Movie · 2014 · Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction · 2h 33m · PG-13 · HI
Curator score: 7.5/10 (304.3K ratings)
Peeke hai kya?
Overview
A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.
A sharp, crowd-pleasing satire that uses an outsider’s innocence to puncture religious hypocrisy, social conformity, and the business of belief. It’s broad, emotional, and occasionally overstuffed, but the comedy, heart, and provocation make it an easy recommendation for viewers open to mainstream Indian cinema with a message.
Best for
Viewers who like satirical comedies with a sincere emotional core
Fans of socially conscious mainstream Bollywood
People interested in religion, belief systems, and cultural hypocrisy
Audiences who enjoy oddball protagonists and fish-out-of-water storytelling
Skip if
You want subtle, low-key satire
You dislike films that are openly message-driven
You prefer realism over heightened melodrama and big comic set pieces
You’re sensitive to debates around religion and social criticism
Overview
PK is built on a simple but potent comic idea: what happens when someone who doesn’t understand human rules starts asking the questions everyone else avoids? That premise gives the film its best moments, as innocence turns into a mirror for superstition, bureaucracy, and the way belief gets packaged for profit.
Worth noting
Rajkumar Hirani keeps the tone accessible and crowd-friendly, mixing slapstick, romance, and sermon-like speeches in a way that can feel overbearing but rarely dull. The film is at its strongest when it lets absurdity expose real social contradictions instead of pushing too hard for applause.
Bottom line
Aamir Khan anchors the whole thing with a performance that is both playful and emotionally precise, and the movie’s popularity makes sense: it wants to entertain first, then challenge. It’s not subtle, but it is lively, generous, and often very funny.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Lexi 🏳️🌈 (4★) · 654 likes
"Which god should I believe? You all say that it's only one god. I say, no... there are two gods. One is the one who created us all. The other one is the one created by people like you."
The world is confusing. There's a lot to understand, to hate, and to love. I agree religion does separate people. Different beliefs, different faith, and different gods. We assign meanings to things that's why sometimes they're different. Despite the differences, we… more
Michael James (3★) · 211 likes
A comedy drama that smartly questions the religious superstitions and myths, with enjoyable quirks and detailing. However beyond a point it gets repetitive with inconsistent dialogues, until it picks itself up with a good final act. Rajkumar Hirani needs to be lauded for the interestingly conceived concept. Aamir khan delivers a hilariously funny performance, well supported by the rest of cast. Despite of the flaws, it still manages to engage and entertain.
Sammy (3.5★) · 205 likes
I remember the riots over the release of this in India. I was too naive to understand at the time, but even now, it seems kind of stupid? PK satirizes religion but doesn’t take a particular side, instead blaming the system as a whole. It displays the oddities of religions, how contradictory they seem, if they “work”, and how consumerism and rise in faith have merged into its own beast. It’s the last one that matters: it’s not telling us to… more I remember the riots over the release of this in India. I was too naive to understand at the time, but even now, it seems kind of stupid? PK satirizes religion but doesn’t take a particular side, instead blaming the system as a whole. It displays the oddities of religions, how contradictory they seem, if they “work”, and how consumerism and rise in faith have merged into its own beast. It’s the last one that matters: it’s not telling us to… more
Alec (4.5★) · 124 likes
Aamir Khan is an international treasure
Rida (3★) · 120 likes
PK is a typical Rajkumar Hirani film: an abundance of overwrought drama accompanied by a deafening score, genuinely delightful comedy, and an oddball protagonist who recognizes the idiocies of the society he has arrived in. Hirani films are always fun to watch, and somehow manage to deliver both entertainment and the dreaded social message, even if they bang you over the head with it a bit too much. That’s Bollywood for you.
All that said, PK isn’t exactly Hirani and… more