I’m in a state of mild stress ahead of the weekend. While I’ve succeeded in booking tickets for the Da Vinci Code, I’ve failed in doing so for “Fanaa”. The reason, as we all know, is because multiplexes in Bombay have refused to show the movie, while single-screen theatres are going ahead with it. Director Kunal Kohli last night was trying desperately to justify Yashraj demanding a higher fee from multiplexes if the movie does well. Multiplexes aren’t seeing eye-to-eye and I’m a casualty of this random war.
As a stress-busting measure I thought I’d put my thoughts on "Fanaa", before I see the movie.
Story – the bare little I know is that Aamir Khan is a tourist guide who becomes a terrorist. (similar to the 1996 Ajay Devgan starrer “Diljale”, and other movies). Kajol is a blind girl who falls in love with him. Poland fits somewhere in the middle. As does a mirchi locket that Aamir flaunts in the movie (no, I don’t think it contains any secret code).
My thoughts – The idea of a blind girl simply doesn’t appeal to me. If it’s meant to have instant underdog appeal to the masses, it leaves me stone cold. And Aamir transformation…well, he’ll probably do a good job at it, but he’s becoming a bit predictable. The menacing look, the enraged cries, the tears and the pointing fingers are all something we’ve seen before in Mangal Pandey and Rang De Basanti (where he was far more effective, but also overshadowed by two killer performances - Atul Kulkarni and Siddharth).
Which then brings me to a suspicion that our hero is going to die in the movie…believe me, I don’t know this for sure, so don’t accuse of me revealing the end. I mean, what else could be more fitting? Blind girl losing her lover, first to terrorism and then to heaven/hell does make sense. Besides political correctness requires. Even Shahrukh took the deadly embrace with Manisha in “Dil Se”.
Besides the above, there is
(a) cinematography – the posters make me expect the usual sweeping shots of snow-covered mountains, close-ups of both leads, etc. etc..
(b) music – whatever I’ve heard is totally mundane and nothing to write home about. Besides, I doubt Yashraj will ever learn that songs in a movie have become a bore. Look how RDB worked around that – there were loads and loads of songs, but none longer than 2 minutes on screen and in full glory on audio CDs etc – let the viewer decide.
Ah…I’ve now realised that I’ve landed up trashing the movie before seeing it. Then why see it in the first place? I think I’m a sucker for the hype. And being an Aamir Khan fan I’d see it anyways. Even if he’s becoming predictable, the real King Khan can still hold a movie on his own shoulders. Replace Aamir with Shahrukh and I’d have given it a miss. Menacing look is one thing but the trademark Shahrukh shuddering cheeks, lips, eyebrows et al is another (except of course Swades, where he was just excellent – his best performance IMHO).
What do I finally expect ? 3 hours of mildly engaging stuff that will have me running out during the songs. A strong showing from Aamir and another from one of the supporting cast – the ever reliable Shiney Ahuja (yes!).
So there you have it – my thoughts before the movie. Now excuse me while I go back to getting those damn tickets.
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