Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan attempts an insightful look into the passionate relationship that exists between fans and superstars in India. Unfortunately, that attempt does not succeed, says Deepti Rai.
We walked into the theatre expecting a half decent movie to entertain us on a hot Wednesday afternoon. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement.
The movie begins promisingly, with brilliant acting by Shah Rukh Khan as Gaurav Chandna, a simpleton who is a devoted fan of Aryan Khanna, the reigning superstar. I have to mention here that the double role is impressive; kudos to SRK for pulling it off.
The loopholes in the movie could be excused if the movie was any good.
The dialogues were woeful; it was like two people who hadn't heard of a Thesaurus talking (rather, fighting) about completely redundant topics.
Let's take a minute to talk about Gaurav’s love interest... Was it Neha? Or was it Aryan? I definitely thought it was the latter.
Here's the thing, the parents (and literally everyone who knew Gaurav) should've realised that his love for Aryan was bordering on (if not actually crossing over to being) obsessively creepy.
So this became another movie that glamorised obsessiveness and the characteristics of a stalker. Frankly, that needs to stop.
Did I mention that the movie was also highly unrealistic? I'm not even going to bother going into details. And the action sequences? Pathetic. They were repetitive and unnecessarily extended.
The deplorable characters were a major letdown; they were written so badly (I'm completely disregarding the fact that one was a semi-villain and the other, semi-fictional).
There was a lot of grey in all the characters which would've been okay if they were at least somewhat likeable. I couldn't form an emotional attachment to any character. I felt detached throughout the movie and that's never a good thing.
This movie also portrays the fans as inhuman, little realising it is the fans who make the star. Fan portrays them as desperate creeps rather than people who genuinely appreciate an artiste for what they do or who they are (or appear to be).
As a huge SRK fangirl, I find that pretty insulting.
Finally, a movie that had brilliant acting by SRK, amazing cinematography by Manu Anand and no songs were a welcome change. However, the terrible plot and feeble characters made sure this movie was definitely not worth the hype.
I'd give this movie one and a half out of five stars because it had potential and just threw it away.
Deepti Rai, 17, is a fine arts student who hopes to become an artist; no, not of the SRK variety, she veers more towards M F Husain.
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The concept of giving back something to millions of fans who actually worship Shah Rukh Khan would have been a tribute to his amazing charisma, says Neha Hegde.
The movie begins with amazing acting skills by SRK as the fan Gaurav Chandna, a Delhi boy who owns a cyber cafe. He is obsessed, like many other fans, and his biggest wish is to meet the great star.
Unlike most other Bollywood movie, Fan stands out because it has no songs or dance sequences. It showcases some great acting skills -- and the star in the film, Aryan Khanna repeatedly says he is what he is because of his fans -- the film ends up insulting Shah Rukh’s fans. Sad!
I particularly felt the movie highlighted how annoying fans are! A fan can ruin a star’s life. But fans are the reason why a star becomes great.
Fan would have been so much better if it had been executed well. The unnecessary action scenes, which had no meaning and mostly don’t happen in real life, could have been avoided.
The movie also highlights the strength of a star’s money and popularity. It sends the message that if you have money, the law will help you. That’s so wrong.
Fan ends up showing the great star Aryan Khanna as the best. If you want to still worship the star after this insult, ‘Reh ne de, tu nahi samjega!’
All said, I would give two stars out of five only for SRK’s amazing acting skills and for those people who love action sequences even if the story is disappointing.
Neha Hegde, 16, is a science student planning a career as a high-flying corporate lawyer.
