Friday, May 26, 2006

Fanaa - a four star film

Fanaa is Kajol's film. Without her, it would be just another "oops, I fell in love with a terrorist" script shot in exotic foreign locales which pass off as Kashmir. But from the moment she comes on screen - in the first 5 minutes of the film - there's the old magic.

Yes, there are many flaws in the film - starting from the Baig family living in an amazing Alpine cottage in the middle of nowhere to the unlikely idea that a terrorist who masterminds elaborate operations is actually a tourist guide in saddi Dilli. That's how Zooni - who's on a trip to the capital to perform at Rashtrapati Bhavan meets and falls in love with Rehaan (Aamir Khan).

The first hour of the film, full of sher-o-shayari and Aamir doing another 'I'm a good for nothing tapori' act is really fun. The chemistry between Aamir and Kajol is incredible. You have to wonder what kind of chaperone would let a blind girl romp around Delhi with Romeo Rehaan. But this is Bollywood, so we’ll let it pass.

* Spoilers ahead *

All’s well with the world, Zooni has found her shehzada, and even regains her eyesight (I know, sounds cheesy but somehow is not). Then Rehaan 'dies' in a terrrorist attack. You see, he is actually a key operative for the IKF which is fighting for the liberation of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan.

Seven years pass. Now the story shifts into James Bond country for a while, with RAW, Indian Army, anti terrorist squads, bombs which can kill 50 lakh people and so on and so forth. Rehaan, in Indian army uniform, is on the run with a ‘nuclear trigger’. Bleeding and blinded by a snowstorm, he lands on Zooni’s doorstep.

Of course, the love story continues. And ends. In between there’s a very cute kid and some singing in the rain and snow. You know a terrorist must die, so there is no suspense. Still, the story of Zooni, Rehaan and Rehaan jr tugs at your heart.

Genuine emotion and effortless acting are rare in Bollywood – and that’s why this film gets 4 stars from me.

All the actors are superb. Kajol I have oohed and aahed about already. Aamir is also amazing, although he looks old as a young man and young as an older man. The child star is endearing. So are Kirron Kher and Rishi Kapoor (yes, even him!) as Zooni’s parents.

I liked some of the small touches. Zooni and her friends could have been from anywhere in India – they’re shown as modern Kashmiri girls who wear fashionable clothes, make up and even discuss boys. I don’t know whether this is the reality – if not, I bet it reflects latent aspirations.

What’s more both Zooni and her family are shown to be pretty open minded. Her parents are actually thrilled to hear she has found her ‘shehzada’. Of course they might not have been as thrilled had they known Zooni had spent the night with him. Even though he was pretty clear that he could not give her a commitment.

This represents a shift in thinking. A heroine who is willing to give into her passions because there is a man who makes her feel fully alive. Even though she knows it may be just for a day, and not a lifetime. In fact, when Rehaan disappears on the day she is leaving Delhi it is Zooni who seeks him out and baat aagey wahi badaati hai.

Another nice touch was Tabu as Mrs Tyagi - a RAW officer. There is a small conversation she has on the phone with her daughter about eating custard and kheer which is so typical of a working mother’s life. Her male colleagues make snide remarks about it – which is pretty typical as well.

A special mention must be made of the child artist (dunno his name). Looks like Yash Chopra has picked a leaf out of Karan Johar’s book and decided to balance the more grim second half with a cute kid and his cuter dialogues.

Music - good. Photography –very good. Overall – very very good. Do watch.

Update: Ah, so the general view among bloggers on Fanaa is "ugh". Well we are talking 'brand Yashraj' here. This is a brand which believes in the formula - you have to live with that. What they do try is to tweak the formula a bit - sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

Veer Zaara did not work for me, because I could not accept the basic premise. That a guy will spend 2 decades in prison for the sake of a girl he's spent just 24 hours with.

