I realize I am not the target audience for "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" and being a Shahrukh Khan film, I am sure it made a ton of money and pleased audiences. But for me, I couldn't stand the film....probably because I am not Indian and my sensibilities and expectations for a film are different. Now this is NOT to say I dislike Khan....he's a wonderful actor and I've loved many of his movies. But this one is a type film no one could have made work for western audiences.
SRK plays Ajay Bakshi, a super-obnoxious and narcissistic TV news celebrity. He is very popular and this just feeds his ego and makes him more full of himself. This is obvious when he sings songs like "I'm the Best" and the film obviously his self-absorption is meant to be funny. I just found it wore thin VERY fast and his character was about as one-dimensional as any I have recently seen.
Now Vijay is supposed to eventually learn humility through the use of a rival female reporter....but it really is too little too late. Plus, she too is an obnoxious narcissist!! After all, if you completely despise characters because the film has made them this unlikable, even if he is played in this case by the beloved Shahrukh Khan.
If you like the obnoxious rich badboy trope, by all means give the film a try. As for me, it's one of the only types of Indian films I dislike...and fortunately most Indian movies aren't like this one and are written better. It would be hard for a film to be written worse and despite the film's polish and lovely look, I just couldn't take 160 minutes of it and bailed about 3/4 of the way through the story.
SRK plays Ajay Bakshi, a super-obnoxious and narcissistic TV news celebrity. He is very popular and this just feeds his ego and makes him more full of himself. This is obvious when he sings songs like "I'm the Best" and the film obviously his self-absorption is meant to be funny. I just found it wore thin VERY fast and his character was about as one-dimensional as any I have recently seen.
Now Vijay is supposed to eventually learn humility through the use of a rival female reporter....but it really is too little too late. Plus, she too is an obnoxious narcissist!! After all, if you completely despise characters because the film has made them this unlikable, even if he is played in this case by the beloved Shahrukh Khan.
If you like the obnoxious rich badboy trope, by all means give the film a try. As for me, it's one of the only types of Indian films I dislike...and fortunately most Indian movies aren't like this one and are written better. It would be hard for a film to be written worse and despite the film's polish and lovely look, I just couldn't take 160 minutes of it and bailed about 3/4 of the way through the story.