Cast:Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt and Sushant Singh Rajput

Director:Rajkumar Hirani

Rating: ***1/2

There are very few acting titans in Bollywood whose legacy precedes the release of their movies. But when it comes to the Khans of Bollywood, then it looks like a customary off-shoot preceding as well as succeeding their movies' release. And even among these three iconic Khans, it's Aamir who leads the league with a huge margin.

Besides another thing which seems to have turned into a customary tradition of Bollywood is the release of the movie of any one of them to mark the closing stamp on the year. And from past few years it's Aamir who is officially marking the culmination of year with one or the other mammoth releases of his. Last year it was 'Dhoom 3' and this time it's 'PK', which kept the grapevine abuzz soon after its going on the floor.

And ever-since its going on floor, with the passage of time numerous speculations and controversies kept on getting glued to this much awaited cine creation of Raju Hirani, starring Aamir, Anushka, Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjay Dutt Boman Irani et al.

Initially it was the grapevine stirring poster of the movie, featuring Full Monty, Aamir, which literally took buzz arena by storms. Then it was the speculation about Aamir's character which kept on tickling the curiosity gut of the viewers and those sitting on the paparazzi chairs. But somehow the makers managed to keep everything pertaining to 'PK' under wraps. Now finally this cine spectacles which is also much awaited reunion of Aamir and Raju Hirani is here to charm the masses.


As the 'PK' kick-starts, it shows the landing of an stark naked Astronaut (Aamir), "not alien", belonging to some other planet in the desert of Rajasthan. And this 'Non Alien Astronaut' is here to study about human beings and their life on earth. But soon after arriving on the earth he has a tryst with unexpected, where his tracking device (a remote meant to send back signals to his spaceship) gets stolen. And from here begins his trail of getting back his remote which he needs to have, if he ever wants to return to his spaceship or his native planet.

Oblivious about human mannerisms, he starts his search and has a rendezvous with Bhairav Singh (Sanjay Dutt) who becomes his pal and in a weird way helps him in learning the human mannerisms too. With frames rolling ahead this "Non Alien Astronaut" lands in Delhi where he gets christened as 'PK', obviously because of circumstances in which he often lands. With narration proceeding ahead, one fine day 'PK' meets a TV journalist Jagat Janani aka Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) who after initial phase of skepticism joins him in his endeavor of finding the stolen remote.


What follows next? Does PK succeeds in getting his belonging or he becomes prey to human mannerisms or rather nuisance? To know watch this marvelous cine creation of Hirani starring Aamir and Anushka.

So far whenever Aamir and Hirani have teamed up together, they have often tossed a cine spectacle for viewers' perusal which has always managed to poke the conscious of those watching it. And so is the case with 'PK' where rationalism with a human touch is the most predominant element which conveniently makes itself stand out.

If we talk about the story line of 'PK' then in one line it can be described as "something which is not just like any other cinematic potpourri dabbled in the treacle of a few "Ha Ha Ha moments!" Rather just like any other cine entertainer of Hirani, it too has got a latent yet socially relevant message to communicate, but not in a preachy manner.


Hirani earlier fiddled with the weird stereotypes prevailing in medico arena (Munna Bhai MBBS) then he clashed corruption with Gandhism (Lage Raho Munna Bhai), followed by a swipe on the fuddy-duddy education system in the form of '3 Idiots'. But this time it's religious anarchy of some of the self proclaimed Guardians or the self styled God-men which has fallen in firing range of this ace cine philosopher. In order to unravel the ribs of some of the set social conventions this time Hirani has opted for a reformist kind of cine saga, but with a difference. As far a premise of 'PK' is concerned then certainly it is not something out of the box or out of this world. That's because the way it slaps those smooth looking yet acrimonious swipes on the orthodox religious dogmas, you start drawing parallels between 'PK' and Akshay Kumar starrer 'OMG! Oh My God' and the way this entire concept is executed up till some extent reminds you of 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' too.

But that doesn't mean that premise of PK is something rugged off, because despite having a tinge of 'OMG! and Lage Raho...', PK has its own shade of innovation too, where neither reformist approach nor the humor coefficient turn into the dominant trait of this soothing cine saga. Apart from it, it's Aamir's character which gives PK's story-line a newer look.

If we leave a few initial frames, where characters of the movie take sometime to settle themselves. The spirit of the movie, which challenges the pseudo religious anarchy gets unfurled with in no time which up till great extent succeeds in captivating the attention of the viewers soon after its advent.

It's a known fact by now, that when it comes setting up a trend or fiddling with an innovative story idea then Hirani is the wizard of the arena. This fact gets proved with 'PK' too, where despite having a regular or somewhat common theme, Hirani manages to nail the heart and soul of the movie at the right places. And without even a pinch of doubt one can conveniently accept the fact that, it's this adroit penmanship of Raju Hirani and Abhijat Joshi because of which diverse emotions or cinematic condiments blended in PK's narration manage to surface at the right time.


