Karan Johar is seriously trying to change his image as a mass-oriented, mushy film-maker and trying to establish Dharma Productions as a film-house producing movies with substance and a message to boot! His earlier effort as a producer in Kurbaan may have flopped but his My Name Is Khan turns out to be a film that almost fulfills that promise. Despite using a much- repeated theme of terrorism in the name of Islam, MNIK succeeds in presenting something different and interesting because more than the terrorist acts, it focuses on the post-9/11 western world paranoia and discrimination.

Success of films like Black and Paa has led to a new Bollywood formula of using a serious or unusual medical condition as a cinematic device for novelty. MNIK too uses that formula and presents Shahrukh Khan as Rizwan Khan, a patient of Asperger Syndrome – a high functioning form of autism. This man has intelligence but has certain limitations – he avoids eye contact, does not like physical forms of affection, speaks sparingly in a monotonous mechanical voice, expresses his emotions better in written words and is even unable to cry! Raised by a single mother and home- tutored by a Parsi Bawa, Rizwaan Khan has one special talent; he can mend any machine. After his mother's death, Rizwan comes to stay with his younger brother in US and starts working as a salesman of beauty products. While doing that he comes across Mandira (Kajol), who is a beautician and a single mother raising a school-going kid. Rizwan's unpretentious straight-forwardness and his bonding with her kid endears him to Mandira and they end up marrying. Their blissful life after this interfaith marriage suddenly receives a jolt after the 9/11 Twin Tower attack. US mentality towards Muslims turns suspicious and aggressive and the family suffers a heartbreak beyond any repair. Can Khan mend the broken hearts? Can he tell the President of USA – 'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist'?

The strength of this film is in the superb chemistry between the lead pair. In fact, the movie comes alive and takes the grip only after Kajol's entry. The blooming of the unlikely romance between Rizwan and Mandira is the most entertaining part of the film. The serious part about the terrorism, post- 9/11 interfaith strife and the message about not stereotyping a particular community as terrorist is handled sincerely but somehow Johar, true to his style, decides to overdo things and stretches that part far too long.

Shahrukh Khan delivers a good, competent performance, which never really reaches a brilliant status. Time and again, his mannerisms remind of Tom Hanks' Forest Gump. Kajol is another story. She is vibrant and vivacious and is sadly kept out of action in the last third of the film. The side-characters are rather sketchy but still Zarina Wahab as Rizwan's mother and Sonia Jahan as Rizwan's sister-in-law leave their mark.

Technically the film is superb and quite lavishly mounted. Beautiful locations, impressive cinematography andShankar-Ehsan-Loy's Sufi-styled music are all value-adding factors. My Name Is Khan succeeds as an plush entertainer with a serious message and adds to the ever-growing list of Shahrukh- Kajol blockbusters. But thanks to its bloated size and stretched story-line, it fails to rise to become an all-time classic.