Release
date:
|
February 8, 2019
|
Director:
|
Anand
Surapur
|
Cast:
Language:
|
Farhan Akhtar,
Annu Kapoor, Kamal Sidhu
Hindi
|
Adi Contractor is a
con man who makes his money playing along with Western stereotypes of India. He
is the guy you turn to if you are a foreigner who wants “tedi unglee jobs” done in this country. A supply of elephants, a
group of beggars – he will arrange them all for you. So when he is asked to
find a fakir with the ability to survive burying his head in the ground for
hours, he agrees.
After a fruitless
search in Varanasi, Adi finds his ‘holy man’ in
his home city Mumbai. Sattar Ali is nothing but a cash cow for Adi, but when
the poor man is put up as an exhibit in an art gallery in Venice, you know of
course that at some point the hero’s apathy will turn to something else.
Based on a story by
Homi Adajania (who we now know as the director of Being Cyrus, Cocktail and
Finding Fanny), The Fakir of Venice has been stalled for a decade. It had a
festival premiere 10 years back, but has come to mainstream Indian theatres
only this week. The delay is not its only problem. Although at a concept level
it is an interesting reversal of the
white-man-finds-enlightenment-in-exotic-lands trope, and although there is
initially some humour in Adi’s shenanigans, the screenplay is too predictable
and superficial to make this a memorable experience.
Director Anand
Surapur opts for a naturalistic storytelling style, which can be appealing when
complemented by substantial writing. In the absence of depth though, it
translates into lack of energy.
Adi is played by
Farhan Akhtar. In The Fakir of Venice,
he is the exact combination that has made him a star via other films:
charismatic enough for his acting limitations to be overshadowed by his
attractiveness. Annu Kapoor manages to eke out moments of sensitivity in the
wafer-thin writing of Sattar Ali. You want to feel more for him though, but
there is just not enough of Sattar beyond a sketchy outline and the actor’s
investment in the character.
Former Channel V veejay Kamal Sidhu has a
fleeting role as Adi’s ex-girlfriend but is given short shrift as much as
everything else in the film.
In terms of
visuals, The Fakir of Venice is
pretty, but it fails to fully exploit its setting, considering that Venice is
one of the world’s most beautiful locations.
Everything in the
film feels half-hearted. Neither Farhan Akhtar’s charm nor Annu Kapoor’s
commitment can save this semi-baked effort. To be fair to it, it is not
excruciating or insufferable, it is simply immensely forgettable.
Rating (out
of five stars): *
CBFC Rating (India):
|
UA
|
Running time:
|
98 minutes
|
This review has also
been published on Firstpost:
Poster
courtesy:
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