Apparently the words of actors in India not only carry an enormous amount of weight, but they can also throw an industry off as well. I watched the film Fanna last night, which is the latest Bollywood mega movie from the YashRaj camp. Though the film itself is far from controversial it seems some choice words from the film's star Aamir Khan have prevented some multiplexes in India from screening the film.

Heres my take on the film, not the controversy:

Like most YashRaj films the songs will keep you entertained. When you start to wonder about small holes in the story you will be easily side tracked by the charm and charisma from both Aamir and Kajol. Watching Kajol on the big screen reminded me of a time when Bollywood films were less about half naked MTV dance numbers and more about those slight facial expressions that would imply so much emotion.

As a story the film has 2 very distinct chapters. It is almost as if we watch a deep love story in the first half and a tale of patriotic pride in the next. Both of these stars have played similar characters in the past but the chemistry here is fantastic.

The film does drag through some very predictable parts and at least 30 mins of this movie could have been cut with out anyone noticing. Also there is an extremely under used character played by Tabu, whose talent is completely wasted with her role.

Fanna will keep most bollywood fans satisfied as it delivers with good music and touches on the right heart strings. However, in the land of Raang De Basanti and Black, Fanna fails to pack an original punch and suffers due to its predictability.



Mohit Rajhans is the Co-Founder of Filmi South Asian Film Festival and is a film reviewer for Omni TV, Flow 93.5 and UMM Magazine.