Fanaa: Annihilation of Hopes. Review on Fanaa

Fanaa (**)

Genre: Anti-Indian, Pathetic Love Story

Released: 26th May '06

Director: Kunal Kohli (he incidently wrote the dialogues too)

Cast: Aamir Khan, Kajol, Tabu, Rishi Kapoor, Kirone Kher and the rest

( Exceptional, Brilliant, Good, Average, * Avoidable)

A question that Amitabh Bacchan can safely ask for Rs 1 crore in his show Kaun Banega Crorepati - ''Who is the hero of the movie Fanaa?'' I am sure even Kunal will have hard time answering this one!

In short: If you fathom an anti-Indian as your hero, this one is especially for you!

Plus

1. Kajol - She has not only acted well but has earned this movie an extra star in this review :)

Minus

1. Kunal wants us Indians to pity a ruthless anti-Indian who kills without remorse

   
   




2. Aamir Khan has been offered one of the weakest roles of his career. Aamir looks credible in the role but his character is inconsistent and ill-written

   
   




3. Utterly distasteful and graceless Shayari and one-liners

   
   




4. On-screen chemistry of the much hyped Aamir-Kajol jodi doesn't produce much effervescence. Physic(al)s may be playing a role here!

   
   




5. This movie shows disrespect for people with disability (more about this when we discuss it)

   
   




6. The length of the movie - almost three hours of dragging

   
   




7. Unbelievably pathetic script and equally frustrating screenplay. There is no flow in story-telling

   
   




8. A very weak end. You got to see this to believe me!

   
   

There are more but it doesn't look good if one keeps writing only the bad thing about a movie. There was a wonderful thing that happened during the whole proceeding - the movie ended, finally!

The limiting factors:

1. Expectations not being met. You are bound to come out of the theatre dejected and dissatisfied.

   
   




2. This movie is not ''paisa-vasool'' for the audience.

   
   

A little more...

It is the time to answer the question worth a crore bucks. Who is the hero of this movie? Probably,none! The movie glorifies only a villain and there is nothing in this movie for your kids to watch. There is no hero!

''Andhi ho kya?'' (Are you blind?) ''Haan main andhi hoon!'' What? Can't you be polite and ask ''Can't you see?'' Well, we are probably expecting a bit too much or the filmmakers have lost the sense of politesse. ''Andhi'' word is used so often and with so much of disrespect that it will hurt you after a point and if it doesn't I am really not writing this for you; you may skip this review.

What is Aamir Khan's character in this movie? A strong guy or a weak one? A womanizer or a gentleman after all? An aethist or a believer? If I keep comparing, I may have a list of antonyms that run into multiple pages! Who one earth wrote his character? One may argue that his character is complex. Well, two words for the arguing party - shut up! This character is ill-written and terribly inconsistent. He is the central character but he is not the hero.

Aamir's one-liners are awful and Kunal takes discredit for it. There are a few good ones but most of these are jarring and unbearably mediocre. If the script is bad, dialogues are ugly! Nothing to impress you here.

Story-telling is bad! It is predictable and boring. Kunal needs to go back to the basics of movie-making. Movies are meant to give one or more of these --

1. A reflection of current society

   
   




2. a dreamland to the audience where they forget their daily lives and enjoy

   
   




3. food for thought to those who want to take back their interpretation of the story

   
   




4. a hero - one who gives you a ray of hope; one who you can support through out the movie

   
   




5. money's worth

   
   

Fanaa gives you none!

Camera is very good. Art direction is brilliant too. The character have been given right attire to wear almost all the time.

Music just about average. Background score is a little over-the-top a few times but overall, not bad considering other flawas with the movie.

There are so many gaps in the script that it would be waste of your time and mine to discuss these here.

Direction is nothing more than mediocre. I am sure Kunal will come up with a better effort next time. He relies a bit too much on the stars to deliver as he loses his vision of the story (Can I call him ''andha'' with anger and contempt laced with it?) midway through the movie.

Have wasted a lot of time writing this one. 3 hours (watching the movie) and 30 minutes (writing this review) fanaa on Fanaa!