If this title sounds bland to you, know that the surname (pronounced with a spirant like "chutzpah," as repeatedly stressed in the movie) is associated with Islam, at least in India. The phrase forms part of the main character's catchphrase, along with "and I am not a terrorist." That should tell you something about the heavy-handed focus, but it didn't drive me away; as the TV Tropes Wiki puts it, some anvils need to be dropped.
Rizvan Khan (played primarily by, heh, Shah Rukh Khan) moves from Mumbai to San Francisco and marries a Hindu single mom, Mandira (Kajol Mukherjee), against the wishes of his brother, Zakir (Jimmy Sheirgill). This works out until after 9/11, when the Khans face so much bigoted oppression that Mandira wishes she'd never taken the name. Rizvan aims to make it up to her by saying his catchphrase to the president of the United States in person. Alas, Rizvan is somewhat further along the autistic spectrum than I am, so he doesn't have a great sense of how not to alarm people....
Although set mostly in the U.S., this is very much an Indian film, with an unnecessarily long runtime of 165 minutes despite a lack of muscial sequences (director Karan Johar wanted to defy the usual Bollywood image). I'm rather annoyed at the DVD designer: Not only are the subtitles not on by default, but the only option for them is "English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing," so it also tells the hearing what they already know. When about half the dialog is in Urdu, Hindi, or Gujarati, this feels vaguely insulting. Still, it's nice to learn which language is which.
The first act has very little to do with religion, ethnicity, or politics. It begins with Rizvan's childhood (played by Tanay Chheda) in the '80s, when he shows brilliance in some regards, especially engineering, but bombs at social skills. He seems about the same in adulthood: too brutally honest for a salesman, almost never looking anyone in the eye, prone to repeating himself or others, shunning hugs, freaking out at the sight of yellow, and carrying a card that describes his diagnosis. I almost expected a comedy tag from all the gaffes. Naturally, Mandira takes a while to welcome his advances, but I guess his innocence is what warms her heart. Who'd have thought that when their marriage went on the rocks, his disorder would have nothing to do with it?
Lest you think Rizvan a MINO, he does make a point to pray at five regular times of the day (which, come to think of it, is a big plus for Islam to an Aspergian mind). He can also cite scripture well enough to shut down a disagreeable imam. At the same time, his worldview seems simplistic by the standards of any mainstream faith: He holds to the explanation by his late mother (Zarina Wahab) that good and bad are the only categories of humanity that matter.
I would have liked the story better if it were based on a true one. I realize that there were many anti-Muslim incidents in the 2000s -- indeed, Shah Rukh Khan was unduly detained at the airport when he came to publicize MNIK -- but the way things ultimately play out with Rizvan is a bit of wishful thinking.
As it is, possibly the most valuable thing about MNIK is its pro-love message. Mandira gives in to the temptation to grow cold and hard in the face of hate, but that rarely does anyone any good. She comes to see that Rizvan's way, however difficult, can make a positive difference.
If you're sick of message movies, autistic protagonists, or anything that champions Barack Obama (Christopher B. Duncan) over George W. Bush (Brent Mendenhall), then you'll want to at least wait a while before checking this out. The rest of you, go right ahead when you have the time.
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