Finding Fanny
Year: 2014
Director: Homi Adajania
Cast: Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple, Pankaj Kapoor

Those of you who have seen Homi Adajania’s Being Cyrus must be familiar with his peculiar brand of dark humour. In that film, Adjania had introduced us to some quirky Parsi characters. His new movie Finding Fanny turns its attention on Goan Catholics. The film’s delightful animated song-dance promo and its stellar cast have already created a buzz. So how is the film?

What’s plot?

It is a small, non-descript town in Goa with a largely Catholic community. In this sleepy town, a few characters stand out. An old postmaster, who has never married (Naseeruddin Shah); an old widow, who has an acid tongue but is the first one to help anybody (Dimple Kapadia); her young widowed daughter-in-law, who has made peace with her loveless existence (Deepika Padukone); a surly young man, who has just returned after spending last few years in Mumbai (Arjun Kapoor) and a famous veteran painter, who has come there to find inspiration for his last masterpiece painting (Pankaj Kapoor).

The fun begins when the eternal bachelor postmaster finds out that the love-letter he posted more than 4 decades ago to his sweetheart Fanny had never reached her and that means he still has a chance to meet and marry her! Now the rest of the characters decide to help him and set out on a road-trip to find that elusive girl. Driving in a beaten up car, they begin their search but it is going to prove much more difficult than they have ever imagined. Out on the road, away from their cosy, quiet village, all these people are going to discover a lot many new things during this trip; about others and more importantly about themselves. It is a journey to find love and there are going to be many bumps on the way!

What’s hot?

·        Adjania manages to capture the idyllic Goan Catholic ambience very well. The film features his typical brand of quirky characters and dark humor.

·        The film boasts a superb cast of actors and they make the film watchable. The veterans- Nasseruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia are simply superb. Arjun Kapoor has a one-dimensional role but Deepika Padukone once again amazes with an effortless, sweet performance.

·        The music is nice.

What’s not?

·        With its subtle treatment, slow pace and rather thin storyline, Finding Fanny has very little mainstream appeal.

Verdict

Finding Fanny is obviously aimed at urban multiplex audiences wanting to sample different flavours of films. It is capably directed and wonderfully acted. It is humorous and pleasant overall. But the weak plot is its Achilles heel.

I won’t really advise you to go and watch it in a theatre but if you happen to catch it running on some TV channel after a few months, you shouldn’t miss it!

Rating

2.5 stars