Fanney Khan Movie Review: Anil Kapoor Tries Too Hard in This Half-Baked Underdog Tale With Aishwarya Rai-Rajkummar Rao Romance Being The Weakest Link

Fanney Khan begins with the titular hero (Anil Kapoor), whose real name is Prashant Sharma, doing a stage rendition of Mohammed Rafi's Badan Pe Sitare. The enthusiasm through which he mimics Shammi Kapoor's moves is matched with his happiness for the birth of his daughter, Lata, in the next scene. Anil Kapoor's youthful zest also gels well with Fanney's fervour. It's another matter that director Atul Manjrekar fails to make sure the rest of the movie works up to it.

Anyway, back to the plot. A grownup Lata (Pihu Sand) also aspires to be a singer, like her idol Baby Singh (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan). But she is often fat-shamed at her auditions, leading her to lash at her gullible, supportive father. In between, Fanney loses his factory job and has to work as a taxi driver, while also having to bear seeing his daughter getting insulted at various shows. So when Baby Singh gets into his taxi in a chance encounter, he doesn't think twice before kidnapping her and demand ransom to sponsor a single for Lata. Whether his plan will work or not is what Fanney Khan the movie is all about.

There is an interesting allegory to ponder in Fanney Khan. Like the Chitti mask that Anil Kapoor uses in a couple of sequences, both the hero and Baby Singh, whose real name is Sumitra, have their real selves trapped in the contained monikers. While Prashant has no qualms in living up to the friendly spirit of his name, Sumitra is suffocating under the cover of her stage name. It was an intriguing thought to explore, but the writers and the director had other plans for the audience. Like delivering a contrived, melodramatic, wishy-washy mess. Sigh!

If you are not aware of this, Fanney Khan is based on a 2000 Belgian movie called Everybody's Famous. Now I have not seen the movie, but there must be something about the film that impressed Anil Kapoor and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra to produce the remake, and also convince a very choosy Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and the supremely talented Rajkummar Rao to be a part of this. We also have a soft corner for movies about underdog wins, don't we? Unfortunately, there is nothing worth telling in Fanney Khan, apart from the quite obvious fact that we will love Anil Kapoor in any movie he is in. Like Race 3, for example.

For a change, his character in Fanney Khan is not the typical Bollywood father who would stand in the way of the creative ambitions of their kids. In that aspect, Fanney and his daughter meet eye-to-eye, even though she hates him in all other matters. Why, we have no clue! There is a scene in the movie where Lata says she considers her father as a failure. But apart from that, we really don't understand why Lata has to despise her father and insult him at every turn. This proves very detrimental for the film, because Fanney going through any extreme to make his daughter a winner doesn't invoke the same sympathy from us for her. This applies to those scenes as well, where she gets fat-shamed at a couple of shows in what is I feel 2018's most caricaturish-constructed scenes.

Even Fanney Khan as a character has a couple of unbelievable clinks in his armour. He is shown as a do-gooder, friendly spirit with a heart of gold. So when he kidnaps Baby Singh out of the blue, his motivations to do so feels very random. Towards the end, when people clap for him and the narrator hails him an idol for this wanton act of criminality, we just want to shake our heads and leave the theatres asap. Sure it is a happy end for everyone involved, even the villain of the piece, but that is no justification for what Fanney did to Baby.

The first half of Fanney Khan is quite decent, as we get to know the protagonist through his family, his friend Adhir (Rajkummar Rao) and we empathise with his plight. There is also a nice message in the proceedings about how true talent will shine over fake divas and PR stunts. Then the kidnapping happens and everything goes for a toss from thereon. Right from the motivations, the induced buffoonery, the involvement of Adhir and how this track plays ahead, everything feels forced. The love story between Baby and Adhir is unwarranted and doesn't belong to this movie at all. More so, they even disappear during the final portions of the movie, only to appear in the fag end.

Even Fanney's interactions with Baby's shady, letchy manager Kakkad (Girish Kulkarni) are written in a weak manner, with typical Bollywood masala thrown in these scenes. All these lead to one of the most contrived climaxes seen in recent times that loses even the little goodwill the movie has earned before. You think reality shows on television are awkward? Wait till you see the program they show in Fanney Khan that will make even Indian Idol baulk. Music sure has power, but not enough for the channel and the police to forget that one of the singers' father has kidnapped a huge star and cheer for both the girl and her father. Save for the performances, everything else in these portions, from writing to direction, is messy to the core.

Well, talking about the score, for a movie about aspiring singers, it should have been one of the strengths of the film. Case in point - Secret Superstar. Here, an otherwise dependable Amit Trivedi serves a bland soundtrack, with only a mildly interesting Tere Jaisa Tu worth a mention.

What saves the movie from being an utter hogwash is the reliable Anil Kapoor. As a producer, he may have chosen the wrong team and script in making Fanney Khan. But the actor in him shines throughout, even when his persona goes out of character. You can't help but fall for his cheerful enthusiasm when he gives an intro to his self-composed tune to his family, or feel bad for him when he realises he is trapped in the wily manipulations of Baby's manager.

As his loving wife and a woman with a clearer head than her family members, Divya Dutta shines once again. Pihu Sand is a natural performer, even though her character doesn't really demand our affection.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, meanwhile, struggles to make an impression in her poorly-written rockstar character. Her performance is also kind of mixed bag - sometimes good, sometimes artificial. Rajkummar Rao continues to harp on his adorable Bareilly Ki Barfi act that works in parts here, seeing how little he matters to the plot. Apart from the opportunity to romance Ash, there is nothing worthy in the role that demands an actor of calibre like Rao. Girish Kulkarni delivers a typical villainous performance that has no layers to speak of.

Towards the end of the film, the Achhe Din Kab Aayenge song (played in the first half) is now changed to Achhe Din Ab Aaye for the hero. The audience, sadly, has no such luck be it IRL or when the end-credits turn in.

Yay!

- Anil Kapoor

- Supporting performances of Pihu and Divya Dutta

- Some good moments in the first half of the film

Nay!

- The whole kidnapping angle, including Baby and Adhir's forced love story

- Wasting the potential of Aishwarya and Rajkummar

- Contrived writing and average execution

- A badly conceived conclusion

- Music

Final Thoughts

Fanney Khan is a major disappointment, considering the talent it has roped in the cast and the message the movie wants to deliver. Even with Anil Kapoor's dependable performance, Fanney Khan fails to soar above its mediocre writing and poor execution. A missed opportunity for sure.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2018 01:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).