Pk

PK is a 2014 Indian satirical dramedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani, produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi.[7][8] The film stars Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma in lead roles, with Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, and Sanjay Dutt in supporting roles. It tells the story of an alien who comes to Earth on a research mission. He befriends a television journalist and questions religious dogmas and superstitions.

The film has emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of all time,[9][10] and ranks as the 65th highest grossing film of 2014 worldwide.[11] Indian trade websites have reported that PK was the first Indian film to earn more than US$100 million (Rs 649 crore) worldwide.

Plot

A humanoid alien (Aamir Khan) lands on Earth on a research mission in Rajasthan but is stranded when his beacon to his spaceship, a locket around his neck, is stolen. PK, oblivious to Earth's customs, learns to fit in among humans by wearing clothes and using money that he steals from couples having sex in "dancing cars". He attempts to learn to communicate by grabbing peoples' hands and absorbing their memories through touch, but they chase him away when he tries, (wrongly) interpreting him to be a pervert. The passenger vehicle that carries Bhairon Singh (Sanjay Dutt) strikes him and renders him unconscious. Bhairon takes him to a doctor who declares PK is a person suffering from amnesia. Bhairon assumes the amnesia is as a result of the collision PK has had with his vehicle. Bhairon now knows that the victim of the accident won't be able to complain about the accident. So Bhairon decides to run away. Later, he takes pity, changes his mind and takes PK along with his troop. Over time PK becomes his friend. Later, interpreting the alien's hand-grabbing as sexual interest, takes him to a brothel. There, the alien holds a prostitute's hand for six hours and thus learns the Bhojpuri language.

The alien travels to Delhi in search of his stolen remote. Due to his strange behavior, the people in the city assume he is tipsy (tipsy translates to pee-kay in Hindi) and call him PK. Delhi turns out to be a very large city, and people tell him that only God can help him find his remote. PK tries to find God, but is confused by India's various religions and their confusing traditions. He later discovers that a godman, Tapasvi Maharaj (Saurabh Shukla), has his remote. However, Tapasvi falsely claims to have attained the object from God in the Himalayas and refuses to return it to PK. Bewildered, PK concludes that Tapasvi and other religious heads must be calling a "wrong number" to God and, as a result, spreading misunderstandings and meaningless rituals.

Meanwhile in Bruges, Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) falls in love with a man named Sarfaraz (Sushant Singh Rajput). Jaggu's father (Parikshit Sahni) objects to their relationship because Sarfaraz is a Muslim from Pakistan; he consults Tapasvi who predicts that Sarfaraz will betray Jaggu. Determined to prove them wrong, Jaggu proposes to Sarfaraz. She is heart-broken at the wedding chapel when she receives a letter calling off the marriage due to their differences. She returns to India where she becomes a television reporter; she is intrigued while watching PK distributing leaflets about a missing God. After hearing his story, Jaggu devises a plan to expose Tapasvi and recover PK's remote.

Jaggu encourages thousands of people to send in videos of their own experiences with religious heads, calling them "wrong numbers". Meanwhile, PK contacts Bhairon Singh who says he will come to Delhi the next day, but dies in a bomb blast. Terrorists had planted the bomb to protect their faith in retaliation to PK's protests. Finally, Tapasvi is forced to come into the studio and confront PK on-air. Tapasvi claims he has a direct connection to God and refers to his prediction of Sarfaraz's betrayal as proof. However, PK, who earlier absorbed Jaggu's memories, discovers that Sarfaraz did not write the letter she received. Jaggu contacts the Pakistan Embassy in Belgium where Sarfaraz worked part-time; the embassy tells her that Sarfaraz still loves her and calls them daily to inquire whether she has called. Jaggu and Sarfaraz reconnect and Tapasvi, exposed as a fraud, is forced to return PK's device.

In the course of the film, PK falls in love with Jaggu but refrains from telling her because she loves Sarfaraz. He instead records tapes of her voice and fills his suitcases with batteries so that he can listen to the tapes on his home planet. While departing, he lies to Jaggu regarding the content of the tapes; Jaggu, despite knowing the truth, keeps quiet. She later publishes a book about PK.

