Movie Review of Finding Fanny

Welcome to Pocolim, where life moves with the speed you desire.

Just like the fictional Goan village which is this movie’s setting, everything about Homi Adajania’s Finding Fanny is slightly uncanny. At the onset of the movie, we’re introduced to the five main characters: Angie (Deepika Padukone) who became a widow on her wedding day, her feisty mother-in-law Rosie (Dimple Kapadia), the village’s old postmaster Ferdy (Naseeruddin Shah), the so-called internationally famous artist and sardonic Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapur) and Angie’s grim ex-lover Savio (Arjun Kapoor).

The movie’s pace accelerates when Ferdy gets back the letter he had posted to Stephanie Fernandes a.k.a Fanny 46 years ago confessing his love, realising that Fanny never actually received his letter. An already broken-hearted Ferdy opens up to Angie and she suggests that he must go find his Fanny. And thus begins the road trip that takes these five oddballs on a very interesting quest; and as is always the case, here too the journey becomes more important than the destination.

Sprinkled with dark humour, Finding Fanny belongs to a very niche audience. It’s not crowded with spicy dance numbers or larger-than-life scenes, rather it warms your heart with subtle sarcasm and pretty relatable moments. The cast has done a tremendous job. Naseeruddin Shah’s innocent character has certain glimpses of Mr. Bean, Pankaj Kapur wins you over with his flamboyant portrayal of Don Pedro and Arjun Kapoor too plays his frustrated and knuckle-cracking sexy character to perfection. But the two actors who deserve an even bigger round of applause are the women: Deepika with her coyish charm and Dimple with her raunchiness just steal the show!

True that the pace at times becomes too banked to catch up on and the metaphoric cat seems quite macabre, but the crispiness of the story stays alive. All in all, with a combination of stellar performances, witty dialogues, breath-taking cinematography and brilliant direction, this movie manages to make a hub in your heart. I’m going with 3.5 out of 5 stars.

-          Sayantani Sarkar. 

Permanent Transience

We crib all day long, about everything under the sun.

“Gosh I’m so dark!”

“If only I was taller.”

“He doesn’t deserve her. He should be with me.”

“My parents never understand me.”

“My girlfriend nags all the time!”

“I don’t have money to buy that dress.”

“I should have been selected for that job.”

The complaints never end. What we have is never enough for us; the cravings are never satisfied.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pretending to be a judge of the human race. Trust me, I’m just the same: cynical, paranoid and restless. I doubt my ambitions, curse my peers, argue with my parents, and slip into random mood swings... Basically, I’m just another 21-year old.

But a recent event made me look at things differently. A few nights back, I got a message from one of my aunts, informing me that a very close family friend of ours had passed away. It took me around 10 minutes to comprehend the absurdity of the news. I kept reading the message over and over again, but unfortunately, the truth didn’t change. I immediately called up my dad, and he too was shocked beyond words. This uncle of mine was young, healthy and very jovial. He was one of those people who had a talent of making everyone around him smile. He was too young, and he left too early. He died in a city that was miles away from his loved ones. His family didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Did he deserve this? Does anybody deserve this? No. But that is what destiny is all about. You never get to decide, and you never get to choose. The things that we take for granted might be snatched away from us the next minute. The people we love the most might not be among us in the near future. The life that we don’t take so seriously might cease to exist. And we can’t do anything about it. Nothing at all. But the one thing that we can do is live in the moment. Carpe Diem, or seize the day, as they say it. Don’t worry what tomorrow is going to bring, just take each day as it comes. Because you know what? You can’t control Destiny. What has to happen, will happen eventually. So you might as well live your life fully instead of dwelling on petty stuff.

Tell your parents you love them. Meet up your old friends. Make some new ones too. Forgive the ones who did you wrong. Apologize to those you hurt. Go on sudden, unplanned trips. Spend time with the one you’re crazy about. Go wild. Go insane. Make memories.

Seize the day, my friends. 

Lots of love,

Creative Insanity.