The 1 AM Movie Review - Duplicate and Main Hoon Na

I had high hopes for "Duplicate", despite the horrible reviews I had read in other places. It seemed like a fun premise: sweet and innocent chef's identity gets co-opted by insane felon on the lamb. Bollywood gold, right?

Wrong. Oh, so very wrong. First off, the elephant in the room. That tongue affectation - just eeew, eeeewwwww, EEEEEWWWWWWW. I get that the point was to make him the least desirable of the two sides, but really? There had to have been a better way. It speaks to my over-arching view of the film: I didn't think it was possible to make Shah Rukh Khan so unappealing, but this film managed to do it twice. The silly mama's boy Babloo could not possibly, possibly have been appealing to a female lead, and despite a valiant effort on the part of Juhi Chawla, the romance fell utterly flat. Manu, instead of being scary (and let me tell you, SRK can be damn effin' scary - please refer back to my review of "Darr") was merely pervy and overblown. This was an epic fail: a rare "absolutely don't bother" from King Khan.


On the other hand...

"Main Hoon Na" was a homerun in every way. A long-lost brother, bad-ass action hero, Animal House party, hot-for-teacher romance: there's just no down side. Even the "might be silly" action sequences were saved by an authentic joy that pervades the film. The supporting relationship between Lucky (Zayed Khan) and Sanjana (Amrita Rao) is sweet and sentimental without being vapid. Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen is lovely, desirable, and just remote enough to make Ram's violin serenades comedy gold. And SRK: well, what can you say? This is the star we love at his dancing, crying, arms-outreached best. He is spot-on funny: the spit-avoidance Matrix move? I don't care who you are - that's a riot. He is earnestly appealing in his relationships: who could resist that hand reaching down from the rope? Combine those qualities with yummy-nerd wardrobe & the signature dancing that we all know and love, and you get a delicious, sexy hero that is profoundly swoon-worthy. The "schoolyard scene" of the title track - I must admit that it makes me cry a little. That is definitely, at the moment, my favorite song. So, we have a "must-miss" and a "can't-miss". I spent three hours looking for the no-pirated, original two-disc version of Main Hoon Na: holla to Rangeela DVD of Ocala, Florida and TheIndiaBazaar.com for making it happen. I know what I'll be watching the next time I need a boost...