Finding Fanny Movie Review: Philosophy With A Hint Of Humour

If not for the presence of Deepika Padukone and Arjun Kapoor, Finding Fanny could well have qualified as a festival affair. However one has to give credit to the makers here for building such standing in the industry that they managed to rope in stars as well. Of course with actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia around, you do expect a classy treatment to the narrative. That you get as well but from the commercial standpoint, it is Deepika and Arjun walking the talk.

Their mission? Well, as was told in the promo itself, go and find Fanny (Anjali Patil) whom their village-mate Naseeruddin Shah had lost close to half a century back. It is a different matter though that Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia tag along as well with director Homi Adajania carrying an idea of bringing along some humour.

Well, in that endeavour he succeeds well too, though primarily in the first half of the film which moves fast with some good lines bringing on chuckles and occasional laughter as well. Every actor on the frame with an addition of a white cat gets an almost equal part and he/she simply seems glad to be doing something truly different indeed. So Deepika gets into a girl next door avtar with an inner sadness, Arjun brings his trademark dialogue delivery into play while showing his sadness externally, Dimple has a sadness hidden inside her, Naseer realises that he was unnecessarily sad for all these years while Kapur sees his fantasy meet a sad end.

With such a theme and characters, Homi could well have stepped into an out and out sad zone. In that sense, one has to credit him for putting together some good scenes with tongue in cheek humour. It is a different thing though that after a while the humour dries down, especially after the interval point and precisely from the moment the car breaks down. Scenes centered on drinking, making out and the painting morning after get too word heavy and serious, hence breaking the light note that had developed in the narrative so far.

Though for even those hunting for a quirky narrative there are occasional moments of sheer fun, the film does well for that segment of audience who like to see hardcore Bollywood stars in a set up like this.