Five's Company
Film: Finding
Fanny (Engish version)
Cast: Deepika
Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Nasseruddin Shah
Directed by:
Homi Adajania
Duration: 1
hr 42 mins
Rating: * * *
First things first, even though the film has conventional actors, Finding Fanny on almost all counts, it is diametrically opposite to the mainstream Bollywood films that are released. To be clear, this film was shot in English and dubbed in Hindi subsequently.
Clocking well under two hours, it is crisp, funny, and quirky and gives a lot to cheer about. The basic plot itself doesn’t have a great deal to harp about but it is the ancillaries that lift the film and the devil still lies in the detail.
After an impressive debut with Being Cyrus, Adjania disappointed with Cocktail which was a run of the mill Bollywood product. Thankfully, he is back to where he belongs, on the road less traveled.
Set in a fictitious and idyllic village in Goa called Poccolim, there are five central characters in this story. Angie (Deepika Padukone) a widow lives with her mother-in-law (Dimple Kapadia), a bossy woman who is also the first lady of the village. Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapur) is a painter and a man with apparently good tastes who has moved to this village and his eyes are firmly on Rosy. Arjun Kapoor plays Savio, another gent who has returned to his land after a break. Once upon a time, he almost had a thing going with Angie.
Clocking well under two hours, it is crisp, funny, and quirky and gives a lot to cheer about. The basic plot itself doesn’t have a great deal to harp about but it is the ancillaries that lift the film and the devil still lies in the detail.
After an impressive debut with Being Cyrus, Adjania disappointed with Cocktail which was a run of the mill Bollywood product. Thankfully, he is back to where he belongs, on the road less traveled.
Set in a fictitious and idyllic village in Goa called Poccolim, there are five central characters in this story. Angie (Deepika Padukone) a widow lives with her mother-in-law (Dimple Kapadia), a bossy woman who is also the first lady of the village. Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapur) is a painter and a man with apparently good tastes who has moved to this village and his eyes are firmly on Rosy. Arjun Kapoor plays Savio, another gent who has returned to his land after a break. Once upon a time, he almost had a thing going with Angie.
That leaves us with Ferdie (Nasseruddin Shah) who had professed his love to Fanny almost half a century ago via snail mail but discovers that the letter never reached her. Together they all set off on a trip to find Fanny.
They have another companion with them and that is Rosy’s beloved cat and the episode involving the feline provides a few laughs (Wes Anderson's recent masterpiece The Grand Budapest Hotel also involves a cat who suffers a somewhat similar fate)
It’s not just Ferdie who is looking for something or someone. Angie at some point realizes that she is in love with Savio and even though he reciprocates, he can’t spell it out. Don Pedro constantly remains in hot pursuit of Rosie, only she appears to be the one who is unattached but that is because of her past.
The film is sprinkled with humor and some clever lines which keep it going but the screenplay hits a few roadblocks particularly in the latter half when it becomes a road movie. There is not much of an attempt there to push the envelope and you can’t read too much in the characters or their motives.
But there are far more positives than grievances – the film is gorgeously shot by Anil Mehta and the interiors of Goa have never looked better on screen.
Interestingly, there are no landmarks of Goa in the film (which otherwise is the norm) and most of it is in the countryside. I also particularly liked the way they have largely used mid shots and close ups in the first half and yet made it look so beautiful and appropriately convey the flavor of the village.
The background score which was very apt and the quirkiness of the characters is reminiscent of those Eastern European films, Kusturica’s Black Cat White Cat would be one. In what seems like a continuity error there is a scene involving blue can white can.
The actors also help to elevate the film – Dimple Kapadia as Rosy is superb, note the scene how her expressions change in those few shots after she sees what Don Pedro has painted her as. Nasseruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur are too good to let such roles go waste. Arjun Kapoor fits the bill and Deepika adds yet another feather to her cap, as Angie she sparkles.
All in all, Finding Fanny offers something you don’t get to see often in the weekly Friday releases.
They have another companion with them and that is Rosy’s beloved cat and the episode involving the feline provides a few laughs (Wes Anderson's recent masterpiece The Grand Budapest Hotel also involves a cat who suffers a somewhat similar fate)
It’s not just Ferdie who is looking for something or someone. Angie at some point realizes that she is in love with Savio and even though he reciprocates, he can’t spell it out. Don Pedro constantly remains in hot pursuit of Rosie, only she appears to be the one who is unattached but that is because of her past.
The film is sprinkled with humor and some clever lines which keep it going but the screenplay hits a few roadblocks particularly in the latter half when it becomes a road movie. There is not much of an attempt there to push the envelope and you can’t read too much in the characters or their motives.
But there are far more positives than grievances – the film is gorgeously shot by Anil Mehta and the interiors of Goa have never looked better on screen.
Interestingly, there are no landmarks of Goa in the film (which otherwise is the norm) and most of it is in the countryside. I also particularly liked the way they have largely used mid shots and close ups in the first half and yet made it look so beautiful and appropriately convey the flavor of the village.
The background score which was very apt and the quirkiness of the characters is reminiscent of those Eastern European films, Kusturica’s Black Cat White Cat would be one. In what seems like a continuity error there is a scene involving blue can white can.
The actors also help to elevate the film – Dimple Kapadia as Rosy is superb, note the scene how her expressions change in those few shots after she sees what Don Pedro has painted her as. Nasseruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur are too good to let such roles go waste. Arjun Kapoor fits the bill and Deepika adds yet another feather to her cap, as Angie she sparkles.
All in all, Finding Fanny offers something you don’t get to see often in the weekly Friday releases.
Published in The Navhind Times on 14th Sept 2014
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