One year later, PK returns to Earth on a new research mission with several other aliens.

Cast

Aamir Khan as PK

Anushka Sharma as Jagat "Jaggu" Janani Sahni

Sushant Singh Rajput as Sarfaraz Yousuf

Boman Irani as Cherry Bajwa

Saurabh Shukla as Tapasvi Maharaj

Sanjay Dutt as Bhairon Singh

Parikshit Sahni as Jayprakash Sahni

Ram Sethi as an old man

Reema Debnath as Phuljhadiya

Sachin Parikh as Tapasvi's Assistant

Rohitash Gaud as a police inspector.[17]

Rukhsaar Rehman as Pakistan Embassy receptionist

Ranbir Kapoor as an alien (special appearance)

Brijendra Kala as Idol Seller at Temple

Production

Filming

According to Rajkumar Hirani, PK is a "satire on Hindu god and their godmen".[18] The co-director Khan began looking for shooting locations in July 2012.[19] Second unit filming was set to begin in late 2012,[20] which was stalled after the rumoured departure of three department heads for the film and bad weather stalling initial shoots.[21][22] Hirani denied rumours that the film would be delayed, stating that principal filming had always been intended to begin in mid-January 2013 in Delhi and Rajasthan to "capture the winter of Delhi".[23][24] Shooting officially began on 1 February 2013,[25] with the filming scheduled to occur over a 45-day period.[26] A 26-day schedule of shooting of PK started in Delhi from 27 September 2013.[27][28][29] When the shoot of the film was going on in Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, an FIR was lodged against makers of the film for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in October 2013.[30] The objection was regarding a scene in the film where a man dressed as the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva pulls the rickshaw with two burqa clad women as passengers.[31]

Release

The movie released on 19 December 2014. PK is the 200th Bollywood release in 2014.[32][33] The film's release was later expanded to 6000 screens worldwide including 844 screens overseas.[34] PK was initially released in 4844 screens worldwide.[35][36][37][38] PK has been made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.[39][40][41]

Marketing

The first poster came out on 31 July 2014. A motion poster was also released on the same day on YouTube. The second poster was launched on 20 August 2014 at an event in Mumbai.[42][43] This poster was also released as a motion poster on YouTube. The new poster featured Aamir Khan wearing traditional Rajasthani attire, also sporting dark glasses and holding onto a brass tenor. The promotional strategy for the movie was revealed by the makers at the launch of the second poster.

The third motion poster introduced Sanjay Dutt as Bhairav Singh. The fourth motion poster featuring Anushka Sharma along with Aamir Khan released on YouTube October 16, 2014. The poster introduced Anushka Sharma as Jagat Janani[44] Aamir Khan stated that PK will have a poster campaign in which a new poster would be introduced every two to three weeks. By the time of release, 8 to 10 posters would have been launched.[4][46] The teaser released on October 23.[47]

The film's first poster sparked a controversy[vague] as it featured Aamir Khan posing almost nude with only a transistor covering his genitals.[18][48] Although the Central Board of Film Certification had already cleared the film, a PIL was filed in the court by the All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front to ban its release saying it promoted nudity and vulgarity. The Supreme Court dismissed the plea and gave the movie a green signal.[49][50]

A case was lodged against Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani in Rajasthan.[51][clarification needed]

The film's final scene shows PK returns to earth with another alien (Ranbir Kapoor). Talking about the ending, Khan said, "May be, Rajkumar Hirani is thinking of getting both Ranbir and me in the sequel."[52][53][54] In an interview with Hindustan Times the writer Abhijat Joshi expressed interest in working on a sequel to PK.[55]

Distribution

Koimoi reports rumors of a satellite deal in which the satellite rights were sold for INR85 crore (US$13 million) if the domestic business reaches INR 300 crores domestic nett.[56][57] The music rights were sold for INR15 crore (US$2.4 million).[58] DNA reported "Being the first to use Rentrak, Aamir Khan has taken the first initiative to bring in a paradigm shift from the usual norms followed in Bollywood. He had clearly enforced the idea of Rentrak to be brought in to bring more accuracy when it comes to box office figures."