Fanney Khan

Honestly, India hides behind so much mediocrity and worse under the name of "family entertainer". Yes because family entertainer is all about hinting little girls how couch casting *might* become important in their careers. There are so many plot holes in this god-awful film, it is an insult to common sense. And can India cut the lame melo-dramatic nonsense, we are tired of it. If we wanted to watch a melo-dramatic movie, we would have watched something from the 90's. Indian audiences deserve much better.

If you want to torture someone take them for this movie.

I don't know if I should take Atul Manjrekar's Fanney Khan seriously or lightly. On one hand it shows the struggle of a man (Anil Kapoor) who wants his daughter to be a star singer while on the other it resorts to screwball comedy to make me laugh. These two shades of this comedy drama hardly blend, while also giving me withdrawal symptoms. A lack of logic in the plot - starting from the point where the man kidnaps a famous singer (Aishwarya Rai) to the climax - pushes Fanney Khan into a territory that can be best defined as contrived storytelling. Everything is easy for director Manjrekar's characters, and thanks to some brilliant performances by Kapoor, Divya Dutta, and Girish Kulkarni, it feels effortless. I am also not sure what the non-righteous climax is trying to convey - is it okay to be bad when you are fighting for a good cause? Is it okay to break the law and put someone's life in danger just because you are a naive, old man passionate about your daughter's future? Ridiculous as it seems, Fanney Khan ends like a fairytale without even shedding light into what happened to some of the characters. The only thing that it gets right is criticizing the notion that stardom is usually a product of luck and compromise, as it poses as a question in front of the man's daughter (Pihu Sand) several times, yet Rai's character sabotages it in one scene by taking a defensive when the man asks her the same question. Director Manjrekar is ahead of himself, in trying to compete with Advait Chandan's Secret Superstar (2017), in trying to show the dark world and politics of the music industry, in fighting taboos related to body shapes and stardom, yet the container he uses to serve his dish made me look at my family members and shrug. No, really. There's a scene sometime in the 15th minute where Kapoor's character mimics to an instrumental in front of his wife and daughter. It's a great screwball moment, inducing no laughter, but that's exactly when I turned to my mum and dad and we all shrugged referring to the dull madness that is happening on screen. Don't waste your time. TN.

Fanney Khan - to be a star and a celebrity artist is not easy in a country with a billion people and needs hard work and focus. Fanney Khan is the story of a man who didn't quite make the cut having had to sacrifice his dreams for the more important responsibility of life and family. He still nurses his creative side when he finds time from his crane operating job and sees his dream stay alive in his daughter Lata. Lata is talented but faces body-shamers bullying her constantly as she is obese, which stands in her way of recognition. Also, she finds her father annoying and is easily embarrassed due to his intrusive (actually concern) nature. Do you see a maze of subjects here already? Add to it a strange twist - Fanney Khan will go to any length to find success for his daughter's singing career, and will kidnap a celebrity singer for ransom, a case where he will transform from being a perpetrator into being manipulated by some sly bounty hunters.

It's just too many subjects to handle - director Atul Manjrekar is clearly unable to balance things out. After the interesting first 30 minutes, the film just loses its way and meanders in a wayward fashion, failing to engage. Rajkumar Rao is underused and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan misses yet another opportunity to up her game, keeping things superficial and plastic. The end is preachy. Debutante Pihu Sand as Lata is very impressive. But the film belongs to Anil Kapoor, who infuses exceptional energy and life into the role of a doting family man. He is clearly the only asset of Fanney Khan. Also must mention Divya Dutta who also produces a punchy performance. 4 STARS okay for it.

The movie was below average, the star cast were sincere and tried their best.

As i watched the movie i realised there is an imortant parental message in the movie. The movie is essentially a story of a daughter, mother and father. The parents are poor yet have they have totally spoilt their daughter. She disrespects her fatber at every stage and the mother defends here by blaming the father for upsetting her. The father tries everything in the world to keep his daughter happy and to fulfil her dreams, to the point where he resorts to kidnapping. The daughter is totally rude, spending money and taking loans to buy dresses without asking for consent from the bill payer. At the end this spoilt, rude child makes it.

This is message of this movie. Like i said a pathetic movie somewhat tolerable due to a 1st class set of actors.