PK: A film critique

Rinoa Angel I. Linchangco

HUMSS 12-19
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
 PK (2014) directed by Rajkumar Hirani is a satirical comedy-drama that enlightens us the

complexity of religion with an open mind and how it can be absorbed by a body that grounds itself

as pure and honest such as PK, an alien who went to earth to explore a planet that also has

similarities as to them in his own for a research mission. His remote was then robbed by a man,

desperate to find a way to his way to his remote and go home lead him to God and come across

various concepts of religions, their practices, and questions that evaluates how religions are being

exercised by the people of the earth.

The film was set in India, more of the scenes were specifically shot in the busy streets of

Delhi, India which is surrounded by different kinds of churches and temples as well as different

types of religious people that made PK, curious and very confused because he was not well aware

of what the world offers because in his planet, they were all in union. The implied setting is that

people are gathered around in some kind of classification of religion which evidently pursues a

standard to each and every one. The story of PK was narrated by a 3rd person which is Jaggu, the

female lead, she tells the story of how she met a peculiar alien crossing over the galaxy to have a

research mission on Earth in her book launch.

As for the characters, (1) PK, he is the main character of the film, he is the alien who went

to earth for a research mission, he looks as though he could not blink, his eyes are sharp as an eagle

who is spying for its prey, his eyebrows and ears look sharp as though they have been triggered by

something, he is small but has a muscular figure, he cannot speak the language but soon he was

able to do so, he easily captures the practices, symbols, and ways of living in terms of religion,

fashion, eating, how money works, and many more. Given his first time on earth, he is very curious

and overwhelmed by what he has seen in his stay. Second is Jaggu, she is an independent, strong-

willed, and a confident television news reporter who was fascinated by PK's character and story,
she later became close friends with him. She is not very religious unlike her family. She just got

out of a complicated relationship that dealt with religion, race, and family. She has a pretty set of

facial features, short hair, and wears casual yet professional outfits. She too has a knack for

curiosity which lead him to PK. The last character, whom I personally find intriguing is Tapasvi

Maharaj or as what they say, Your Holiness, he is like the figure or manager that represents God,

his face is plastered in every sight of the Jaggu's family since she was young, he was an image of

how people give importance to godmen like him. He was overly commercialized in their place that

made a lot of followers.

The film started when PK landed on a deserted place somewhere in India, he is not wearing

any clothes except his remote enveloped on his neck, standing as if he doesn't know where to start,

he was seen by an old man with a radio set/boombox in front of a moving train, he ran up to him

but the old man was engulfed by the existence of the remote so he stole it from him thus being left

with nothing, he can't go home, he can't formally continue his research. Wandering aimlessly, that's

when he learns about the practices of people and their interaction with different religions.

Searching for his remote, searching for answers, he came across God which people told him that

He can only help him, PK, being curious and believed right away, he ventured to different types

of religion that lead him to question and be confused by how large religion have impacted almost

all of our lives. Then came Jaggu, who was the first person to ever be interested to PK's character,

she also paved the way to bring forth PK to a large audience. The rising action occurs when Jaggu

was ringed by an unknown number that always mistaken her as the occupant of a specific hotel

room, she then decided to pull a prank to the caller, an idea sparked PK, maybe there is a God but

he cannot receive our calls because we are dialing the wrong number or maybe someone is pulling

pranks as a way to block us from communicating with God. He later engages the public to help
them campaign the right number and condemn the wrong numbers or rituals. The climax occurs

when His Holiness and PK sat down to face each other's attention and questions about religion,

His Holiness acted an attitude and tone that degrades PK's own opinions because of a hierarchy

that was established long before the PK landed on earth. PK then submitted a challenge to His

Holiness that concludes how His prophecy is not correct and that even godmen tell lies. The falling

action occurred when His Holiness accepted His defeat by letting go of the remote control of PK.

Lastly, the ending establishes that PK has fallen inlove with Jaggu because of the deep connection

they shared. PK takes two suitcases that are full of voice tapes of Jaggu, after his departure, Jaggu

decides to publish a book about him. A year later, PK returns to earth again with a couple of

researchers on a research mission about the gap between the thought and the speech.

The conflict of story is that PK was overwhelmed with information of God, that he was

very confused at some point, he then expressed that God was missing however he confronts the

idea where certain irrelevant activities inside religions must be noticed. It does not in any way try

to shed negative light on God nor religion but it aims to correct the practices we proclaim the news

of God. Its theme is to be able to grasp the ambiguity of humanity and its interaction with religion.

Yet, it uplifts questions of what we consider as faith and what draws the line between believing in

God and believing in superstitions. The film does not intend to raise violence and attack God, but

it condemns the "managers" or "godmen" that brings religion as a market for which does not really

define the authenticity of what God wants to convey to us.

At the beginning of the story, PK was innocent, and incorrupt, much of his character's

responses depended on his body gestures since back then he cannot speak the human language.

The character arc portrayed by PK was the truth/lie arc, why? He was harboring a deep sort of

confusion about the structures of religion. The truth is that he is an alien (we actually don’t know
if there are genders in his country) that alone makes his character a sort of lie because he had to

pretend to be or at least become a normal human being to be able to conduct his research on Earth.

The lie in his character was in order to obtain his remote again, he finds himself drawing back that

he is an alien. Jaggu’s character arc is also the truth/lie arc, the truth is that (1) she is trying to

reconnect the relationship with her family yet they ignore her because they have different beliefs

with her and (2) with PK’s existence made her question and reevaluate her life. However, the lie

in her life, would be that she still can’t get through her troubled heartbreak that is why she is

finding a way to distract her from the inevitable hurt.

PK’s dilemma is that he was convinced that God can answer and help him fulfill his wish,

that is to find the remote so he can be assured that he can go home. But his journey made his

experience a lot of things that mainly involved different types of religion. If I were the main

character how will I solve the problem, of course, as what PK has done, I would search for answers,

I would join different types of religion if that means I will find my own ends and satisfaction to

answers to everything I have questions for. To answer the question, what aspect of my life can I

connect the situation the character was in? would be this point of time, right now, having access

to many possible answers about religion and life itself with just a click of a button is both a blessing

and a curse, it is very overwhelming because people have the tendency to manipulate and can be

easily manipulated by others, and with that different opinions have more impact than gestures

interpreted by it. If I were to change the ending of the film, I wouldn't do it because the ending was

perfect the way it was. PK and Jaggu finished the story as friends and that their relationship as

friends continue. However, if I were to change the phase of the events in the film I would certainly

do it because it seemed rushed, the campaign and the battle took place in a fast way which misses
the opportunity to explain both of the subjects' arguments. And I can only hope for more films that

open not only our capacity to think but also morally struck our souls.

I thought to myself after watching a few minutes of the film that how will the story become

bigger without pressuring a sensitive topic like religion. There were many instances that made me

pause to absorb the questions, the realizations were endless in the movie. The movie does not mock

God nor religious groups but it questions us, human beings, to not take advantage of how to

practice our praises to Him. We are all responsible for our actions, we shouldn’t always depend on

God, because in order to fully understand our capability we need to balance the way we rely and

the way we act upon a certain obstacle in life. God gave us the ability to become logical and that

aims to build an understanding of what being manipulated versus what we can do to truly manifest

our faith.