Shahrukh Khan to Meet Obama

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Just when you thought the fantastical movies churned out by the Bollywood film industry couldn’t get any stranger, Shahrukh Khan stars in My Name is Khan. The movie, directed by Karan Johar (and starring Kajol, naturally), is set to be released this winter and casts Khan as a Muslim man with Asperger syndrome who comes to post-9-11 America only to be detained by authorities for suspicious behavior. Oh yeah, and then he goes on a quest to meet President Barack Obama (played by Christopher B. Duncan from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno) in the hopes of clearing his name.

FOXSTAR would market and distribute the film in India while Fox Searchlight Pictures, which marketed and distributed the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire in the US, will release the film in United States. Slumdog Millionaire was a global success and also swept the Oscars this year. So, SRK fans could expect an Oscar for the Badshah of Bollywood too with My Name is Khan. “I’ve been waiting for my Oscar for 10 years,” said SRK. The film, which has been co-produced by Khan and Johar, examines how a life of a Muslim man from India, living in San Francisco, embarks on a remarkable journey across the United States and inspires people, inviting debate, creating an accidental revolution.

[Link.]

I’m very curious to see what the response will be to this movie, both in the U.S. and abroad. I like how the article assumes “SRK fans could expect an Oscar for the Badshah of Bollywood too with My Name is Khan.” Yes, because now that the great SRK has decided he wants an Oscar, by golly he will manage to get one even if it takes a quest to the White House to do it.

On a side-note, anyone else seeing a little Khuda Kay Liye, a smidgen of Slumdog Millionaire (with Obama as Latika) and some Taare Zameen Par (which highlights issues of dyslexia) in the plot?

68 thoughts on “Shahrukh Khan to Meet Obama”

  2. I don’t see why he needs to have an Oscar to feel successful – he’s won numerous awards in his home country and is idolized by hundreds of millions. And technically, I think this film would have a better chance at winning a Golden Globe, as they have a Comedy / Musical category – unless they skip any singing / dancing / romance angle, which seems highly unlikely.

    And which performances does he deem Oscar-worthy ? May be another example of a celebrity surrounded in a bubble who thinks they can get anything they want because they are such a big SUPAHSTAH !!

  3. And technically, I think this film would have a better chance at winning a Golden Globe, as they havea Comedy / Musical category – unless they skip any singing / dancing / romance angle, which seems highly unlikely.

    Actually, they do plan on skipping it in this film. No songs in this! (I was surprised too.)

  4. No songs in this! (I was surprised too.)

    vat? why would anyone watch it now? without the twitching and the tremble and the hay-haaayy singing in the svisss countryside the guy’s a total bore yaar. i’d rather he lose the asperger and have some asparagus.

  5. I don’t see why he needs to have an Oscar to feel successful

    Well, he’s still goodlooking, even after getting beaten up by Mayweather and Pacquiao.

  6. Wicked, this looks like a well good film. wish there were songs, would be great to see ol’ barak break into a song and dance number. la la la! 😉 no joke, srk and kajol are awesome pair.

  9. (and starring Kajol, naturally)

    naturally?…it was news that she actually starring in this…so this might not be naturally to Mr. KJ this time

  10. If he wins an Oscar (not !) hopefully he will stop hawking skin lightening cream. Don’t know why people idolize these dudes, it’s like they were trained by the rejects of the William Shatner institute. And there should be a GOI gag order against them speaking to the foreign press, with the`exceptions of Nandita Das & Shabana Azmi most are as dumb as mud.

  13. I don’t understand why they threw the asperger’s syndrome in there… I mean, really, why can’t it just be a normal guy? Not only will people think he’s a terrorist in this film, but he won’t ever be able to understand a joke, the poor guy!

    Also, I am highly disappointed that there will be no songs… I mean, what’s the point them, really? Just to look at Khan’s too-much-smoking-weathered face? I say, nay! Anyways, my mom (who I have recently turned onto Bollywood) enjoys the songs the most… I bet she will refuse to watch.

  14. Oh no! A bollywood phillum, with the Badshah himself and no songs – how sad is that :(. And that too K Jo’s movie..terrible piece of news early this morning, i say. che.

  15. I have nothing good to say about this brown nosing, skin lightening, self absorbed, aggrandized product of a desi industry that sorely lacks creativity and thrives on an illusion that the western world now suddenly accepts the monkey dancing fluff filled fantasy crap that makes up just about any story. Idiot and Idiots.

  17. I have nothing good to say about this brown nosing, skin lightening, self absorbed, aggrandized product of a desi industry that sorely lacks creativity and thrives on an illusion that the western world now suddenly accepts the monkey dancing fluff filled fantasy crap that makes up just about any story. Idiot and Idiots.

    Look, I don’t think Rahul Gandhi should be PM either, but this is a bit over the top.

