Farah Khan’s second directorial venture Om Shanti Om (2007) reflects her love for all things film. It is set at the heart of the Hindi film industry and also traces the evolution of Bollywood over the years. But her directorial debut ‘Main Hoon Na’ (2004), which completes 20 years of its release today, shows the kind of filmmaker she is – she eats, breathes And repeat the cinema. Here is how to walk in ‘I am Na’ so that Om Shanti Om can be chanted.
(Also Read: Sushmita Sen reveals Farah Khan apologized to her after Main Hoon Na as she was ‘barely’ in Shah Rukh’s film)
nomenclature
Have you ever wondered after whom Shahrukh Khan and Zayed Khan’s characters Ram and Lakshman are named? Yes, of course, Ramayana. Or Mahabharata, as Lucky would wrongly say. It also stars Sunil Shetty’s villain Raghavan (named after Ravana). But isn’t Bharat more lucky than Lakshman? Two brothers separated – later reunited.
Well, it is quite possible that their names are taken from Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1979 cult comedy Gol Maal. Amol Palekar played the role of Ramprasad Sharma (Ghanti Baata Hai?), a mild-mannered man who also assumes the identity of his spoiled imaginary brother Laxmanprasad Sharma (Ding Dong, again?).
Also, Dasharatha is not the father of Ram and Lakshman in Main Hoon Na. Naseeruddin Shah plays an army man named Shekhar, who takes custody of his illegitimate child, much to the displeasure of his wife Madhu (Kirron Kher). This subplot is taken directly from Shekhar Kapur’s 1983 directorial debut Masoom. If you are still wondering, this is where the father’s name comes from.
And finally, Chandni Chopra. The chemistry teacher, played by Sushmita Sen, who looks stunning in a chiffon sari with her hair open, is named after Yash Chopra’s 1989 romantic film Chandni. Sridevi played the lead role there and was Yash Chopra’s quintessential heroine. Chandni + (Yash) Chopra = Geddit?
Work
The action of Main Hoon Na, designed by Alan Amin and the “thrill” is by Shah Rukh himself, is where Sholay meets The Matrix. No, this is not a Spaghetti Western with horses and mobsters, but Farah has blended the spice of a good old Bollywood action film with the effortless stunts of a slick Hollywood actioner so well that it has created a new era of action in Hindi cinema. Language has been created.
Sample the scene when Shahrukh chases Raghavan’s men in a cycle rickshaw. He was in the queue with his friends to buy tickets for a show of Ramesh Sippy’s 1975 blockbuster, when he narrowly dodges an attack on them by Raghavan’s men in an SUV. He pursues them in a cycle rickshaw named Dhanno, after Sholay’s popular horse Basanti (Hema Malini). When he catches Khan (Murali Sharma), he ends the scene with a dialogue from that film, “Tera kya hoga re Kaliya?”
The slow-motion sequences in the film are clearly inspired by the Wachowski sisters’ seminal 1999 sci-fi action film The Matrix, which recently celebrated 25 years since its release. Farah also admitted that when Shahrukh dodged Satish Shah’s deadly splits with a slo-mo backflip turn, Bindu said, “Hi ni, yeh toh matrik mein tha na?”, only for her colleague to correct her. Asked, “You mean the matrix?”
music
Anu Malik’s soundtrack ranges from a party number (Gori Gori) to a long-winded introduction song (Chale Jaise Hawaayen). But it is the return of qawwali that makes the album different. In films of the 1960s and 70s, from Yash Chopra’s Waqt (1965) to Manmohan Desai’s Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), qawwali was the dance genre used to underline plot points. Farah has combined her love for qawwali with her impeccable choreography skills to make Tumse Mileke Dil Ka the qawwali number we didn’t know we needed in the new millennium.
Old Bollywood songs have also been integrated into the background score and storyline. From the set ‘Jaane Ja Dhondta Phir Raha’ of Jawaani Deewani (1972) to Ram’s search for Lakshman in the college campus, ‘Chaand Mera Dil’ (Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin, 1977) and ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh’ (1942 :A Love Story). 1994) Played by Shah Rukh with a group of hormonal violinists for Sushmita, every tune from the Bollywood treasure has been used very aptly. Heck, Shahrukh even sang the title track of Soldier (1998) to remind himself of his profession.
The end-credits song, Yeh Fizaayen, is also an ode to the filmmaking event. Every member of Farah’s cast and crew, from the DOP to the lightman, costume designer to makeup artist, is introduced through that song. It became Farah Khan’s trademark, long before her cousin Zoya Akhtar, in the opening sequence of her 2009 directorial debut, Luck by Chance, highlighting the people behind films.
Politics
Farah has grown up on a balanced diet of Amar-Akbar-Anthony of cinema. The quality of secularism with which his uncles Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan infused their stories is also the beating heart of his films. Main Hoon Na connects the micro story of two estranged half brothers with the larger story of India and Pakistan’s historically friendly spirit. The villain is not a Pakistani or a Kashmiri, but a disillusioned former Indian Army officer whose child was killed by the Pakistani army. And the good Muslim, Khan, is another icon of Hindi cinema of the 60s and 70s, like Sher Khan played by Pran in Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer (1973).
With its Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, retro touch in the music, stylish yet spicy action sets and a glimpse of the golden era of Bollywood, Main Hoon Na became every Hindi cinema lover’s dream. And Farah-Shahrukh’s next film of 2007, Om Shanti Om, ensured that “the picture is still pending, my friend.”
