Movie Review: PK
“It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual but not religious. It is not necessary to go to Church and give money—for many, nature can be a Church. Some of the best people in history did not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in His name.
—Pope Francis
OMG this is déjà vu. September 2012 saw a bold movie by Umesh Shukla starring Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal. Oh My God illustrated the pointlessness of all religious beliefs. It also highlighted the fact that those immersed in rituals forget the simple truth of living and loving.
Rajkumar Hirani does just that with PK. He sees the world and humans through an alien played by PK (Aamir Khan). Cleverly woven and deeply embedded is a love story with cross-border connections. That’s the difference along with the alien angle by Hirani from Shukla’s OMG. Otherwise, the message is the same—steer clear from religious beliefs and fanaticism and learn to love and respect one another.
PK could not have come at a better time, what with various media reports doing the rounds on conversion, and the Rajya Sabha preferring ‘Din over Discussion’ since the last three days as the Prime Minister of the country refuses to speak on the issue, offering a stony silence to the Opposition and the Nation.
PK’s spaceship lands somewhere in Rajasthan, and as soon as he touches base on earth he learns the hard way the cunningness of earthlings. Soon, he adapts to the ways of the earth by observing and picking clothes from ‘dancing cars’ [cars in which couples are making out]. He also learns the language after a six-hour long session with a ‘call girl’. No, not by doing what you think but by getting her lingo transmitted to him through his Alien powers. This way he is now able to communicate.
He soon encounters Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) who has come back from Belgium after being dumped at the marriage registrar. Jaggu is a television reporter and she is soon fascinated by PK’s antics and when he reveals only to her his identity, she is at first skeptical. Soon, she realizes that PK is indeed an Alien!
She agrees to help him get back to his ‘space’. But before that, PK’s encounter with gods to get his stolen remote back is what the film is all about.
He goes in search of his remote to all religious places only to realize that humans have made a god of their own, other than the one who created them all.
The scenes in all religious places are eye-opener; business seems to be the norm rather than helping the desperate connect with god. It’s a ‘wrong number’ situation all the time as everyone one is just out to fleece those in need and further confound their miseries.
Aamir Khan as PK is fascinating. Kudos to this Khan for trying something different every time he comes on screen! Anushka Sharma matches him in every scene. This girl is a natural.
PK is a simple film with a strong message—of love, peace and humanity. That is what every religion teaches us. If only we humans understand that. The message by Pope Francis last week [at the start of the review], aptly sums up the situation.
We all need a change of heart! It’s a pity an Alien has to teach us that!!
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Martin D’Souza
This first appeared on glamsham.com on December 19, 2014
