Rating : 2/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2018
Running time : 2 hours 15 minutes
Director : Atul Manjrekar
Cast : Anil Kapoor, Divya Dutta, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand, Aishwarya Rai
Kid rating : PG-15
Fanney Khan is produced by Rakesh OmPrakash Mehra Pictures (ROMP), so basically the folks who gave us films like “Rang de Basanti” and Delhi-6. Lately they have been more miss than hit, but one can always hope that they’ll pick a winner. Unfortunately, in Fanney Khan they don’t.
Fanney Khan has a convoluted mess of a story. It involves a golden-hearted orchestra singer Prashant Sharma aka Fanney Khan (Anil Kapoor) who nurses his dreams of becoming a singer and hopes his daughter Lata (Pihu Sand) will fulfill them. In here are also Baby Singh (Aishwarya Rai), a top singer who’s sick and tired of her conniving manager and the will-do-anything-for-TRP industry.
One day, Fanney and Baby’s paths collide, and the film turns unpredictably. This opens up possibilities, but director Atul Manjrekar manages to squander all of them. Fanney Khan basically went downhill from there, actually getting so silly at times, that my husband, who was watching the film with me, wanted to walk out halfway. I wish I’d agreed to that!
The film’s characters are kinda black-and-white, which I didn’t expect in a ROMP film; I expected better. Prashant and wife Kavita (Divya Dutta) are the typical filmi, sacrificing, door-mat parents – they want the best for their daughter but they let her walk all over them. The daughter Lata is a thoughtless, selfish child – and really hard to root for. In Bollywood sacrifice is good, and the film tries to milk some sympathy for the poor, downtrodden parents; I felt nothing but pity – for the director.
There are a few bright spots even in this messy film, 2 to be precise. There is Rajkummar Rao (who was magnificent in Newton), who plays Prashant’s friend Adhir, and Divya Dutta who plays Prashant’s wife Kavita. These two perform their hearts out, give more than they are asked for, and imbue their characters with personality. Even Pihu Sand is pretty good; it’s a pity that her character is defined in such a one-dimensional way. Anil Kapoor is the same as ever; while he is fine he’s never been known for nuance. Aishwarya Rai, while gorgeous, is wooden. If she ever had an acting bone in her body, motherhood has sucked it right out of her.
This film is not worth watching; save your time and money.
Kidwise: Clean. But think again: why would you put a child, nay anyone, through a film like this?
