Aamir Khan

In PK (2014), Aamir Khan keeps trying to understand religious rules that make little sense to his alien visitor. The joke depends on his confusion, and he makes the wish to understand matter as much as the comic disruption. We laughed at his puzzled enquiries, then felt protective of him because he seemed entitled to a sensible answer. C.K. Muraleedharan’s cinematography keeps attention on Khan as he tries to understand ordinary human surroundings.

The romantic lead of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) later produced and starred in Lagaan (2001). From the mid-2000s, his approach favoured one film at a time and stories about social problems. Directing Taare Zameen Par (2007), about dyslexia and educational pressure, made that interest explicit. Those choices help explain the teacherly streak in the performances, though the acting is generally more engaging than the lessons.

Rajkumar Hirani gets particularly good results from him in 3 Idiots (2009), where Khan’s Rancho makes enthusiasm for engineering feel companionable. With R. Madhavan’s Farhan and Sharman Joshi’s Raju, his advice has friends to help rather than just a point to prove. His assurance is also the limitation: Rancho too often seems equipped with the correct answer before anyone has asked the question. The music by Shantanu Moitra, Sanjay Wandrekar and Atul Raninga can underline feelings Khan has already made clear. We would rather hear less encouragement to be moved and let the actors get on with it.

Dangal (2016) gives that certainty a more troubling use. As Mahavir Singh Phogat, Khan makes a father’s commitment to his daughters’ wrestling convincing without making his authority comfortable. Nitesh Tiwari’s film gives the father’s determination more attention than the daughters’ freedom to choose. Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra, playing the older sisters, have to work against that imbalance. Khan makes Mahavir interesting enough to question; we wish the film questioned him more closely.

We like Khan most when his characters have something left to learn. His warmth makes instruction enjoyable, but certainty can wear thin over an evening. Start with PK, allowing for a wandering plot and more time than its questions need.