Fanney Khan

Can easily be nominated as the worst movie of the year

Fanney Khan, a film by debutant Atul Manjrekar, generates mixed emotions. Similar to the distorted spelling in the title, the screenplay seems distorted at places due to not-so-believable plots with less of logic in place; but one can certainly connect with the film. One can give the benefit of doubt to the film for its genre being comedy. The film Fanney Khan represents lot of such people, who dare to see dreams but find them unfulfilled as well. Then they see the same dream through their children. There is nothing wrong in this, but the desperation to achieve the same may prompt them to cause some blunders. There are also scenes of body shaming. One vital question which is raised in the film is whether it is necessary to be star? In spite of having a great cast, the film fails to create the impact it could have made. The film begins with the narration by Rajkummar Rao who explains about Fanney Khan, a person with whom everybody enjoys. The Titular character is played by Anil Kapoor, who is Prashant Sharma aka Fanney Khan. He is an artist by passion but had to join a factory for his job. Divya Dutta enacts the role of Kavita Sharma, Fanney Khan's wife. She is shown to be a simple lady. Adhir, a younger colleague of Fanney Khan, is played by Rajkummar Rao. Fanney Khan is determined to make her daughter Lata (Pihu Sand) a known singer just like the celebrity singer Baby Singh aka Sumitra (Aishwarya Rai). The challenge with Lata is that she is obese which did result in humiliating comments from the audience, whenever she went on stage to sing and perform. Fanney Khan and Kavita act as strong support systems for their daughter. Fanney khan chooses a short cut to earn money so as to be able to get Lata's dream come true. But things go awry. Certain scenes are absolutely unexplainable. Daughter Lata's irritation with her father Fanney Khan is not at all justified. A celebrity is being kidnapped, but with occasional news clippings, no other actions are taken in this regard. Screenplay does not focus much on Lata's character. Kavita is always shown to be very understanding and tolerant, in fact, this character is also not well explored. Aishwarya and Rajkummar are looking good on screen together but their chemistry was explored very little in the film. Pihu does justice to her role as Lata. Girish Kulkarni as Baby Singh's manager excels, but again he had not much to do. The film is supposed to be based on music, but except the climax song 'Tere Jaisa Tu Hai.......' the other songs don't leave much impact. There is another song with the names of a few of the famous films, it seemed interesting. Fanney Khan, a film by debutant Atul Manjrekar, generates mixed emotions. Similar to the distorted spelling in the title, the screenplay seems distorted at places due to not-so-believable plots with less of logic in place; but one can certainly connect with the film. One can give the benefit of doubt to the film for its genre being comedy. In spite of having a great cast, the film fails to create the impact it could have made. Still, one can watch the film.

He couldn't become Mohammad Rafi, but harbours a dream of his daughter becoming Lata Mangeshkar. Prashant Sharma (Anil Kapoor) popularly known as Fanney Khan among his gulley friends, works hard to make ends meet, idolises Shammi Kapoor and lives only for his dream of superstardom. Now in her teens, Lata not only sings well but also dances like a dream despite her plus size that regularly makes her an object of body shaming on stage. Anil Kapoor hits all the right notes as a beleaguered father, who is often reprimanded by his own child for being so unflinchingly dedicated in his mission to see her succeed. This even as his wife Kavita (Divya Dutta) continues to be his empathetic voice of reason. As a debutante, Pihu Sand captures the vulnerability of her character, but one never understands her constant grouse against her father. As the hotshot singer Baby Singh, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looks befittingly gorgeous, but her storyline is etched without much effort or logic. The talented Rajkummar Rao as Prashant's trusted friend Adhir, shows his usual flair within a limited scope. While Rajkummar's chemistry with Aishwarya seems forced, his comic timing comes to the rescue. Film's narrative goes slightly out of tune in second half. For example, there is no real backstory for Baby Singh and the only person in her life is a creepy manager, who wants her to stage a wardrobe malfunction for a reality show. While the second half is long and laborious, earnest performances keep the boat afloat. For a musical, Fanney Khan's soundtrack doesn't live up fully except the Achche Din song which is pleasant and the finale song that exudes energy. Overall, 'Fanney Khan' is a star studded musical that starts on a high note and has its moments of glory. It shows how parents live their dreams through children. However, the showstopper is clearly Anil Kapoor with a knockout performance that makes 'Fanney Khan' worth a watch.

First time I felt reviewers killed the movie. Good performances especially by Anil,Aish and Rakumar also by Pihu. Songs are good too

I don't know if I should take Atul Manjrekar's Fanney Khan seriously or lightly. On one hand it shows the struggle of a man (Anil Kapoor) who wants his daughter to be a star singer while on the other it resorts to screwball comedy to make me laugh. These two shades of this comedy drama hardly blend, while also giving me withdrawal symptoms. A lack of logic in the plot - starting from the point where the man kidnaps a famous singer (Aishwarya Rai) to the climax - pushes Fanney Khan into a territory that can be best defined as contrived storytelling. Everything is easy for director Manjrekar's characters, and thanks to some brilliant performances by Kapoor, Divya Dutta, and Girish Kulkarni, it feels effortless. I am also not sure what the non-righteous climax is trying to convey - is it okay to be bad when you are fighting for a good cause? Is it okay to break the law and put someone's life in danger just because you are a naive, old man passionate about your daughter's future? Ridiculous as it seems, Fanney Khan ends like a fairytale without even shedding light into what happened to some of the characters. The only thing that it gets right is criticizing the notion that stardom is usually a product of luck and compromise, as it poses as a question in front of the man's daughter (Pihu Sand) several times, yet Rai's character sabotages it in one scene by taking a defensive when the man asks her the same question. Director Manjrekar is ahead of himself, in trying to compete with Advait Chandan's Secret Superstar (2017), in trying to show the dark world and politics of the music industry, in fighting taboos related to body shapes and stardom, yet the container he uses to serve his dish made me look at my family members and shrug. No, really. There's a scene sometime in the 15th minute where Kapoor's character mimics to an instrumental in front of his wife and daughter. It's a great screwball moment, inducing no laughter, but that's exactly when I turned to my mum and dad and we all shrugged referring to the dull madness that is happening on screen. Don't waste your time. TN.

Flop boring plot. It seems like a movie from 80s or 90s. Don't waste your time and money. Aishwarya Rai can't act and she doesn't look pretty now.

Everything about this movie was dull apart from Anil & Divya , as always they shine when it comes to performance . Apart from them Ash , Raj Kumar were bad .

A good movie to enjoy with family, not the best, but good.

Little baby doll was awesome and I love the dialog "big fan" and it was overall an awesome movie... every-time I was not able to guess... the next scene... true father and daughter love... this fanney khan movie is having soul... and I love it ... It's the best movie.... I love itttttttttttttttttttttttttt.... everybody must watch it.. .IDK why people are not passing their positive feedback... they should watch it twice... hnnh.