My Name Is Khan

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan tugs heartstrings as an Indian Muslim with Asperger's syndrome in this deeply moving if overstuffed Hindi tale about the tragic effects of racial intolerance in post-9/11 America. Drawing together a film of two tonally distinct halves, Khan brings impressive warmth and depth to his titular role, as the convoluted and increasingly contrived melodrama goes from his playfully depicted relationship with a single mum (frequent co-star Kajol) and her young son in San Francisco to his desperate mission to meet the President after their happy family life is destroyed. The handsomely shot project tackles seriously big issues in an admirably populist style, but it's undermined by excessive plotting and a simplistic world view centred on the hammered-home message that all humans are either good or bad. Ultimately, Khan is transformed into a Forrest Gump-type of hero, making events more manipulatively emotional yet also reducing their realism.