Early in the collective
journey to find the love of an old loner’s life; when the later reacts in anxiety,
‘Isn’t it hot today?’, the man on driving seat and with the least interest in
such trip throws away his apathy, “I am feeling cold”…“You must be in fever then”
“no, it’s a statement of sarcasm”, he clarifies straight-faced & boldly. That
should also be the preliminary and precautionary declaration to viewers as what
they should expect from Homi Adajania’s smartly written, deliciously performed
and dynamically directed comedy-drama FINDING FANNY.
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Set in an unreal-unheard
village of Goa, Fredie [Naseeruddin Shah, tastes as good as old wine] is a lonesome
postman with no letters to deliver. His life gets an awakening knock when someone
drops an old undelivered letter to his doorstep. It was written by him 46 years
back and for his love of life then, Fanny. It is an end to his years-long wait but
to give it a possible fresh new start to find Fanny, there’s Angie [Deepika
Padukone as bright & shine as the morning Sun] who, despite her 15
min-short married life firmly believes in, “No one deserves an incomplete
love-story”.
There’s also Angie’s
heavily-structured crabby-grumpy old mother-in-law Rosalina [Dimple Kapadia in
an all juicy-spicy avatar], a bitter, harsh & sulking love-interest to
Angie [Arjun Kapoor’s best till date] and last but never the least, the
amazingly vibrant but lecherous womanizer artist in search of a new muse for
his painting, Don Pedro Cleto
Colaco [The powerhouse and an institution in himself Pankaj Kapoor]. Together,
they all are on a ride to find love in their lives.
FINDING FANNY is
dark-dim & gloomy in emotions where every character is either with broken
hearts or in deep abandoned state of mind seeking the missing piece in their
lives but the way they behave and presented on screen is very caricature-ish
yet far more realistic than any Bollywood mainstream cinema. So, there is
plenty of room for humor that comes from the wit in the nature of being that character
and belonging there in the said situation. Point to be noted here is that you
have to be very attentive and alert to not miss any of the punches hidden or
underlined in any regular verbal exchange. Special mention to the writer!
The lingo is rooted,
earthy and well in-synced with the spirit of English speaking Goan people. Anil
Mehta’s visual strokes are like travel postcards. The old houses with fences, bricky
textures, neatly stuffed rooms with furniture and props slowly getting into
antique mode and picturesque landscapes of Konkan belt are vividly captured. Mathias
Duplessy’s tingling music constantly keeps you engaged in the scene. And if not
anything, the performances will floor you right away. Naseer’s cute smiles,
Pankaj’s lustful eyes, Arjun’s burst of anger, Deepika’s naive beauty and
Dimple’s richly layered emotions, there are reasons more than just one to not
miss it.
After
his last being a 100 Cr club entrance (Deepika-Saif starrer COCKTAIL), FINDING
FANNY is like Homi’s homecoming to what he had promised with his first (BEING
CYRUS). No non-sense performances, grave humor and a good hand at writing. It is
easily one of the most refreshing films you’ve seen this year! [3.5/5]
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