Sanket’s Review: “PK” bowls you over.

Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Saurabh Shukla.

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Length: 2hrs and 33 minutes.

It is immensely pleasing when your expectations, which are abnormally high, are met with. Now when you have Aamir Khan and Hirani coming back after the cult “3 Idiots”, its not easy to bring down or slash the bar of expectations. But with the kind of screenplay that “PK” has, half the burden can be taken care of. This film nicely oscillates from humour and subtlety and never leaves any question behind.

The film has a consistent tone and Hirani’s direction helps you to move with the characters. We see the film through Anushka’s vision and we get to see her account on the dicey topic. Now PK deals with very arguable and controversial idea, but Hirani smartly ensures that without getting preachy the film just leaves the thinking part for the viewers. The first half has unfeigned charm and one falls for the protagonist from the word go. He doesn’t blink, but his eyes have a lot to say. The film benefits immensely because of having a character that is unknown to the world’s functioning. So the very inherent tactic of the character makes PK funny and heartfelt.

The film moves wheel within wheel even in second half. But there are couple of place where PK tries a little hard. The love angle of PK with Anushka takes a backseat. The climax though exhilarating, but one did expect the film to have a strong opinion on the topic that it dealt with. Yet, the emotions are relatable despite of an enigmatic character because the writers keenly establish the premise. Like the whole Sushant and Sanjay Dutt tracks nicely connects dot in second half.

The songs wonderfully embrace the moments. “Chaar Kadam” is the pick of the lot while “Bhagwan hain kaha tu” slips comfortably into momentum and “Love is a waste of time” adds to the zing. The cinematography, especially the Rajasthan parts are eye pleasing. The editing is sharp whereas the writing is coherent. The direction of the film is unquestionably good. Hirani understands where and when the film should go which way and that is exactly why we never see any abrupt cuts in the character sketch.

Aamir Khan infuses life in the film as well as his character. He has challenged his previous performance and he has come out with spectacular performance. Uninhibited, unabashed and a raw acting. Take a bow, Khan! Anushka Sharma nicely complements and her friendly attitude only helps. Rest everyone in the film takes their part seriously and they leave a mark!

At the end, one comes out watching “PK” with smile on face and thought in mind. The film has enormous laughter-spreading moments and engaging drama that will hook. It is the best of 2014 and the trust in this combo of Rajkumar Hirani and Aamir Khan is reaffirmed and strengthened. Bravo!

Rating – 4/5