I have started wearing round glasses like how John Lennon wore. I have started sending out poems to my fiance after I read how the Liverpudlian legend used to do the same for his first girlfriend. And yes, occasionally, I write some wacky poetry and imagine myself singing some blues rock on a stage with a guitar which I have still to learn. That is the part of being a typical fanboy- reveling in the glorious exploits of one's object of affection- in this case, a powerful or popular person who inspires some interest or enthusiasm either by skills, talent or sheer essence of personality.
We fans would normally revere these figures as our idols and balk at whatever infamy is showered upon them. Yet, deep inside, we would consciously shove aside all the rough edges of these people, choosing blissfully to gloss over them and instead whole-heartedly love them for their virtues.
What typical middle-class Delhi lad Gaurav Chandna does is something more far-fetched and disturbing. This sketchy boy-next-door has lived all his life trying to match his footsteps with that of his idol- Aryan Khanna, the greatest superstar of Bollywood, whom he considers as God. He may live a mundane life, running a cyber-cafe where he does not allow the visitors to surf porn, but his single triumph has been winning a tacky local talent contest every year unfailingly.
His ace in the hole is not just mimicry- it is the gushing passion with which he matches his stride, his romantic yearning and, yes, that famous posture, with the arms spread, to that of his idol.
He seems happy enough as an eternal fanboy but all he wants from Khanna is a nice, warm hug, as a big brother. Off he sets, again naively replicating the journey of the same man to the city of films, without a train ticket and aghast against all the brickbats hurled at the superstar. And in a particularly heart-wrenching moment, he cries out hoarsely the name of his screen idol when eventually granted a glimpse- his own passion drowned out the collective cry of multitudes.
It is thus, when the harsh reality of his own foolhardy devotion sets upon him that Maneesh Sharma's film adroitly switches the template.
Right from the trailers, we had been expecting 'Fan' to be somewhat on the lines of similarly plotted films in the past and the stunningly layered premise of the film takes some memorable cues from Martin Scorsese's 1983 classic 'The King Of Comedy'- Gaurav's obsession, fuelled partly by a budding romantic interest, mirrors the same of Robert De Niro's Rupert Pupkin and the film even cleverly takes a hilarious scene from the same and turns it into darkly comic in a way that I would hate to reveal. But while that film made Jerry Lewis' stern celebrity Jerry Langford as relatively innocent, when compared with the sociopathic madman stalking him, Sharma and writers Habib Faisal and Sharat Katariya do the opposite. In short, they unveil even the rough edges of Aryan himself.
'Fan' is then a unconventional film in every context. It often meshes together the genres of credible character study and Hitchcock-style thriller. While the resulting cocktail is a bit oddly put together, it is also a smart film that boasts of enough style and unexpected nuance and detail to make it all sophisticated even as conventionally entertaining.
Cinematographer Manu Anand (who has a knack for groovy texture and local flavor) shoots the conflicting worlds of Aryan and Gaurav with nuanced strokes- the soiled staircases of Gaurav's suburban colony are contrasted with Aryan's plush urban abode, while the frenetic and often slickly choreographed bursts of action portray the same symmetrical contrast- the chases hurtling from Bombay's decaying building facades to the russet-hued corrugated roofs of Dubrovnik's houses, in breathless Bond-like fashion. There is also a certain stealthy feel to the proceedings, the way the film sneaks around in corners and quick getaways, lending immediate urgency, even as the plot turns a bit pulpy. Faisal's script and Katariya's dialogue pack punch in spades though there are times when the basic template spins wildly out of control. But even as the narrative plays out the central conflict, of the admirer and admired, pretty well, there are both little but crucial quirks and spot-on digs to admire.
For his is a film which shows us a all-too-familiar public enthusiasm for mimicry- the said talent contest, for instance, has its audiences judging almost all acts modelled on famous celebrities. Mirroring such uncanny love for the make-believe replicas of stardom is a scene set in Madame Tussauds that has star-struck fans posing with statues of their favorite icons, as if that will do for fanfare. There are some ingenious digs on media sensationalism as well and this is also a film that rarely glorifies Aryan Khanna himself. Even as Gaurav might be the film's antagonist, Khanna himself has big chinks in his armor. The way he calmly lets cops to thrash his die-hard adorer and then dash all his hopes is mercurial. Then, when he gets all jittery in his despair, we see all his edges- the greying hairs, age-lines and injured ego- coming out and nailing even some improbable moments as real and impactful.
It needs a solid performance to drive it and in Shahrukh Khan, there is no question of his suitability to both the material and the bold challenge it represents. Much will be deservedly said about his portrait of Gaurav, a recklessly entertaining, compulsively loathsome performance of a well-intentioned idiot pushed over the edge and transformed into a scheming yet slippery scoundrel. The awesome makeup effects by Greg Cannom are a part of it all but Khan had always a knack for being the determined psychopath, and it is in this film in which he returns to it with full force, handing us an act of unsettling obsession. But it is also admirable to see him, as Aryan, smash many of the myths about his own real mammoth public image, both lauded and lambasted in equal measure.
'Fan' is a film that won't be easy to swallow. The odd rhythm between pulp and realism is a bit hard to enjoy fully and the last act is debatable in its effectiveness. And they could have used that fabulous 'Jabra Fan' song to make Gaurav more worthy of empathy. It is, in no way, flawless but then, like both the celebrity and his hell-bent admirer, this is a film that masks its flaws with a suicidal determination that we just don't get in movies these days. That itself makes all the fan-fear- sorry, fanfare-worthwhile.
My Rating- 4 Stars out of 5.
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