PK (2014)

(Netflix Streaming, June 2022) I was expecting the worst from PK. Indian cinema tends to be hit-and-miss for me: I like the colour, the energy, the sense of being somewhere else, but a lot of Indian cinema feels formulaic, overly deferential to authority and often a bit naïve compared to American productions. A quick look at PK’s logline wasn’t much of a reassurance, as it boldly promised a film in which Aamir Khan played an alien stranded on Earth. Khan, known for overacting, is sometimes terrific and sometimes unbearable. As far as aliens-on-Earth comedies go, it feels as if I’ve had my lifelong fill of them decades ago, as they all feel like a twee retelling of the same kind of jokes. PK’s beginning didn’t inspire much confidence, but then – almost magically – the film became substantially better. Much of it had to do with writer-director Rajkumar Hirani going after surprisingly worthwhile targets, as the protagonist “innocently” comments on the god-men charlatans of Indian society, with some fairly pointed satirical moments about whoever claims a direct connection with God. We also get a tour of India’s major religions – I particularly enjoyed the scenes set in a Catholic church. Khan’s performance is about as weird as the film needs it to be, and that’s a compliment – his otherworldly character needs a strong quirky performance and that’s exactly what he delivers. I wasn’t quite taken by the female lead (the short hair doesn’t help), but the romantic subplot involving her and another male character is not too bad. In other words – no, I didn’t quite like PK, but it was far from being as terrible as I anticipated. Mark this as a success of sorts.