Finding Fanny

Directed by: Homi Adajania

Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor

Released: 2014

My rating: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Oh the irony! I always wait for DVDs to come out with English subtitles so I can enjoy the film. This one was to be in English... so naturally I downloaded the Hindi dubbed version and had to deal with speech not always matching the lip movement. It was a mild irritation, but irritation nontheless. And how are you to find Fanny, if you cannot find a gripping plotline? Truth is that I had looked forward to Finding Fanny with great expectations. I loved the trailers and promos, it had a wonderful star cast and sometimes you just have a good feeling about projects that are coming your way.

Unfortunately the expectations are not exactly met, though the movie manages to stand out of the crowd. It is very quirky (though not as delightfully quirky as Dedh Ishqiya, which too was labeled as black comedy), but lacks any wit. It deals with the bizarre and the absurd which life brings, but it is not as bizarre and absurd as I would need it to be to feel entertained rather than depressed. Using the statement of the drunken Russian who also makes an appearance: „Fanny? It is not funny!“ However crazy the situations in Finding Fanny become, they are not stepping over the line which makes black comedy funny. Instead you feel somehow sad, pitiful, and at time mildly disgusted (speaking the cat scene here, which was ever so much worse for me as a lover of animals and cats in particular). On the plus side it only lasts hour and a half, which is just about right for the subject. Plus points to be noted for fitting music (the main melody still rings in my ears) and visuals.

Stuffed in a flaked vintage car the five protagonists are on a way to find love and discover something about themselves. A young man Savio that sometimes one has to act instead of just waiting for something to happen. Beautiful Angie that not all stories have happy endings, but one must carry on. Elderly seductive siren Rosie that hollow pride combined with flattery may result in something very shameful. Adorable Ferdie that even the girl he once had loved did age. And art-obsessed Don Pedro that it may not be the best idea to get into a car with these other four, unless you wanna end up with an accidental bullet in your head and forever missing on the bottom of the sea. Many scenes are so very human one feels the acute embarasement at witnessing them, as an intruder in something that is not your business. I just cannot decide whether that is a good or a bad thing.

What saves Finding Fanny are ultimately very good performances from the whole cast. The young ones - Arjun and Deepika, do not go through many mood changes, and hold steadily and naturally against the elder three, who are acting masters in their own right. My favourite was definitely Naseeruddin Shah. Compare his Ferdie, who cries and howls without shame when sad, who is as soft and gentle as a child, to his Dedh Ishqiya character, who could boast of immense charm, but also vanity, cunningness and sneekiness - though the face remains the same, the two are so distinctly different I just felt in awe of Mr. Shah yet again.

I am glad Finding Fanny exists. It is different and not bad. Just not great either.  

Ishaqzaade

Directed by: Habib Faisal

Starring: Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Gauhar Khan

Released: 2012

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

There is new star kid on the block, or rather a producer kid, since we are talking about Arjun Kapoor. And here´s hoping he´s going to take after uncle Anil rather than uncle Sanjay. In his debut, proudly presented by the Yashraj production house, Arjun and Parineeti Chopra, who has so impressed one and all in her small role in very blah Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl last year, set out to burn the world with their own take on Romeo and Juliet, and to make the emnity between their families even more intense, it´s not just them being political rivals that raises the hatred, but also the difference of religion.

Parma (Arjun) is a Hindu. A grandson of an influential politician. A local macho guy. And an ass. Cannot blame him really, after all it seems only his mother has some brains, otherwise his whole family is full of pride and think they are the most clever and awesome bunch of people all around. Zoya is a Muslim. A daughter of an influential politician. A local feisty beauty. And an idiot. Her family seems definitely less stupid than Parma´s, but they still have enough of the very same pride and again are convinced they are the most clever and awesome bunch of people all around. And since election is coming, the ever present war between the two families is anything but imaginary. Zoya can somehow cope with Parma stealing a prostitute dancing at her father´s party to dance at his grandfather´s party, but looses control once he publicly relieves himself at a poster of her dad. She stands up to him. He falls in love with her.

Or so it would seem. Why else would he follow her everywhere, asking her to go out with him? Why else would he dare to come to her yard and bear the merciless beating from her brothers? She charmed him, he claims and stares at her with his dark eyes. And she, slowly, accepts. And too falls in love. Instead of running around the trees they are learning to shoot a gun, instead of a saree floating in a gentle breeze Zoya takes shower with her clothes on while the beautiful “Pareshaan” plays in the background. Finally Parma proposes to her and after bit of a convincing Zoya agrees and in secret marries Parma according to both Muslim and Hindu rite. And according to human rite too (aka they have sex if you didn´t get that). No sooner Parma rolls off of her and the most disgusting twist ever takes place. There was no marriage, Parma says. The priest was a paid actor. He did all this to get Zoya into bed. Unmarried Muslim girl looses her virginity to a Hindu guy, who is her family´s enemy. And Parma makes sure the news is known to one and all. Zoya´s father looses election. And Zoya herself swears revenge.

"I screwed your life. LOL."

I must say that though the film kept me entertained well enough I couldn´t help but feeling something was just so so wrong. The sexism (because it is soaked with it)? Perhaps. The twist? So bloody disturbing (and disgusting as I have already mentioned)! Also the characters were rather confusing and without development jumped from one avatar to another, without explanations. And while I could possibly accept Parma´s change of heart, Zoya´s falling for him AFTER the interval remains absolutely unacceptable to me even now. There are things you do not forgive, and I can´t see why you should be proving your love for the bastard by running away with him. What Parma does to Zoya is unimaginably cruel, way more terrible than for example being unfaithful. The two of them getting together just didn´t seem like the right thing to happen, but happen it did and one had to accept it. I don´t know if complaining that the characters were stupid is in place though. Because for all the silliness and lack of logic they seemed real enough. A horrid thought of today´s youth being actually like this has been haunting me ever since. Or perhaps a confident debut by Arjun and natural performance by Parineeti make it seem so convincing? 

The ending of the film makes sense, yet it is nonsense (and am I making sense here? Huh?). Firstly – why would a girl, who knows her father is ready to kill her, go back home? Secondly – why would their families organize a massive hunt throughout a city and then a school building to kill them? You already had a scandal and you think killing your own kids will improve your image? And finally – you couldn´t find a more painful spot in his body to shoot into, right, Zoya? Who shoots their loved one in a way they suffer for long??? All in all the finale seemed half baked. As if the writers got tired of it all, of the story, of Zoya and Parma and their love.