Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Fan’—An Impressive Ode to Both Stardom and Fandom

The movie, which is quite strong in the first half, stumbles towards the end—but makes for an entertaining, thrilling ride.

Published: April 19, 2016 2:42 AM IST

By Saloni Gajjar

fan-review

[Photo Source: Facebook/FAN]

Shahrukh Khan delivers one of his most solid performances with Yash Raj Films’ latest offering, “Fan.” The movie, which is quite strong in the first half, stumbles towards the end—but makes for an entertaining, thrilling ride, especially because Khan mesmerizes throughout the film.

No stranger to playing double roles, whether it’s “Duplicate” or “Paheli” or “Om Shanti Om,” the dual personalities Khan has portrayed on screen in “Fan” are probably the toughest he has done.

Set in Delhi, the movie gives us a glimpse into the life of Gaurav Chandna, a small cyber café owner and lookalike of his favorite actor Aryan Khanna, whom he worships like God. He participates in his community theater event to win enough money to visit Mumbai to see his superstar on his birthday.

There is a particularly memorable scene when Chandna dances on stage to Khanna’s songs (actually Khan’s songs) playing on the big screen behind him is wonderfully shot and a lot of fun to witness. Aryan Khanna, much like Khan in real life, greets his fans from his balcony on his birthday morning. When Chandna finally gets there and isn’t able to personally meet his beloved, his crazy side starts showing up and he pulls notorious stunts to be closer to Khanna.

The first interaction between the two characters is everything the audience hopes for—intense and delightful. The movie’s complex visual effects definitely pay off in each scene the two characters are in together.

As Chandna, Khan shows his vulnerable, hurt, and maniacal side, whereas as Khanna, he displays anger and shock. As the movie progresses, Chandna takes it upon himself to exact revenge on his favorite superstar for treating him poorly—cue some pretty strong twists, lots of foot-chasing, and dramatic moments. You don’t even miss the usual Bollywood trope of adding songs when they are just not needed.

Where the movie crumbles, aside from the obvious stretch of logic (but it’s Bollywood, so let’s not question irrational stuff), is the unnecessary long action and chase scenes as well as the drawn-out climax. As a viewer, you are hopefully aware that Chandna’s dangerous obsession with Khanna is due to mental health issues. Instead of addressing them or discussing them, which would have made for a fresher plot with more depth, the movie takes the obvious dramatic route. The movie definitely gets plus points for some truly thrilling and surprising moments but making it crisper overall would have made for a much better viewing experience.

Khan, of course, delivers top notch performances in both the roles. One is a visceral fanatic, while the other is an angry victim. In both cases, Khan acts with heartfelt emotions and delivers powerful dialogues. The film definitely relies on him wholly with the supporting cast being decent enough—especially Sayani Gupta, who plays Khanna’s personal assistant, and Waluscha de Sousa, who plays his wife, Gauri. Director Maneesh Sharma also does a good job of showing us both sides of the story.

In the end, this movie is a true ode to Shahrukh Khan’s enormous stardom and we can be sure that no other actor could have pulled off playing both these roles with as much ease as he did. “Fan” does a good job of showing us the unfortunate side-effects of being rich and famous and also the plight of those who are enamored by these rich and famous—and it manages to keep the audience’s adrenaline high for the entire duration of the film.

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