Main Hoon Na (General, 2004)





Starring

Shah Rukh Khan .... Major Ram Prasad Sharma

Sunil Shetty .... Raghavan

Amrita Rao .... Sanjana

Naseeruddin Shah .... Brigadier Shekhar Sharma

Sushmita Sen .... Chandni

Zayed Khan .... Laxman Prasad Sharma (Lucky)



Director : Farah Khan



What happens when you put too many spices in a single recipe? The result is a stodgy dish which is hard to digest. That is exactly what Main Hoon Na is like. In the times when filmmakers in Bollywood are experimenting with more realistic themes, Farah Khan comes up with a flashy movie conforming to all the stereotypes of an out and out commercial flick.



Main Hoon Na has a little bit of everything in it. It has a youthful setting of a college campus, it has a patriotic angle harping on Indo-Pak relations, it has desi humor, videsi style of filmmaking, it has a good number of songs, it has stunts, action and pyrotechnics for adrenalin rush, it has emotional and romantic moments.



But what Main Hoon Na lacks is logical progression of story and believable presentation of its characters.



For instance, SRK looks out-of-place impersonating as a student in college. He looks too mature to pass off as a student. And it looks absurd to see him indulging in fun and frolic in college when his father (Nasseruddin Shah) has expired just a few days back in the story. Even Sunil Shetty looks odd impersonating as a professor in the same college.



Not everything can be justified in the name of entertainment. The genre of entertainment to which Main Hoon Na belong can be traced to seventies when stories were hyperbolized and then laced with overtly sentimental songs with the inclusion of a special qawwali.



The story of Main Hoon Na couldn’t have been more hyperbolized. A young Major (SRK) in the army has his personal aim of fulfilling his Mission Milaap to join the hearts of people living in India and Pakistan. But there are some anti-national elements (Sunil Shetty) who want to foil this mission. Major’s mission takes him to a college where he indulges in teenage fun and frolic and also falls in love with the chemistry teacher (Sushmita Sen). But terror comes closer after the bad guy too comes into college impersonating as a professor.



Farah has taken too much cinematic liberty to tell an overblown story. But the movie will certainly appeal to those who want unadulterated entertainment with a pinch of everything from romance, humor, patriotism, action and songs.



SRK’s portrayal of Major Ram Prasad Sharma is convincing, but the actor appears to be getting straitjacketed in his acting style with every film he does. His facial expressions, his body language and that customary glint in his eye are so much similar to the characters he has played in other films. Even his style of dialogue delivery is predicable. It seems SRK adheres to just one formula of acting – that is flamboyance intermixed with an affected intensity. And this is taking out any surprise element from his acting coz whichever character he plays, he does it in same style, using the limited repertoire of his histrionic skills.



Zayed Khan is better than his previous movie and comes forward as a promising actor. He looks well suited to play the role of a young college going kid who is full of vanities at first but later grows into a matured person. Newcomer Amrita Arora matches Zayed in equal stead.



Sushmita Sen doesn’t get to show much histrionics but she looks resplendent dressed in free-flowing saris.



In marginal roles, Boman Irani and Kiron Kher leave an impact.



In a nutshell, Main Hoon Na contains wholesome entertainment in a glossy package. It has an inflated story strewn with flashy songs shot in stylized way. But it lacks subtle subplots. It is not the kind of a movie that stirs a viewer from inside.







Synopsis



Choreographer Farah Khan’s directorial debut Main Hoon Na is coming at a right time when India-Pakistan relations are on a high not seen in decades.



Contrary to the impression that the movie’s title gives, Main Hoon Na is not a candyfloss love-and-singing fare but a ‘mission film’ aimed to promote love and friendliness among the people of India and Pakistan.



The film’s protagonist Major Ram Prasad Sharma (Shahrukh Khan) is on Mission Milaap, a mission to end the hatred between the two countries and to unite the hearts of people.



However, there are some people who don’t want to see Mission Milaap become a reality. Raghavan (Sunil Shetty) is one such guy who would turn every stone to derail Ram Prasad’s mission. To this end he targets Army top shot General Amerjeet Bakshi's daughter Sanjana (Amrita Rao).



A proud Indian to the core, Ram Prasad takes the responsibility of saving Sapna and goes to her school in the guise of a student. And despite the fact that he is bereaving the recent death of his father Brigadier Shekhar Sharma (Naseeruddin Shah), Ram Prasad manages to put up a smiling face and strike rapport with many.



But things begin to get complicated slowly. While Ram Prasad is intent on realizing his Mission Milaap, the forces against him are strong. Will he succeed?



A typical masala film, Main Hoon Na is full of many ingredients like patriotism, youthful love, fun, humor and action.



Main Hoon Na tells the story of Major Ram Prasad Sharma (Shahrukh Khan) and his efforts to foil the terrorist Raghavan (Sunil Shetty). Major Sharma is simultaneously attempting to mend relations with his father's estranged first wife and his half-brother Lakshman; complications ensue.



Raghavan wants to sabotage a military project called Milaap (Unity), a first step towards friendship between India and Pakistan. India will release fifty Pakistanis imprisoned for crossing the border into India -- most of them illiterate villagers who wandered over the border by mistake. Raghavan doesn't want the state of war between India and Pakistan to end; he lost his son in the Indo-Pak wars in Kashmir and cherishes an abiding hatred for Pakistan and all Pakistanis.



First he tries to stop Project Milaap by killing the general in charge, General Bakshi (Kabir Bedi) during a national television interview. This fails, though he does succeed in killing Brigadier Sharma (Naseeruddin Shah), Major Sharma's (Ram's) father.



As the father dies, he tells Ram about his stepmother (Kiron Kher) and half-brother Lakshman (Zayed Khan) and begs Ram to re-establish relations with them, who are to be found at a college town in the Himalayas (Darjeeling). Both brothers should cast their father's ashes into the Ganges.



Raghavan again tries to stop Project Milaap, this time by threatening to kill General Bakshi's daughter Sanjana (Amrita Rao). The General asks Major Sharma to protect Sanjana; Ram pleads that he has family responsibilities. The General points out that, by a strange coincidence, Sanjana attends school in the same town where Lakshman lives, so Ram can protect Sanjana and look for Lakshman at the same time. Ram must go under cover, as Sanjana is estranged from her father and will not accept any military escort.



So Ram pretends to be a college student, returning to college after many years away. He is much older than the other students, who at first make fun of him because of his lack of new-generation styles. He soon proves his worth and becomes a big man on campus.



He finds Lucky Lakshman (later revealed to be his brother), who has failed term thrice, befriends Sanjana, and succeeds in foiling Raghavan. He also falls in love with a beautiful chemistry teacher (Sushmita Sen).



The film is notable for lively music and dance sequences (the director got her start as a choreographer) and for thrilling action scenes featuring Matrix-style slow motion effects -- such as the car-chase sequence involving a flaming cycle rickshaw.







review by Apun Ka Choice