Review of PK (2014) by Merrick M — 16 Nov 2018

PK was directed by Rajkumar Hirani and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi. The film was released in 2014 and became the highest grossing Indian film of all time. It's no wonder the film was so successful as the plot of PK follows a humanoid alien who, upon landing on Earth, has the control to his spaceship stolen. I was worried that I wouldn't like the film because of the alien aspect, but soon I forgot it was about an alien at all. Immediately the viewers are thrown into a lost and found formula, with the stakes raised significantly (across planets and universes). On his search for his controller the alien, PK, encounters the human concept of God. In the hopes of enlisting God's help in retrieving the controls to his spaceship, PK worships God under each of the religions in India. During PK's religious journey he meets a TV journalist, Jaggu, who decides to help him get home. Similar to Veer's trust of the lawyer Saamiya in the film Veer-Zaara, PK chooses to trust Jaggu because she treats him with respect at one of his lowest points. In Veer-Zaara, Veer trusts Saamiya because she uses his true name when interviewing him in his prison cell. Jaggu also meets PK in his prison cell, and PK decides to trust her because she is the first person to spend money on him instead of asking for his own money. This idea of money begins the criticism of religion by PK.

PK begins to question why God asks for so many things, like money, but gives no sound advice or returns to His followers. The film concludes with a national questioning of religion and religious boundaries between people. More specifically, Jaggu questions throughout the entire film how religion could keep her and her lover, Sarfaraz, apart. PK's pairing with a strong female character such as Jaggu is not accidental. While PK questions the nation's faith, Jaggu questions the nation's expectation of women. In the article, "Cinema India: The Visual Culture of Hindi Film" written by Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel, Dwyer and Patel mention the significance of short hair on female characters. Dwyer and Patel state that young women with short hair in Bollywood represent characters who step outside of the norm. Jaggu acts as a strong, independent female character who not only falls in love with a Muslim Pakistani man, but who stands up to her (male) boss in order to help an alien question India's religions. PK does an outstanding job of questioning societal and religious norms while still ending with a heartwarming message. I would recommend this film to any who are interested in stories of religion and epic love stories.