PK: PK lacks OMG moments

PK
Staring: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt, Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla
Rated: 5/10
PK is an idea whose time has, sadly, long gone and the only thing new here is Aamir Khan’s complete and prolonged nudity. After the Munna Bhai series, expectations from Raj Kumar Hirani had risen to such an extent that fulfilling them would have been impossible and that’s where PK stumbles. Hirani, to me, is a fulfilled, subtle but very potent philosophy propeller showing up human failings and obsessions with a very rare stroke of everyday normality that is missed out by almost everyone.
In PK too, Hirani tries to be the master propeller of this brand of story-telling but fails on many counts, some self-made, others circumstantial. At best, the film is a gentle mix of the jaadu syndrome which Rakesh Roshan propelled long back through his alien, andOMG! which Paresh Rawal powered much more as Kanji Lalji Mehta than Aamir could as PK.
Unfortunately for Hirani, his idea was long out and in a much powerful way in OMG! which was bold, funny and hard-hitting all at the same time on the altar of religion. PK too is the same thing but comes across as a me-too and falls way behind OMG! mainly because of its gentleness and its intent to show up a superstitious population not by one of its own but through an alien.
This alien, by the way, lands in the deep sand-dunes of Rajasthan but speaks thet Bhojpuri for some unexplained reason. His ears are too floppy and his eyes are popping out so much that it takes time to get used to. In fact, this alien is in stark contrast to what we know as Hirani’s inherent gentleness with his movie mannerisms.
The very fact that Aamir occupies screen space as a nude Charlie Chaplinish alien for quite some time is somehow very unHirani. And then there’s the movie which harps around ditties against blind faith in gurus and too typically propels an Indo-Pak love affair, of course, not in Indian borders but in faraway Belgium. Anushka Sharma looks endearing, different and much too pouty than we have known her till now on screen but she does hold forth even as a sidekick to this Aamir-oriented film. 
One must say that Aamir needs to do something about his overwhelming presence. Even the alien somewhat seemed to be in awe of the actor. Also, perhaps Hirani needs Sanjay Dutt back and in full throttle as Munna Bhai chale Amreeca or anywhere else — because in this one too he lands an arresting cameo with utmost ease.

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 21 December, 2014

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