I'M HERE NOW
(FLASHBACK THURSDAY)

Jammu, Bindi, Miss Y and I made a pilgrimage to the Esquire last Thursday to see Shahrukh Khan in Main Hoon Naah (or do you say Waah), a Hindi fillum that is grossing millions ($, not Rs) here in the US. The female (Farah Khan) written and directed three-hour (standard) musical-cum-action-cum-comedy-cum-romance (also standard) featured the ubiquitous Bollywood superstar as an Indian army captain who's sent to a high school-like college in Darjeeling. There the square Khan must pretend to be a student in order to protect the tarty daughter of a colleague from a former army officer gone bad. Bad Man has a scar and long hair and lots of ammo and stooges and is trying to undermine the peace process with Pakistan (of course) -- all while posing as a dorky chemistry teacher (think John Cusak in Being John Malkovich). Oh yes, Khan is also searching for his estranged half-brother and stepmother (who ditched his dad when she found out about his bastard self) so they can deposit his father's ashes in the Ganga. By the end of the film he has a new family and sari-clad galpal and she (the tart) is wearing Indian dress *and* gets the Spicoli-like guy, who cuts his hair, passes his classes and just happens to be the missing half-brother. Think Khaaki plus a little Grease and Rocco and his Brothers minus My Bodyguard. Thankfully 'twas subtitled and we could actually follow what was happening. Many fights and explosions and dance numbers madam, not to mention a low-speed bicycle rickshaw chase (apparently in homage to a classic Hindi move, see useless link below). It ended with a kick-ass rooftop fight and rather gruesome explosion (Bad Man blew up real good, didn't he). Things got even better during the tre creative credits, which showed the entire crew minus Khan's wife, Gauri, who produced it (hard not to notice that the crew got darker and more moustacioed as their tasks became more mundane). *So* worth staying those extra few minutes. Not to mention the price of admission ($6, or just over Rs 300).

There were like four people in the theatre (similar to when we saw Boys at the expensive AC theatre in Mysore), but compared to India the screen was TVlike and the sound tinny and tiny. We need to get a clue here.

BTW Khan's perfectly cowlicked hair looks not unlike that of local radio personality Garry Meier (http://www.midwestmagazine.com/tvradio/), who apparently turned down a ten-year, $12 million deal to renew his contract at WLS, installed his commercial real estate developer wife as his agent and now finds himself without an on-air gig. But at least his hair looks good.



URL for more on Main Hoon Naah ("I'm Here Now"):
http://www.mouthshut.com/readreview/54629-1.html