Main Hoon Entertainer...hoon na?

In a race between a manually driven Rickshaw and a Toyota Qualis, how is it humanly possible for the Rickshaw puller to win? Are matters of national security dependent on the whims of the daughter (in saying that she does not want any security for herself) of the Chief of Army Staff? In a hostage operation masterminded by a terrorist who has been able to develop a sizable army of his own, how can the hostages be rescued by killing/over-powering just three or four of the kidnappers?

If you are not bothered by the above questions and like me, think that these are issues for those with more sophistication up there in the grey cells, Main Hoon Na is just the movie for you. The movie is every bit an entertainer that it has been touted as. Right from the action scenes (with some good stunts and effects) to the comic relief (the campus scenes, especially the initial rivalry between the two heroes) and not to forget the excellent romantic chemistry between the lead players (by the way, Sushmita Sen essays the role of an amazingly distractive chemistry teacher) are simply too good.

Contrary to reports, however, Shah Rukh Khan is not much of a revelation. Having heard that he has come out of the Mohabbatein type mould for this movie, the movie viewer may expect something new and refreshing but unfortunately, that is not the case. Just by making the 'King' Khan jump and hit the villain a few kicks in the butt, does not really change the complexion of his character. He is still the same old Khan, suave and self-important, confident and yet a bundle of nerves: overall yet another decent representation of what he has grown into, as an actor, over the past few years.

As for the other actors, in my personal opinion, they are not wasted, as is the case in so many of other SRK movies. The frames do have something more than SRK at times, even though he does occupy center stage for most of the movie. Zayed Khan is good, and so is Amrita Rao, coming across as a girl full of pep. She does look good, especially in the scene where she has taken beauty tips from Sushmita.

And believe me guys, Sushmita Sen does look ravishing. In fact, I had to look at her with a new eye for this movie (not that my two eyes were not sufficient but you know what I mean, don't you?) Rest of the cast has small but good cameos in which they have all entertained, to some extent or the other. The role of Boman Iraani could have been a little more detailed to add to the fun. Hey, did I forget to mention Sunil Shetty? Oof, how I wish that this guy had a little more of a voice..it really amazes me no end how a voice like that can gel with the body that he has..but perhaps, people would have wondered years ago how a body like Amitabh's could gel with the voice like his.

Story wise, Main Hoon Na comes across as nothing different from the run-of-the-mill stuff. Archie's Riverdale School is brought alive in St.Paul's, Darjeeling, but that is not all. There is a parallel thread that talks about the Project Milaap, a friendly gesture of the Indian Government towards Pakistan which is being opposed by some terrorists, Raghavan (Suniel Shetty) being one of them. To stop the project, he plans to abduct Sanjana (Amrita Rao), the daughter of the Chief of Army Staff (Kabir Bedi). Major Ram (SRK) is sent back to college to complete his graduation (actually to protect The General's Daughter :-) ).

If you are ready to believe that the army can not force security upon one citizen just because she (read Sanjana) hates her daddy and can not stand the sight of Army people around her, you may as well believe the rest of the story. SRK enters college, woos everyone (including the new Chemistry teacher who looks like a million bucks..oops, there I go again), and also, is able to find and placate his estranged step mother and step brother. Manmohan Desai rekindled, what? Add to that the climax where the Major just leaves his post (yeah, just like that, without informing any senior officers) because he is kicked out of his home by his step mom and bro. This gives free way to the villain who now kidnaps not just the General's daughter but the entire college (surprising to see so few people in the college, though). But truth triumphs, finally and everybody lives happily ever after.

After viewing the movie in one of Chennai's multiplexes (renovated recently), my personal feeling was that it is a value for money kind of a thing. If you don't have too many expectations with the movie, it will be a treat but if you go in thinking too much, you will be in for a rude shock. But I guess that is true for any Hindi movie and I should know, considering that I come to like any flick any time any where and there are hardly a score of movies which I have seen and yet did not finally come to like :-).

And last but not the least, one of the best things about Main Hoon Na was its end credits. I have never seen such credits on the Hindi Cinema Screen. Well, a lot of movies end with songs but hardly have any attempted to give recognition to the technical staff, that go behind a good movie, in such a beautiful way. Accept it or not, when we watch a movie, the names and faces that linger even after the movie, are not those of the director or the choreographer (despite high profile names like Ram Gopal Verma and Farah Khan, herself). What we see on screen is what we recognize and really appreciate and the way Farah Khan has got everyone on her team on stage, in the lime light, is truly commendable and hopefully, a trend setter.