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Set in the non-descript town of Pocolim in old Goa, Finding Fanny begins with an overarching narrative by the angelic Angelina (Deepika Padukone) contrasting village life to a puppet show where every inhabitant is a character — ‘Ferdi’ Ferdinand (Naseeruddin Shah) as the woolly “Casanova of Konkan”, Rosalina (Dimple Kapadia) as the voluptuous widowed matron, Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapoor) as the lusty artist and Savio De Gama (Arjun Kapoor) as the petulant prodigal — each more eccentric than the next. In a comic caper dotted with peculiar ironies and clever wordplay, Finding Fanny straddles the fine line where some of the humour is so spontaneous it almost seems like an improv, while at other times it seems just plain contrived. It is this fine line where director Homi Adjania channels his inner Wes Anderson to create a gorgeously whimsical cinematic feature that is sure to have broken fresh ground in a Mumbai-Bollywood milieu fraught with regressive stereotypes (best exemplified by his own last venture, the unfortunate Cocktail).
An undelivered letter to his beloved arrives back at Ferdi’s doorstep 46 years later, setting the wheels of this rambling tale in motion -- a road trip to find Stefanie “Fanny” Fernandes. The film is paced well, with myriad adventures such as running into outlandish Russian drunkards, profane wedding processions, and what can be interpreted as India’s own famous Titanic painting scene (with the robes on, of course) where the outrageously florid Pedro finds his own particular muse, or shall we say fanny — Rosie’s heavily-padded derriere that has an uncredited, yet significant, role in the film.
If the laidback and heartbreakingly pretty environs of Goa remind you of The Grand Budapest Hotel , the music is sure to be reminiscent of Woody Allen’s touristy bijous. “O Fanny re” is a memorable number; the accordion and banjo set to Mukhtiyar Ali’s liltingly raw voice will have you humming happily the rest of the day. French music director Mathias Duplessy has done a wonderful job with a background score so complimentary to the idyllic picturesque setting. It is this attention to anecdotal detail — evident in the creaking of a fan on top of the geriatric Ferdi’s bed next to the customary Christ figurine whose embers lead him to a surreal dreamscape — that makes the film come alive despite its various excesses.
What Bobby Jasoos did while chronicling the Muslim community of Hyderabad, Finding Fanny has done for the small-town conservative Christian population of peripheral Goa. Filmed entirely in English peppered with a bit of Konkani for good measure, the movie’s ample black humour is in familiar territory, also seen in Adjania’s debut, Being Cyrus . Yet one hoped the flights of fancy had given sway to the elements of darkness more often. Sample this: “If you stay alive long enough, people will forget you were born stupid,” Savio wryly comments on the fallacies of old age.
Homi is right at home with his homies here — Kapadia and Shah light up the screen in their respective roles. Padukone is restrained and astute in her performance, while the Kapoor duo have been given some great dialogue to aid their acts. Finding Fanny is an aspirational film, not only because it harks to acclaimed Western auteurs, but also because it dares to transplant them to a very Indian cinescape where it will probably be appreciated only by a relatively niche audience. One of its many achievements is a phenomenal ensemble cast, with a zany cameo by Ranveer Singh as Angie’s dead husband, Gabo. So go on, indulge in a bit of whimsy this weekend.
