanted us to follow his word without questioning, he wouldn’t give humans ability to reason and question”, says Anushka.
How is this relevant to Hinduism?Seems more suitable to Islam, Christianity and abrahamic religons. She continues: “When the prophets or messengers of God can’t answer your question, they use fear and violence to kill your voice and make you follow them”. This too is the least true of Hinduism and more directed towards other rule-based religions.
Cut to the montage of allegedly fradualent miracle workers; one hindu baba, one gau-seva basher, Chiritian conversion bashing, Malala-like pro girls education activist, 2nd Hindu guru… Although I am not such a follower but I can imagine people seeking help from gurus for finding the meaning or purpose of life instead of just curing their diseases or because they got paid for it. At least not in Hindu Dharm.
We have witness an awkward love story out of nowhere? Love is baste of time. True. Spare us.
After all this BS there is still half an hour to go!
Face to face debate between Aamir and Tapasvi is going to happen. Why? Because of hate mail and decrease in merchandise sale and trolling on social media outlets of Tapasvi.
Aamir is shocked when Sanjay Dutt (Why is he out of jail again?) tells him the remote theif has sold his remote to Tapasvi. He knew that like an hour ago, didn’t he? Guess not. Aamir suddenly concludes that God isn’t a liar, his all-is-well type Wrong-number catch phrase (which by now has become unbearable) is irrelevant because only the ones who lie are the people on earth. I wonder what it says about all other religions, who depend on God’s word via man.
Now the climactic TV debate starts. Oh me god. Anushka’s bloody show is like Barkha Dutt’s. Giggle giggle.I can feel a Aamir khan style preachy sermon coming. I was right, this is Satyamava jayate: The movie.
Aamir gives a good start with faith as a coping mechanism and hope a motivator. Oh no. Spoke to soon. Here is the anti Hindu part.:
Aamir sermons that there is THE true god and then there’s your God, Mr. Hindu guru. Small like you, he says addressing the Hindu guru. The true god has created us and your god takes bribe. Aamir suggests that the ‘duplicate gods’ should be eliminated and we should all believe in the True god.
If I knew this was going to be a lecture on Abrahamic religions, I would have bunked the class. The Exodus was much more entertaining than PK, with the same message .
The channel crew is smiling and silently celebrating…what? I don’t know. Yet, they are potraying the real attitude of our media.
Now suddenly the whole topic has changed to trivia of bhavishyavanis and inaccurate forecasting and wagering for the remote. I was expecting a philosophical exchange of ideas but obviously I can’t expect that from a movie, can I?
It’s now suddenly all about Anushka’s love life and Aamir turns into Sherlock. He deciphers the whole mystery of Anushka being jilted at the altar. It turns out Anushka or Sushant never checked if the break-up note was meant for them. At this stage, all I can say is whatever.
Now we are dabbling in some random crap in a RajKumar Hirani style audience crying scene. Now suddenly everything is resolved between Anushka and Sushant and Anushka’s dad. How did Anushka’s dad suddenly have a heart change? Anyway finally Aamir got his remote.
Just go already, Aamir. OK now Anushka’s learns that Aamir loves her. Emo music in the background. I hope she isn’t thinking of going with him. Nopes, just stay back and write a book.
WTF did I just watch?
Diss Miss 