Don’t bother much about Fanny, it’s the humor that’s worthwhile.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Finding Fanny is endearing, hilarious and is loaded with eccentricity. And mind you, this is set-up in a Goa that one might not have ever witnessed on their holiday excursions.
At the onset, the narrator of the movie, Angie (Deepika Padukone), warns you about not even attempting to search for the village the movie is set-in because you wouldn’t be able to find it. Extend it further, and through the movie, you witness numerous picturesque locations in Goa. I bet you wouldn’t recognize even a single one, no matter for how many jaunts you have had in Goa.
The movie revolves around five people who have ventured out on a road-trip in an old car, in search of Stephanie “Fanny” Fernandez.
46-years earlier, Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah), an eccentric post-master, had posted a love-letter to Fanny to which she never responded. One night when Ferdie receives back the same letter, undelivered, he is heart-broken. All these years he thought he had been rejected by Fanny but now it appears that his proposal never reached her.
The young Angie, an orphan and a widow, has fatherly affection towards Ferdie and suggests to him that they should go out in search of Fanny. Angie, lives with her self-obsessed mother-in-law, Rosie (Dimple Kapadia), who is a widow herself and has delusions about her looks.
The other compatriots in the journey are the owner of the rusted car, another nonconformist, a painter, Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapoor) and the driver, Savio (Arjun Kapoor). Whereas Savio appears to have disconnected from life but still has feelings for Angie, Don Pedro is obsessed with the bottoms of Rosie. After seeing Rosie, he has found a purpose in life, i.e. to draw a painting of Rosie.
Whereas the search for Fanny is fairly discreet, it turns out that the compatriots are in search of something indistinct. They all are dysfunctional in a way and have regressions pertaining to one another.
Early on in the movie the car-journey has begun and there isn’t any intriguing aspect of the plot beyond this. So, it is left to the characters, dialogues, cinematographer and the musicians to steer you through. And none of them disappoint.
The background score through the movie is reflective of the mood of the situation and keeps you hooked on to the movie. The songs aptly fall in place with the narrative.
Screen performance wise, Deepika Padukone has come out outstanding. Her expressions and schemes are the pivot-point for the movie. She looks ravishing and admirable in the traditional Goans outfits. For her fans, this is a not-be-to-missed movie.
Naseeruddin Shah plays Ferdie with innocence and his sudden invigoration in life is both hilarious and abnormal. He has no concept of time when it comes to Fanny. His pure visualizations of the young Fanny makes you further adore Ferdie with all his flaws.
Dimple Kapadia dresses up in outlandish, brightly colored clothes and plays a bizarre character who hasn’t accepted harsh realities of life. In the beginning of the movie, her hipster skirt tears-off from behind as she bends forward. To cover the snap of the garment, she puts on an umbrella. Rosie’s little idiosyncrasies are reflective of she living in her teenage where she would have been a heart-stop for many. Her anguish and regrets are discernible.
Pankaj Kapoor’s role is a full-blast version of his role in Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola. Whereas, there depictions of his lecherous inclinations towards Shabana Azmi were countable, here they are an overkill for Dimple Kapadia. His urgency-inducing, lewd expressions and odd-mannerisms as a painter are the prime culprits to a numerous guffaws in the auditorium.
Among all these established stalwarts, there is Arjun Kapoor as Savio. He has unresolved complaints in life and has created an artificial, lonely world around him. To be frank, when you are around with three experienced pros and one hot superstar, it is easy to turn out to be a show-spoiler. Arjun Kapoor surprises by his palpable portrayal of Savio.
A few side-kicks like the priest at the church and the Russian drunkard complement the movie with their own unique punch of humor.
The movie lacks a gripping plot and although the amazingly peppy and fast background score does well to conceal the slow pace of the movie, by and large one knows that the search for Fanny is symbolic. Apart from Naseeruddin Shah, no one, not even the audience, is interested in the whereabouts of Fanny.
It turns out to be who-cracks-the-next-joke movie rather than fueling your curiosity about who Fanny was and where is she now.
The movie is set-up in the present day, and the recollections of the past are only through verbal descriptions of the characters. The narrative fails to vividly portray the past of the characters and substantiate as to why they are the way they are.
If you have enjoyed The Lunchbox, Dedh Ishqiya, this one is an another one you shouldn’t miss.
The drive may be slow but this 93-minute tour to unfrequented destinations of Goa is worth a shot.
I go for a rating of 3.5 out of 5 for the dark yet subtle and light-hearted humour ‘Finding Fanny’ boasts of.
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