FINDING FANNY Reviews & Box-Office thread - Page 10

Finding Fanny: Opening Day Occupancy Report

Finding Fanny - Movie Review

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor; Director: Homi Adajania; Rating: ***1/2 (3 and half stars)

A few things in life U cannot let pass.. This week make that date with "Finding Fanny" by @homiadajania You will find a bit of you in it

Rating: 4/5 Star (Four stars)

Star Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Kapur

Director: Homi Adajania

What's Good: Performances, Cinematography and the novelistic approach of the narrative.

What's Bad: It's a loopy plot that invests too little on its story. But does that perturb? Not one bit.

Loo break: None

Watch or Not?: It is not often that I can recommend a film with this confidence. Finding Fanny was an exhilarating film that is consistently enjoyable. From the first scene to the last, my smile stayed. Full of unexpected moments, filled with cheeky delight and a bold approach, this isn't the kind of film you'll get very frequently. Everyone will certainly have something to take back from this film. For some, it is hassle free breezy entertainment and for me, it was a lesson in what Homi's muse Gabriel Garcia Marquez puts well, "There is always something left to love."

User Rating:

Set in the village of Pocouli, that the map doesn't mention either, the way of life and it's pace is as you wish for. Angie, a young widow lives with her mother in law Rosie who is often referred to as the first lady of the village. Angie's best friend Freddie is the local post master who gets the undelivered letter he had once posted to hos lady love, Stephanie Fernandez proposing marriage to her. The letter never reached her and is back in his hands 46 years later. Angie convinces him to go meet her and find out what she would have said had she received it.Angie, and a bunch of oddballs set out on a journey to find Fanny for him and end up discovering their own selves, their desires and their love!

Finding Fanny Review: Script Analysis

The script isn't a work of genius I admit and so are the caricaturish characters in the film. But they are unpredictable and plotted to care and love. That's what works. More than anyone it is Don Pedro who has a certain affinity towards large women who work as his muse. A self proclaimed lover of the body, he isn't exactly what a pervert stands for. The scene where he is finished with painting Dimple is what explains the character of the man with such honesty.

The best thing about the script is its simplicity. It is a layered film and one will prefer to understand it from their own perspective. I particularly felt a certain empathy with Deepika; I did get her. When in the film, she tells Arjun that if she could smoke and roll away into slumber after sex, she would be the one doing that. And in another when exasperated with Don, she curses him aloud. It is at no level a comedy at all. Despite its light moments, the film has a heavy story to tell if you are willing to look beyond and notice it's subtleties. It's never on the face but you journey towards it as the story progresses.

The broken English dialogues rather kept me more entertained. Don't scream you will scare the robber away' exclaims Dimple in a scene or in the amusing words of Don Pedro when he blurts out, It's difficult to overcome the fear of the Dark especially in the day. To much light my dear!' The lines have their own unconventional charm to keep you engaged. And as for the story, it says more when it tries to little. That is the beauty of it.

Finding Fanny Review: Star Performances

Deepika Padukone is so brilliant in her role as Angie. She is probably the one with whom I bonded instantly. Her fluidity with her craft is memorable. It definitely enables her to create an instant liking for her charcater and she brings Angie to life like no one else could have.

Arjun Kapoor matches up the caliber of his team with his own unique enthusiasm. He is fascinating to watch and the metaphorical use of the kid who shows him the middle finger everytime he passes by, helps get a better view of his role. Kapoor is pitch perfect with his angst and innocence and both in equal measures.

Nasseruddin Shah is an institution of brilliance. And yet again, he proves that he knows how to mould himself as per his films. Known as the Romeo of Pocouli, he is endearing and does so with perfection.

Pankaj Kapur with enthrall you with his brilliance. He gives Don Pedro, his own eccentricities probably. How else will explain the ease in his shades of playing him. It's marvellous to watch him always and I can safely say Pedro would have lost meaning without.

Dimple Kapadia is exemplary. Kapadia plays Rosie with her stern demeanor and yet in the pre climax scene where she vents out at Arjun, after being used by Pedro, she delves a real flair to it. She knows how to make her roles crackle and Rosie is just another example of her versatile caliber.

Finding Fanny Review: Direction, Editing and Screenplay

And afterall, it is how Homi treats his story. It is smooth, Heady, subtle, sublime, all rolled in one package. Shot brilliantly, the trick of the film is in its engrossing storytelling. At no point will you get bored, at no point will your smile vanish. Though I had my own issues with the climax, I had my share of laugh when Nasseruddin Shah finally gets a glimpse of his lost Fanny. The anti climax and the monologue are all Adajania props, I don't quite enjoy but hell, when the man gives us a film this heartfelt, it's hard to complain. As told earlier it isn't a plot derived film, but when Adajania juxtaposes a lecherous Don with the simplicity of Fernando, he says a lot without wasting many words on it.

Technically the film is very sound. It is well shot, and we'll executed with a pleasant Goan background score and smooth music to give the audience company.

Finding Fanny Review: The Last Word

Finding Fanny isn't much about quirk as much as it is about discoveries and revelations. Despite the ending being on the disappointing side and the threadbare plot, it is the magnificent Performances that creates a certain kinship with its audiences. It doesn't play on the stereotype and is neither some path breaking film but I came out with a good experiences, a few well intended laughs and some wonderful Performances. Don't miss this. If you have the patience to unravel a treasure, Finding Fanny has one in hold for you. I am going with 4 stars.

