Fanney Khan, written and directed by debutant, Atul Manjrekar is an official remake of the Oscar-nominated Dutch film Everybody’s Famous. The film showcases the journey of Prashant Sharma aka Fanney Khan, a common man with extraordinary dreams. A man who may not have been able to become the singing sensation that he wanted to but is determined to make the world see how talented his daughter, Lata is.
Prashant is a hardworking man who works in a factory and there are many reasons for him to give up on his passion but only one hope that keeps him going – his dream. Even after losing his job, he is ready to do anything that will bring his daughter, Lata closer to achieving her passion. Lata played by Pihu Sand is talented but lacks opportunities as she is shown to be body-shamed and her talents questioned. Being her father, Fanney refuses to accept his daughter’s destiny from being sold short and thus goes out of his way and character to make it happen. He pulls in his friend, Adheer portrayed by Rajkumar Rao to be his literal partner-in-crime as he kidnaps superstar, Baby Singh essayed by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
The star cast is the best part about the film. Anil outdoes himself as the common man brought down by the hardships he faces in life and the risks he is willing to take to overcome them. Rajkummar is his usual confident self in front of the camera and slips into his adorable character with ease. Kapoor and Rao form a rather interesting duo and the camaraderie between them in endearing. Aishwarya Rai also holds the viewer’s attention with her confident character and even though she is in holding, the actress holds her own around the obviously inexperienced kidnappers. Her unconventional pairing with Rajkummar is rather appealing and his fanboy characteristics make him even more likeable. Divya Dutta does well in her scenes and makes you wish we saw more of her on the screen. In fact, the entire lead cast makes you feel that way.
But, you can’t deny that the pace of the film is slow throughout and even though the star-cast delivers a great performance the graph of the story doesn’t match up to it. The climax has an added dose of melodrama that could be avoided and it leaves you wishing that the end was more thought through. The good thing is that it touches the right chords with the audience with its emotional moments. If you have no other plans for the weekend go watch this film for its feel-good moments and the amazing job done by Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao.