Fanaa is much more than just a love story... Review on Fanaa

I cant understand why the people and the critics are being so cynical toward Fanaa. Aamir can make a mistake once (The Rising), he's not a fool to repeat it again and again. Fanaa is quite good and perhaps the best Yash Raj film to date. Aamir's terrific acting in two absolutely different genres in a single film is really amazing.

Story

Kajol, a blind girl has lived all her life in the hills of Kashmir. She is patriotic and the loving daugter or Rishi Kapoor and Kirron Kher. Her parents send her to Delhi with some friends to perform a dance in the rashtrapati bhavan. In Delhi, she meets Rehan. (Oh yes! Aamir!)

Aamir is a 'guide' and makes Kajol visit the entire Delhi. The opening song Chand Sifarish is a real ice cream to the ears and chocolate to the eyes. Aamir and Kajol gradually fall in love with each other. Both of them decide to marry. But before that, Kajol undergoes a retinal operation and gets her sight back! By the end of the operation, her parents also come to Delhi to meet her and her to-be-husband. But this is not the usual love story where we hear wedding bells and shaadi-byah scenes. Soon after the operation, Aamir 'dies' in a bomblast at the India gate. Seven years later, Aamir falls injured at Kajol's door-step inorder to escape from the Indian army and Kajol does not know where her life will lead her...

Technicalities

There's a lot of buzz going on about the action scenes of Fanaa. The beginning scene was superb where Aamir posing as an Indian soldier, dives down from a helicopter which reminded me of Vin Deasel in Triple X. This scene was done brilliantly. He lands on the snow-covered slopes and fights the Indian soldiers. There was just one scene which was messed up. Aamir fires in the direction of a helicopter and the helicopter catches 'computerised' fires and explodes. I must say, Indian technicians havent mastered the art of showing a natural bomb blast. I was taken by suprise to see Tabu as an anti-terrorist specialist. The entire film she just gave orders to her team members and delivered some technical-war dialogues like 'Yeh code ko decode karo, 'is

blast ke piche usi mastermind ka haath hai jisne Islamabad airport par blast kiya, hong Kong aur beirut mein 250 logon ki jaanin li.' Everything else is alright. Even the part of the nuclear bomb and the nuclear trigger is believeable.

Music

There are just four-five songs in the film. Of those, Chand Sifarish and Mere Haath mein

were excellent! Yeh Saazish boondon ki and des rangila were good. And there was really no need to include Chanda Chamke. But Aamir and Kajol danced quite well in that song. The lyrics were fresh and the sets (especially Mere Haath Mein) were excellent.

Performances

Aamir Khan: Do I really need to say anything? Aamir was brilliant as usual. He played two different genres in a single film with ease. I the first half he was a lover boy guide and in the second half a cold blooded terrorist. Right before the intermission, there was a scene where Aamir was walking on an air-port in a black suit, black boots, striking glasses with hair gelled. Wow! He looked terrific. 9.5/10

Kajol: Powerful come-back. The Kashmir ki kali who plays blind in the first half and a mother in the second half plays her part well. She looks fresh and energetic. The climax scene is her best part. 8.5/10

Rishi Kapoor has a fairly good part and he plays it well. He sports long kurtas in the entire film and acts just right. 7.5/10. Kirron Kher who plays Kajol's mother has a relatively short role delivers it naturally. She played Aamir's mother in RDB and now here! 8.5/10.

Others like Shruthi Seth, Jaspal Bhatti, Satish Shah, Lara Dutta play their part honestly.

Over-all

This is not the usual love Yash Raj love story. Dont go expecting Hum Tum or Veer Zara. This film is not about how Kajol's life was destroyed due to Aamir or how Aamir died. Its about how some decisions that can affect your life. No, not like what is wrong or what is right. Its about choosing the better one of two good things and two evils. This movie has some nice dialogues, light moments and terrific performances. People say the script is weak. I disagree. Its not weak, but just needs to be trimmed a bit. All in all, go for this film for it comes right from the bottom of the heart aur FANAA ho jayoo...