When love doesn't come knocking on your door, you go knock on its door. Out of all the valuable lessons that Finding Fanny teaches you, this one is worth taking home! Finding Fanny is the story of Angie,

(Deepika Padukone) the widow of Garbo (Ranveer Singh) who stays with her mother-in-law Rosie Eucharistica (Dimple), another widow. Angie believes that no one deserves an incomplete love story, so she sets out on a road trip with her mother-in-law, her friend Savio (Arjun Kapoor), the famous painter Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapoor) and Freddi (Naseeruddin Shah) to help find Freddi's long lost love, Stephanie Fernandes.

The first half of the movie is entertaining and two things won't escape your notice. The first being how hot Deepika Padukone is looking and the second, how beautiful Goa is! The cinematography is nothing short of brilliant! Even though, from the look of its trailer, Finding Fanny seems to be a comedy, it's not just that, it's a lot more.

The second half of the movie seems to go by a lot faster than the first half and is filled with some very unexpected turn of events that leave you shocked and amused at the same time! The movie inspires you to act and seek out whatever it is that you want, instead of waiting for it to come by. By the end of the movie, you'll manage to smile through your tears.

Whether you like this movie or not depends hugely on your taste. If you have been a lover of commercial cinema like Main Tera Hero, Om Shanti Om and Kick, Finding Fanny might not interest you that much. But if you have a taste for diverse cinema, Finding Fanny is the right pick for your palette.

All actors have done a good job, especially Dimple Kapadia who will have you in splits quite a few times during the movie. Arjun Kapoor and Deepika Padukone's chemistry didn't quite work for me, but separately they seem to have such a hot screen presence that that makes up for the loss of the sizzle.

Movie review 'Finding Fanny': The most refreshing and delightful film of recent times

Director: Homi Adjania

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

Rating: 3 and a 1/2 stars

Set in a picturesque and fictional town called Pocolim, Finding Fanny traces the journey of five peculiar and endearing Goans on their quest to " as the name suggests " find Fanny. While the primary purpose of the road trip is to track down Ferdinand's (Naseeruddin) long-lost love Stephanie Fernandes or as he likes to call her Fanny, there are other incentives that lure the rest of the entourage which includes a picture-perfect girl-next-door Angie (Deepika) who lost her husband five minutes into the marriage, her well-rounded (pun totally intended) mother-in-law Roslyn played by Dimple, a passionate painter constantly in search of a female muse, Pedro (Pankaj) and a morose young man, Savio (Arjun). Hence, five characters that would have otherwise never found themselves voluntarily under the same roof are cramped into a vintage and rickety sedan.

It all starts when Ferdie finds at his doorstep, a letter that he'd written to Fanny 46 years ago, asking her hand in marriage - a letter that never reached her despite the fact that the one writing it was a post master. Stung by the irony of the situation and unwilling to spend the rest of his life brooding over the loss that never was, he sets off on a quest to find his love with much nudging from his neighbour and well-wisher Angie. What follows is a deceptively funny and effortlessly insightful journey through a scenic Goan landscape. At this point you feel that the film may have borrowed content from Letters To Juliet, but a few minutes into the film and you realize that apart from the very basic plot, the film bears no resemblance to the Hollywood romcom whatsoever.

Once on the road, the five laugh, squabble and make-up before getting back to the routine. The ride, as bumpy as it may have been, brings them closer to each other and themselves. Like most road trip films, this one too is a journey to self-discovery " one that explores the latent desires of those who take it, while underlining the idea that it is the journey that matters, not the destination. Not once though, does the tone seem sermonizing. Laced with racy humour and witticisms, the film delivers some introspective thoughts almost like a sneaky mom who slips in veggies in fun food when no one's watching. The film has some dark and dramatic moments, but Adjania gives you no time to mull over them, bringing in a comical or satirical twist almost in the next shot and turning the mood right on its head.

The film has many endearing and honest exchanges that bring a smile and invoke a chuckle every now and then. And when these are delivered by the likes of Nasseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur, there's little that can go wrong. Naseer's enthusiasm as he prepares to greet Fanny may convince the viewer that he is in fact, a 16-year-old boy on his way to pick up his prom date. Pankaj, exhibiting the eccentricities of a painter possessed by his muse has some of the best dialogues as he tries to entice Roslyn " like when he dares her dead husband to watch him charm her " "After all, why should he be the only one getting a taste of heaven," he says.

Dimple too, in keeping with the Goan stereotype plays a woman with a zest for life, pet cats, frilly skirts and brandy. However, she does not overestimate her appetite for alcohol because as she says, it affects her legs, causing them to spread apart. Deepika successfully brings out an almost maternal side while tending to her man-child of a neighbour, Ferdie. Arjun Kapoor too delivers well as a brooding young man who leaves no opportunity to take a sharp jibe at Roslyn. Three other characters include Roslyn's pet cat, a fierce feline that plays an important metaphor in the film, a Russian hippie who acts as a catalyst for the search and a church priest who seems content with the stagnancy of life in a little hamlet.