Last Sunday, finally the 10 day wait was over. I entered Movietime theater in Goregoan to witness the most anticipated biggie in Bollywood... of course, the all start cast behind the movie needs no introduction.. yash raj films, kunal kohli at the helm, performers like aamir, kajol (not to mention rishi kapoor, tabu and kiron kher).. all coming together to present what was supposed to a product par excellence..
But of course, just as the world XI were thrashed by the aussies, this assortment of stalwarts fails to deliver. And why, you may ask ???? Because the biggest star of them all was missing...yes, it lacked a strong and gripping narrative. While the basic storyline of a terrorist falling in love with a blind girl is interesting enough, this could not simply be stretched to 2.45 hrs. So you had a movie, which, apart from 10 minutes on either side of the interval and 15 minutes at the end, is just like hundreds of love stories you have seen.
And quite a few cinematic liberties are taken. Both the leading pair's characters are unreal. I cannot imagine how a blind girl, coming from a small town in Kashmir to a big bad metro, can fall so badly love with a tourist guide (who incidentally, quotes shayaari's with such elan that even javed akhtar would struggle) that she can actually sleep with him in 7 days flat !!!!!.. I mean, are not people (especially those who cannot see) supposed to be more cautious in dealing with the outside world ??
And the leading man is supposed to be this ruthless hitman out to execute a diabolical plan to terrorize the world. so how can he fall in love with a simple, though beautiful (kajol does look divine) girl not once, but TWICE ?????? And in any case, how many real life stories do you hear of hardened criminals giving up crime for love ????? Simply beats me... anyway this fall-in-love-again love story takes up more than 2 hours of screentime.. no wonder I was yawning with my mouth so wide open that it hurt :)..
To cut a long story short, Fanaaahhh was a disappointment... two good things abt it ??? One is Kajol of course. she looks beautiful and acts as only she can.. And the other is a delightful little cameo from, no noo not lara dutta or shiney ahuja or tabu, one of my all-time favourite hindi hits.. 'Lag Jaa Gale ke phir ye hasi raat ho na ho, shaayad phir is janam main mulaqat ho na ho'.. Quite superb, the song, not the movie.. :)