  18. I don’t understand why they threw the asperger’s syndrome in there….

    Autism reduced even the greats from boldly asserting “I’m walking here” to diffidently mumbling “The sign said ‘Don’t Walk’. Have to get to K-Mart.”. Imagine the potential for stuttering, the head twitches, the unfocused stares, and whatever else makes the man tic (no typo there). This movie will do for Asperger’s what U Me Aur Hum did for Alzheimer’s. Although can BHO please give whomever detains SRK for suspicious behavior a Medal of Freedom? Maybe they can give that role to George Tenet so he can really claim he deserves the award.

  20. Kuruthipunal was a steaming pile of self-aggrandizing showboating that only looked good in comparison to its competition. Good camerawork, though.

    That was to be expected considering Kamalhassan was playing one of the major roles in the movie 😉

  21. Kuruthipunal was a steaming pile of self-aggrandizing showboating that only looked good in comparison to its competition. Good camerawork, though.

    Kuruthipunal was a more commercialized version of Drohkaal. The original is better, but very is difficult to find. Kamal made Kuruthipunal a star vehicle, and changed it here and there. The story was still good, and the characters well developed.

    If you can get Drohakaal, see it. It stars Amrish Puri, Naseerudin Shah (arjun’s role) and Om Puri (kamal’s role).

  22. If you can get Drohakaal, see it. It stars Amrish Puri, Naseerudin Shah (arjun’s role) and Om Puri (kamal’s role).

    Yes, I do want to see it, and expect that it will be much better given that it adds Govind Nihalani and subtracts Kemel Saar.

  24. Does anybody know who that white women is with Mr.Khan in the picture

    .

    brigitte bardot

  25. … given that KJ is directing this one, I doubt that this will get anything more than a few laughs from the Oscar/Golden Globe folks.

  27. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone once wrote, “Did you ever notice that the Oscar state doesn’t have any balls?” He then went on to criticize the Academy Awards for recognizing safe, middle of the road films. That torch may be passed on to a new industry – Bollywood. Yes, there are some film-makers who try to go against the grain, but they get little support from the industry and audiences. This film could just have easily been set in India – which has its own controversies surrounding extended detention, profiling of Muslim. But SRK, who looks after the bottom-line, could not set such a film in India without arousing controversy. So, since it is always in-style to lecture the U.S., that was the safer route to go.

    As far as his looks go, my sister said it best, “His nose is the size of Everest, and his face is more cratered than the moon.”

  30. “In short, there the three important components: love story, Islam and a mild form of autism”.

    This made me laugh as I thought of these three bullet points being pitched to some Hollywood executives if the film were produced as an American film……awkward silences would abound…..

  31. Kuruthipunal was a steaming pile of self-aggrandizing showboating that only looked good in comparison to its competition. Good camerawork, though.

    ..whaa. all kemal haters move back to oz

    i know you are just jelas because saar didnt pick pirabhu to play valiantly dying muslim sidekick – .while valid, i i though arjun’s biryani thulping abbas was soo awesome(but why muslim’s always wear only cut-banian/lungi at home in tamil movies?). also gautami madame rapistanu scene was so realistic- not like sridevi chalbaaz teez at all. i was so angry when andy lau didn’t acknowledge KP inspiration at Hongkong film awards.

  32. My opinion is KJo wants to be taken as a “serious” filmmaker…rather like a person who devours Harlequinn is suddenly seen reading Proust…Therefore he went and picked some “suitable” themes – terrorism, Obama, Aspergers…

  34. Kirk Lazarus – Everybody knows you never go full r*tard.

    Tugg Speedman – What do you mean?

    Kirk Lazarus – Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, ‘Rain Man,’ look rtarded, act rtarded, not rtarded. Counted toothpicks, cheated cards. Autistic, sho’. Not rtarded. You know Tom Hanks, ‘Forrest Gump.’ Slow, yes. Rtarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and won a ping-pong competition. That ain’t rtarded. Peter Sellers, “Being There.” Infantile, yes. Rtarded, no. You went full rtard, man. Never go full rtard. You don’t buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, “I Am Sam.” Remember? Went full rtard, went home empty handed…

    I wonder if SRK reads the script or if the script reads him ?

  35. Did anyone else catch this very odd interview on NDTV over the weekend?

    SRK kept making jokes about liking nurses and Megan Fox (as in, I was so happy about the deal with Fox because I thought she’d be there to sign the papers) as if he was trying to over-emphasize to everyone that he likes girls not boys.

    The one saving grace in the whole 20 minutes or so was when Karan seemed to speak very seriously about how fond he is of SRK and said that many in the media and elsewhere wondered and speculated about the nature of his relationship with ShahRukh but for him, SRK had filled the void left after his Dad (Yash Johar) died.

