And I am not a terrorist’ proclaims the hero in this highly emotional well-meaning Bollywood response to the paranoia that Asian Moslems faced in the US after 9/11.
Rivran Khan is a simple and innocent man with Asperger’s Syndrome who unnerves the immigration officials when he first arrives in San Francisco chanting his mantra. He has a tough time acclimatizing to his adopted country but he finds a job, meets a girl, and after the most oddest of courtships, marries her. And then after 9/11 happens his cozy world is shaken up by the hostility he encounters when his insists on remaining true to his faith.
After his son is a victim of a hate crime, his wife throws Rivran out of the house and he takes it upon himself to seek out the President of the US to get him acknowledge that he is indeed, not a terrorist, but a upstanding citizen just like all his white neighbors.
The journey that he embarks upon is when classic Bollywood fantasy kicks in big time and frankly the plot stretches our imagination way too far and starts too spoil what set out as an engaging wee film. Like any good fairy tale it does have a happy ending, which may not quite suspend our disbelief, but it does at least make one feel warm and cozy towards Rivran who, despite the incredulous script, really grows upon you. The lead actors are all totally superb.
This movie holds the record as having the largest oversees gross for a Bollywood movie, even though it survived mere weeks in very few theaters in the US and the UK, so there definitely is a large audience for it. I’m thankful that I received the DVD as a gift as I doubt if the movie would have even entered my radar otherwise. I will admit that despite all its faults, its sentimentally lured me in as I am such a sucker when all’s well end’s well for nice folks like these.
★★★★★★
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