So kudos to Hirani and Joshi who conveniently succeed in bringing out the presence of every cinematic fragrance prevailing in the plot of 'PK'.

Be it that war between rationalism and religious anarchy, or symbolically representing the plight of a helpless common man' through Aamir's agony, everything is knitted in the premise of PK so neatly that it effortlessly reaches out to your heart. As far as dialogues are concerned then certainly they are witty' but at the same time lack that punch and edginess which could have thoroughly contributed to their charm. In many situations it's that sound backing of circumstantial humor and Aamir's rhetoric dexterity which greatly helps them out in extracting the desired results.

Quite in accordance with the story-line even the screenplay of 'PK' is thoroughly engrossing, especially in the first half. In fact it won't be wrong to say that screenplay of 'PK' is something written from heart to reach the hearts. Be it about refuting outdated socio-religious doctrines or exposing the current state of affair where religion has been turned into a corporate enterprise by those enjoying the elite status in the religious hierarchy, every thing is painted with such a virtue that it seldom looks offensive or derogatory.

Even the circumstantial humor which permeates from one situation to other acts like a garnishing and adds to the hilarity coefficient of the satires embedded in the premise. But one thing which deserves a special mention here is the emotional efficacy of PK's screenplay which literally takes you to an altogether different world once you get a feel of that.


Besides what further adds to the entertaining potency of 'PK' is its background score which makes itself standout despite the presence of so many other engrossing cine elements. And one such situation is where Aamir buys wine bottles to consecrate them in a mosque with a Ghalib's poetry playing in the background ( Zahid Sharab Peene De Masjid Mein Beth Kar, Yaa Woh Jagha Bata Jahan Khuda Nahi).

But this doesn't means that screenplay of 'PK' is dauntless in absolute terms, because just like any other cine enterprise even the PK's flow of narration has its own shortcomings, where a few hairline flaws in form of melodramatic monologues and drags adversely impacts the quality of second half and also spoil the soothing charm inculcated by the pre-interval phase. Besides, it's because of these flaws only that 'PK' could not succeed in falling in the range Hirani's best works. But in-spite of that the best part pertaining to this cine enterprise of Hirani is that despite having a flavor of social reform the movie never deviates from its commercial stance and never gets preachy too.

As far as milieu is concerned' then it is picture perfect by large. Editing of Hirani is again good enough' where he has managed to keep all the relevant cinematic chunks intact.

With 'PK' this fact once again gets accredited that Aamir owns that status of Mr Perfectionist because of some extremely valid reasons. Very much like his previous path breaking cine stints like '3 Idiots' and 'Taare Zameen Par' this time again Aamir manages to imbibe the spirit of his character in order to mesmerize the viewers by his charm and entertaining potency. And like earlier instances even this time Aamir has not only succeeded in doing justice to this out of the box kinda character, but at the same time has manged to secure the place in the hearts of the viewers too. Be it about portraying that childlike innocence or mouthing that Bhojpuri lingo while hurling some witty dialogues or even donning those heart warming emotions, everything he does with such a conviction that you re-fall in love with this marvelous performer.


Anushka Sharma as Jagat Janani aka Jaggu looks as fresh as morning dew, and greatly succeeds in complementing Aamir. Well... here it will be no less than an offence to call Saurab Shukla, Boman Irani et al the supporting cast because, besides the main leads it's their acting dexterity which also immensely enhances the entertaining vigor of 'PK'. Sushant in a cameo is just OK. Ranbir in a guest appearance is delightful and manages to fetch some whistles and claps when appears on the screen.

To sum up, to some premise of 'PK' may not look like something out of the box or thoroughly innovative because of its mild resemblance with Akshya Kumar, Paresh Rawal starrer 'OMG! Oh My God' and at the same time some may compare it to 'Lage Raho Munna Bhaai' because of its reformist doctrine. But believe me despite having a resemblance with the latter two, 'PK' is unique in its own right. And that's because the mold which Hirani has used to shape this rationalistic reformist cine chronicle is thoroughly different from the 'OMG! Oh My God' and 'Lage Raho Munna Bhaai'.

So in nutshell 'PK' is a perfect commercial cine potpourri which is different in its approach, sends across a noble message and makes one introspect. That too while entertaining you with its rational satires, emotions and performances of the protagonists twitching it. Hence keeping view those contending moments embedded in 'PK', I am going ahead with 3.5 out of 5 stars for this Aamir Khan starrer which may not get registered in the history of Indian cinema, but it is surely worth a dekko.