Fan Hindi Movie
Have you ever sat through a film where you begin to switch sides every twenty minutes? You like the underdog and then you hate him. Empathise with the underdog and then want to punch him until her dies. And then once again breathe deep and allow the same mental pendulum to take you for a ride.
Bollywood has long suffered the curse of the second half. But this film manages to retain the tension going. Yes, the chases are a tad too long, but then in your head you have already taken sides: you are with the crazy fan running away or you are with the man who is chasing him. And it matters to you who wins that chase.
For a Bollywood mainstream film, that is unbelievable. So you saw the trailer and assumed that Shah Rukh was going the megalomaniac way, playing both the star and the fan. But how the film proves you wrong! And the only thing you can nitpick about is the slow takeoff.
Gaurav's fan club at the beginning is practically the whole audience. Some remember scrapbooking, some remember standing in the rain for buying movie tickets, others remember how they stood outside a star's home for a Sunday darshan. You love his madness but when the madness becomes threatening, you step back and watch as your jaw drops to the floor and you don't recover. The fan really becomes crazy and you start wishing he gets caught. But it doesn't happen.
Shah Rukh Khan surprises us by his bewildered superstar act as well as the crazy fan act. And it is with supreme confidence that he even laughs at himself. Who else could have allowed the dancing at weddings for money scene? It laughs at his own stardom in real life, as well as the state of his stardom on screen. You hear murmurs among the audience: 'the things he probably has to do to be rich' and also, 'why doesn't he say sorry?'
You won't be sorry you watched this film. That's for sure. It is at once mainstream, and not. It is Gaurav's story and it is yours.