Fanaa

There is a scene in Fanaa when Aamir and Kajol finally express their love and hug each other. The camera zooms out gracefully, and you sit there mesmerized as both these actors display completely contrasting emotions effortlessly, in line with their characters. They take you into their minds and share their secrets with you. That's when you realize just how good these two are. The intensity of their feelings, and the actors' ability to emote them effortlessly, just overpower you.

I went for Fanaa on a friday night at an AMC 30 near where I live. Luckily, I listened to Miss W and we reached the theater around 20 mins early and found ourselves comfortable seats. As it got close to showtime, people just kept streaming in, and very soon there was not a seat to spare. So they opened the neighboring movie hall for an unscheduled screening (it was a multiplex) to accomodate the extra crowd. I couldn't believe it. A foreign movie that has a regular 3-4 shows everyday at a suburbian theater in the Midwest is still running housefull after a week.

The movie was pretty good, without bordering on the brilliant. The first half is fast and enjoyable, with its talented cast and dialogues, great locales captured timelessly by Ravichandran's photography, and some catchy music. Its the usual stuff though - boy meets girl, boy charms girl, boy and girl fall in love and then the boy has a dark other side. We start seeing glimpses of what's in store later - patriotism/nationalism (with Aamir in the movie, can this be far behind?), love or country type of thing. By intermission, the movie has gained substantial momentum and you see a lot of potential in the storyline, and can't wait to find out how its going to span out. Unfortunately, the second half never manages to get going, and the movie itself draws to an predictable and inevitable end. I don't want to play spoilsport and discuss the story here though.

I read somewhere that the scenes involving Aamir and Kajol are too heavy, because both these actors bring a lot of intensity. I did not have a problem with this, and infact, quite enjoyed them pitting their substantial acting skills aginst each other. Kajol looks younger and more ravishing than you last saw her, and its hard to believe that she's been away for a while. She pretty much carries the movie. Aamir, on the other hand, has started showing his age, but still charms his way through romantic scenes. Apparently, the Kashmir parts of the movie were shot in Poland (because of unrest in Kashmir). Ravichandran's photography and visuals are breath-taking and linger long after you leave the theater.

The scenes when Aamir courts Kajol with his non-stop stream of Urdu Shayaris are some of the best in the movie. But then I thought to myself "These dohas/shayaris are a scam. Even I can write 2 related lines in Hindi and repeat each line twice...". So after much thought and effort, here's what I came up with:

Pyaar to hona hi tha...
Pyaaaaaaarrr (with stress) tho hona hi thaaa...
chaddi tho dhona hi tha...

(For those unfortunate souls who lack the kind of mastery that I have over Hindi/Urdu, this is how it roughly translates "Love had to happen... Underwear needed to be washed...")

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Bottomline: The movie is definitely worth a watch, especially if you are a fan of Aamir or Kajol, or like me, both. Just make sure you don't set your expectations sky-high before you go.

Disclaimer: The author refuses to assume any moral responsibility or honor any refund requests, if this post convinced you to watch the movie, and you did not end up liking it...