Frankly, I was not expecting that much from Fanaa because I didn't think a director like Kunal Kohli (who has to his credit flaky stuff like Hum Tum) could pull it off. But surprisingly, he did a good job.

And I do think some thinking went into Fanaa. There has been a shift in public mood, we're over the post-Kargil phase when there was a slew of films depicting Pakistan as enemy # 1. In Fanaa, the IKF is shown to be an independent group, waging a war against both India and Pakistan to liberate Kashmir. There is no mention of the word 'jihad' either.

Now all this may be wishful thinking, perhaps, because Pakistan is still funding insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. A more cynical view, of course, is that the strategy makes sense when you know Pakistan and the Middle East avidly follow Bollywood films.

But then this is a love story where terrorism is just a reason to separate two people in love. Not a film on terrorism where a love story is weaved in to add an emotional dimension to the characters. The way soldiers in war films are shown to have girlfriends and wives, so you feel bad when they die.

For decades, parents were the villains in the boy-meets-girl tale. Now, we need new villains. It's about the guy who can't make a commitment (Hum Tum, Salaam Namaste etc). Or the girl/ guy being married and therefore love being the forbidden fruit (Murder). Or then the guy being involved in some nasty business - either underworld or terrorism (Gangster etc)

So these are themes which will be repeated over and over again. There may not even be new wine in an old bottle but just good, old wine. That's how I would describe Fanaa.

20 comments:

  1. thanx.. was tied between Da Vinci, Xmen and Fanaa... guess I'll nw go for Fanaa...

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  2. I dont trust rediff reviews anymore. Clever rediff guys have put up 2 reviews this time - one good and one bad, defeating the whole purpose of review!

    But since this one comes from Rashmi, I think I'll go for this one. Eager to watch miss Aamir-Kajol pairing.

    I saw The Da Vinci Code last week.
    Here's my short take on it
    .
    I think you can safely choose Fanaa over that.

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  3. Nice review here....will look forward to watch this one :D

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  4. I knew that this movie would appeal to some people... and now I have found your review :)
    Frankly I thought the movie quite crappy, for lack of a better word.. but then that's just me!

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  5. hahah, but the only thing worth watching in the later half was rehaan junior, and when he came to give Haldi Milk to Rehaan sr..

    First half felt nice though lol .. loved the shayzri

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  6. Sorry Rashmi - for once, I disagree, IMHO. Also posted.

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  7. After your thumbs up to 36 CHINA TOWN, dont know whether I should go by this review or not :D

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  8. Kia Ora (Hello) from a krazy blogger down under in NEW ZEALAND.I have never heard of this film - sounds interesting though. Do you have writers from other countries write short articles for your magazine ???

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  9. Well , I am afraid i dont agree at all with you Rashmi . The movie just didn't work for me. I am a huge Aamir Khan Fan but Fanaa just wasn't close to his best . Several aspects severly affect the movie :

    - There is no character building at all. Rehaan comes across as very confused sort of fella. For an intelligent super-terrorist , he commits some really stupid things.

    - Kajol as a blind girl just doesn't strike a chord . I agree this was her comeback and all but you only have to look at Rani in Black to see a blind girl

    - The song picturisations are rubbish . Many people in the theater chose to have a pepsi or go to the loo when songs were playing.

    - Rishi Kapoor's death scene is comical

    - Satish Shah, the Nanaji characters seem to be there just to fill some time

    - the 2nd half is interminable

    - the Anti-terrorist squad is comical to say the least

    - The Film is not at all gripping .

    loads of other things but these are just what come to my mind.

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  10. Don't agree at all. One star would be one too many for this film. Aamir wasn't too bad, the rest were pathetic, including Kajol. And the kid was most irritating- he looked fake.

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  11. >> In Fanaa, the IKF is shown to be an independent group, waging a war against both India and Pakistan to liberate Kashmir. There is no mention of the word 'jihad' either.


    LOL.. Bollywood suckering up to Pakis, and falling over each other to prove their secularism.