    This should be an interesting release indeed.

  36. Shahrukh Khan may be playing a role, just a role, but the guy in real life is patronising, uncouth, and insensitive.

    V.Surya Prakash writes in The Pioneer Such is the power of these prejudices that it impacts the work of even established film stars like Shahrukh Khan, who is now anchoring Kaun Banega Crorepati. I was distressed to find Shahrukh Khan joke about the name of a contestant from Andhra Pradesh – Mr Ramakrishna Guggila – and his companion, Mr Venkateshwarlu Putta. Shahrukh joked about their names and hinted time and again that their names were unpronounceable. Then, without so much as a by your leave, Shahrukh told Mr Guggila that he would call him “Guggi” or just “Guggs”. As for the contestant’s companion, Shahrukh was unaware that Venkateshwarlu was one word. He kept calling him Venkatesh Warlu and eventually, unilaterally decided to rechristen him as “Venky”. But the anchor’s patronising attitude truly came out when he mockingly offered a prize to viewers who could say “Venkatesh Warlu Putta” five times without faltering.

    Shahrukh has learned two things from Kamalahasan. To hype your movies so much that no one cares how poorly plotted or directed they are, instead being taken up with seeing you; and then going through every movie with the same set of stock expressions – SRK has his gets-on-your-nerves-giggle, and Kamalhasan his silly “you know” or whatever tic catches his fancy. Don’t get me started on that insufferable phoney Kamalahasan.

  37. SRK has his gets-on-your-nerves-giggle, and Kamalhasan his silly “you know” or whatever tic catches his fancy. Don’t get me started on that insufferable phoney Kamalahasan.

    Well, Kamal Hassan acted in some great films, anyone seen Pushpak, Sagara Sangamam (Telugu), Nayagan? Kamal Hassan and SRK are both great actors, only when they are not being stars and narcissistic 🙂

  38. Anyways Thalaivar Rajni is the best – Anantha you happy? And next comes Capitan Vijaykanth 🙂

  39. Does anybody know who that white women is with Mr.Khan in the picture.

    Post fair and lovely Kajol.

  40. This film could just have easily been set in India – which has its own controversies surrounding extended detention, profiling of Muslim. But SRK, who looks after the bottom-line, could not set such a film in India without arousing controversy. So, since it is always in-style to lecture the U.S., that was the safer route to go.

    Wasn’t there another bollywood film that just came out not that long ago called New York, that had almost the same story about some profiling of muslims after 9/11. I guess this is the new in thing now.

  41. Wasn’t there another bollywood film that just came out not that long ago called New York, that had almost the same story about some profiling of muslims after 9/11. I guess this is the new in thing now.

    Yeah, and from what I heard, it seemed like it was like an episode of Friends – a NY devoid of black or Latino faces. All film industries appeal to the nationalism of their native audience – that is not surprising. But don’t try to masquerade some high-school production as a big important film.

  42. Wasn’t there another bollywood film that just came out not that long ago called New York, that had almost the same story about some profiling of muslims after 9/11. I guess this is the new in thing now.

    Not to mention the verry real trubbles undergone by our very own Kemel Saar. So yeah, religion-based profiling is thenew in thing now.

  43. Yeah, and from what I heard, it seemed like it was like an episode of Friends – a NY devoid of black or Latino faces.

    I live in a county and city that are almost majority-minority. My children have been to a school district that unique for its diversity, and yet all that I hear from other desis is, “You live there? Isn’t it…?” If you want to make a movie themed on colour prejudice, you could start with Tamil Nadu. This brand Fairever is formulated and marketed by a company founded by a relation of the first family of Tamil Nadu, which was at one time known for its fiery denunciation of Hindus, foreign Brahmins, Aryan domination etc. I guess in divesting themselves of all that coarse rhetoric, they decided to make fairness creams.

  44. They need Dev Patel and Frido Pinto, with Dev playing the role of someone with a grave disease: e.suburbia ghoralism.

  45. “Shahrukh Khan may be a star, but he is a also a very talented actor who has had some memorable roles in non-commercial movies before”

    I never meant to suggest Indian films without songs are bad… I enjoy many a parallel and kala film. But they don’t have SRK as the hero. He is very good at doing his Bollywood masala films (I quite enjoyed Om Shanti Om and Swades, for example), I personally can’t recall any non-commercial films he has done (if I have even seen any).

    What films were those?

  46. “Does anybody know who that white women is with Mr.Khan in the picture. Post fair and lovely Kajol.”

    Yes, next to that guy from the Blue Man Group…

  48. Swades a masala film? That is one of few the decent movies he’s acted in. None of the usual annoying mannerisms, no scene stealing, and a great theme, utterly realistic. But before all these movies he did a cameo in the only delightful thing Arundati Roy has ever produced In Which Annie Gives Those Ones.