User:The Dunkman/sandbox/My Name is Khan

My Name is Khan is a 2010 Internationally produced Hindi language drama film directed and produced by Karan Johar through his production company Dharma Productions, the film is an international co-production between Dharma Productions, Red Chillies Entertainment, Fox Star Studios, Fox Searchlight Pictures and 20th Century Fox altogether, and is the first film to kickstart Fox Star Studios, the Indian headquarters of 20th Century Fox, filmed on a budget of ₹500 million (equivalent to $6 million USD), the film follows the life of a man with Asperger's Syndrome named Rizwan Khan as he and his family become infamous after the 9/11 attacks.

Plot
Rizvan Khan, a Muslim man from India, moves to San Francisco and lives with his brother and sister-in-law. Rizvan, who has Aspergers, falls in love with Mandira. Despite protests from his family they get married and start a small business together. They are happy until September 11, 2001 when attitudes towards Muslims undergo a sea-change. When tragedy strikes, Mandira is devastated and they split. Rizvan is confused and very upset that the love of his life has left him. To win her back, he embarks on a touching and inspiring journey across America.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It was the first ever Indian co-production between Dharma Productions, Red Chillies Entertainment, Fox Star Studios and Fox Searchlight Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and yet it managed to be successful.
 * 2) Great acting from many of the actors, both Indian and American, especially Shah Rukh Khan's performance as Rizwan Khan, who manages to do a realistic performances as a mentally autistic man, which caused him to earn an award for Best Actor in the Filmfare Awards.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The film's length is way too long for an Indian-American film, as it lasts for 3 hours and 16 minutes, not even 3 Idiots was that long as it mostly runs for 171 minutes while Taare Zameen Par runs for 164 minutes, which is shorter than both this and 3 Idiots combined.
 * 2) The film is somewhat of a rehash of Forrest Gump, as both films are about an autistic man who relives his childhood and reveals his traumatic experiences.

Critical reception
Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics but received critical acclaim from audiences with praise for the performances of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, tone, themes, soundtrack and it's depiction of Asperger's, on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval critic and audience rating of 83% with a critic consensus that says "My Name Is Khan rests on powerful performances to tell an affecting story that blends timely themes and old-fashioned Bollywood melodrama." On Metacritic, the film has a critic score of 50 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews", while the audience score is an 8.8 out of 10, indicating "universal acclaim".

In India, writing for Bollywood Hungama, Taran Hardash gave it four and half out of five stars, stating "When a film stars two of the finest talents of the country, you expect nothing but the best. SRK, well, how does one describe his performance? To state that this is his best work so far would be cutting short the praise he truly deserves ... Kajol is pure dynamite and casting her for this character was the most appropriate decision. No other actress could've matched SRK in histrionics the way Kajol has. In fact, SRK and Kajol complement each other wonderfully well and this film only proves it yet again. It's a powerhouse performance from this supremely talented actress."

In the United States, writing for The New York Times, Rachel Saltz gave it a positive review, stating "Khan is one of a handful of Hindi films (New York, Kurbaan) about Indians living in a paranoid, post-9/11 America, and there's something fascinating about looking at this country through a Bollywood lens, even when the story is a kind of fairy tale. (Most interesting here is the link made between black Americans and Indians, especially Muslims.) Skilfully directed by Karan Johar and with an evocative score by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Khan jerks tears with ease, while teaching lessons about Islam and tolerance."

Box Office
My Name Is Khan opened very well in most places across the world, and set many records in the process. However, the performance of the film could not sustain beyond the first or second week in some places, including India and USA. The film's performance in India was quite good but still is generally regarded as "below expectations" due to the high price, while the overseas performance of the film has been record breaking. By 4 April 2010, the worldwide gross revenue was US$36,145,870. Domestically in India, the film generated a net of ₹825.2 million (equivalent to ₹1.6 billion or US$21 million in 2020) and a gross of ₹1.15 billion (equivalent to ₹2.2 billion or US$29 million in 2020).[65] The film's final worldwide gross was ₹223.44 crore (US$48.86 million), including US$23.5 million (₹1,088.3 million) overseas.

In India, the film opened with a massive ₹295 million (US$6,356,688), which was the third-highest weekend net for a Bollywood film, behind 3 Idiots and Ghajini. It recorded the third-highest first day business across India, behind 3 Idiots and Ghajini at the time of release. The film broke the record of Race for the biggest opening weekend in the first quarter of the year. The film was reported to have done very well in multiplexes, but comparatively on the lower side in single screens. The film managed to net ₹460.8 million (equivalent to ₹880 million or US$12 million in 2020) in its first week.

Internationally, the film grossed US$23.5 million in the overseas markets. The film grossed the biggest opening day overseas, taking an estimated ₹170 million (US$3.72 million), beating the overseas opening day collections of 3 Idiots. The film also grossed the biggest opening weekend overseas, taking an estimated ₹255 million (US$3.3 million), again beating the overseas opening weekend collections of 3 Idiots which grossed ₹185 million (US$4.05 million). In its first week, it grossed ₹393 million (US$8.59 million). As of August 2010, the film has grossed $4,018,771 in the United States and $37,001,087 elsewhere for a worldwide total of $41,019,858.

Comments
Category;Fox Star Studios films