    Haahh.. now everyone knows Pakistan is supporting terrorism in Kashmir. How naive!!

    All this sweety sweety mushy india paki sher-o-shayri dosti ka haath etc makes me puke.. I would rather tolerate a Mills and Boons.

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  12. I wonder why the yashraj guys were asking for more money from multiplexes. I suppose they knew that they were having not-so-good stuff, and wanted to make money as fast as possible, before the word-of-mouth spreads.

    Multiplexes would be better off not showing the movie. It aint going to be such a hit anyway.

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  13. @Phooka

    If you feel that Rani's portrayal of a blind person in Black is the ideal, then you obviously either have never met a blind person in your life, or you prefer over the top histrionics to acting. Rani's performance was just ridiculous. Have you met any blind person who walks like Charlie Chaplin? I haven't.

    Kajol's performance was good because her blindness wasn't highlighted as the core part fo her character. Here is a woman who is blind but chooses to ignore that handicap. There is no remorse, no bitterness. She even pokes fun at her own handicap. That is a great performance.

    In Black, the entire focus was on the handicaps, in order to get the maximum tearjerking mileage from the audience. Sanjay Bhansali is and will always be a glorified, colourful hack. Rani didn't play a character. She was a caricature.

    It is people like you, forming the majority of Indian audiences, who elevate people like Nana Patekar and Shah Rukh to the status of actors. You see, for you, to appreciate an "acting" performance you have to see the actors straining to act, be it Nana's epileptic seizures that passes for acting or Shahrukh's trembling lips, or Rani's splay footed walk.

    According to me, Shahrukh should play Hamlet in a Sanjay Bhansali film. Then truly we will be able to say - he is the Ham in Hamlet!

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  14. HI RASHMI,
    YOUR BLOG IS SO PROFESSIONAL. IT IS VERY GOOD.

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  15. Another self anointed youth commentator falls into the Yashraj lucre trap just like Kunal Kohlis prostration when he was a film critic.

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  16. Another one of those run-of-the-mill appeasement films. Is it just me or does everyone feel the change after Mian Musharraf's solemn plea to not show Pakistan in Bad light even though they continue to blow up people in Kashmir. Hint: Gaps between Kashmir attacks never go beyond 3 months.

    It was Shahrukh Khan earlier, Aamir Khan now. Salman is in the doghouse if not, we would have heard from him too. Either way, I have not watched a Hindi movie for nearly 12 years now but keep up with the comments made by the hilarious Indian movie business which is more or less cheap imitation stuff along the lines of used clothing sold at churchgate.

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  17. normally i saw a movie before you reviewed it so such a situation did not arise. but i am very very sure that i am not going to take your word about cinema anymore. fanaa is a piece of rat shit romance formula movie and nothing more than that with aamir displaying the emotional range of iftikhaar. the only possible reason i can think because of which anyone would like this movie is yash uncle payed him some cash. and if you wrote this review for free..... i am just surprised.

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  18. I loved Fanaa, and agree with what u say. I dunno y the educated people cant sit back and enjoy the sheer beauty of cinema that YashRaj Films represent, of which Fanaa is a fine example coz it also has a plot to it. Cinema is not about 'what' is shown, but 'how' its shown - after all its an audio visual medium to be seen on big screen.

    Someone has to be blind and deaf to not appreciate the perfect sync of Background score/music with the visuals and of course, the terrific performances.

    My review of it on www.deepakjeswal.com

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  19. why was tabu in the film? Kajol, yes has performed exceedingly well. but aamir was much better off in rang de basanti. but 4 stars just for kajol is a bit of an exaggeration. i loved shruti seth in the movie as well.

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  20. It was a rubbish. Fiirst half is ok. Second half is copied from many hollywood movies scene by scene. Movie seems to take turns according to what director wants to show (scenes from other hollywood movies). Gujrat is lucky to get banned this movie. They have saved themseleves from a 3 hrs long headache.

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