'PK': Appealing to God, a Disoriented Space Alien Hopes There's Help Out There

New York: No religions were harmed in the making of this film. That's the gist of a title card that runs before the credits in the Hindi movie "PK," directed by Rajkumar Hirani, which states that the film doesn't intend to hurt the feelings of any community, sect or religion.

And this sweet, ambling comedy about an innocent abroad - an alien who touches down in the Rajasthan desert - doesn't offend, even as it pokes gentle fun at religious differences and hypocrisy.

When PK (Aamir Khan) lands in Rajasthan, naked and gym-buff, his first encounter with an earthling is a rude one. A man steals his flashing green pendant (it matches his flashing green eyes), a remote control that allows him to call his ship for pickup.

After some twists and turns - including a quick, PK-less detour to Belgium for a Pakistani Romeo and Indian Juliet love story - our hero acquires language (Hindi) and finds himself in Delhi in search of his pendant. God alone, he's told, can help him.

Guileless, he appeals to God in all his houses: temples, mosques, churches. Sneaking into a maternity ward, he examines an infant from top to bare bottom, looking for a label: Is he Christian, Muslim, Hindu?

Hirani's other films include "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" (2006), a comedy about a gangster who becomes a Gandhi-inspired good guy. That movie and its slogan, "Gandhigiri," were so successful that they ushered in a small real-life wave of Gandhian protests.

It's hard to imagine that "PK," with its slogan "wrong number" (when God's interlocutors get their wires crossed), will have a similar impact. Hirani remains an excellent storyteller, weaving his disparate story strands into a convincing, satisfying whole - a rare Bollywood feat.

But "PK" lacks the redemptive arc of "Lage Raho" - at least its hero does. PK, played with earnest sexlessness by Khan, who possesses one of Hindi cinema's most ogled bodies, is another man-boy innocent meant to remind us of our own corruption. He does, but so benignly, that it's hard to feel the sting.

Production Notes:

'PK'

Opened Friday.

Directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani; written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi; director of photography, C.K. Murleedharan; music by Sanjay Wandrekar and Atul Raninga; production design by Rajnish Hedao, Sumit Basu and Snigdha Basu; produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Hirani; released by UTV Motion Pictures. In Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes. This film is not rated.

With: Aamir Khan (PK) and Sanjay Dutt (Bhairon Singh), with Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla and Sushant Singh Rajput.