SRK back with a bang with 'FAN'

It is all about saying sorry in the end.

Fan is a dialogue between a star and his fan. Its about mutual respect for each other. It is about not crossing that fine line and it is about saying sorry, sometimes even if you are not wrong.

Over the years, SRK has gained this reputation of being rude.someone who despite all the stardom have equally gained the criticism after being involved in various incidents whether it is Wankhade stadium or it is slapping Shirish Kunder. SRK has, in fact, confessed in an interview that he is not someone who can say sorry easily and it has affected his relation with many. So in that context, Fan is his answer to his fans and critics alike.              

Fan shows why SRK's fans expect so much from him. He was refreshing and spontaneous as a young Gaurav. The way he brings forth the ethos of a fan, I don't think any of the new comers could do. As Aryan Khanna, SRK has played a narcissist character, who is willing to dance in weddings for money and can sometimes take shit from the wealthy to keep his stardom. But at the same time, he is also human deep inside. In short, SRK did justice to both the roles - a star and a fan.

One may argue with the climax or the violence of protagonist Gaurav, who is over obsessed with the star but perhaps the idea was to hammer down the point home through a violent character because most fans are not psycho.

The action chase scenes, whether it is escaping from Delite hotel or up and down the roof tops, was well executed. Though it reminds of some scenes of Hollywood action movie but it is racy with fast edits. Jazzy music during the tussle in the cyber cafe was also good.

However, Director Maneesh Sharma and screen play writer Habib Faisal should have spent more time on the script in the second half where Gaurav has a go at his idol. Here logic goes for a toss. Why to take the trouble of going through 3D scanning for a younger and different look only to blow all the difference away in the second half?

If one can look away from such loopholes, Fan will prove to be an enjoyable ride for any film aficionados who has loved his anti-hero roles in films such as Darr, Baazigar and Anjaam.

In fine, Fan is a homecoming of an actor who seemed to have lost himself in stardom and number game.

P.S.     For argument sake, probably a star would have done the same with someone who used violence to reach out to him. But possibly an interaction with him first would have been a better approach considering the fact that not always a fan takes law into own hands to meet his idol. But then a star will always execute more caution before meeting someone who has managed to thrash another star.

The concept of an obsessed fan is not new and has been used in many Hollywood films in the past but SRK's FAN is nothing like it. Here are few links which gives a glimpse:

http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/robert-de-niros-the-fan-kathy-bates-misery-5-hollywood-films-shah-rukh-khans-fan-looks-inspired-from/

Why 'Fan' is a make-or-break film for SRK?

A man from nowhere became the star of Bollywood. 

Call him "Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" or "King Khan", Shah Rukh has charmed the world for more than two decades with his exuberance and charisma but then stardom weighed heavy on him and he became so busy to fight gravity and keep his throne that the actor slowly faded away. He kept giving hits after hits, riding the number game but his role and his portrayals were repetitive and uni-dimensional. 

However, his next two releases Maneesh Sharma's Fan (releasing on April 15) and Rahul Dholakia's Raees seems like a step in the right direction and give a glimmer of hope for a star to find his soul again.

When Shah Rukh was yet to be discovered, Amir and Salman had already arrived. With Qayamat se Qayamat Tak (1988) and  Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), both Amir and Salman had already tasted success, taking Bollywood by storm, stealing the hearts of many a fans with their boyish charm. 

Amir further cemented his place in the industry with Dil (1990), Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991), Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), Andaz Apna Apna (1994) and Raja Hindustani (1996), for which he won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. 

Salman, on the other hand, left many women weak at their knees when he hit Madhuri Dixit with a catapult in Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994). It actually had struck the hearts of his female fans and led to huge following, putting him at the top of the most eligible bachelor's list.

Shah Rukh, meanwhile, was trying to chart a new territory for himself with films such as Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994) after making his debut with Deewana (1992). Such roles earned him appreciation but also criticism for playing violent roles as the society then was not okay with such kind of portrayals.

But then something happened which changed everything. In exactly mid 90s, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) happened to SRK and it opened up a new world of super stardom which only grew bigger with films such as Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001). He had earned the key to success, winning the heart of All and Sundry.

In the new millennium, however, the definition and dynamics of love seemed to have changed. But Shah Rukh still continued to rule the roost with films such as Mohabbatein (2000) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Devdas (2002), Swades (2004), Chak De! India (2007).

Amir, meanwhile, had found his calling in meaningful cinema that spoke about social and youth issues but also entertained. Films such as Lagaan (2001), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Rang De Basanti (2006) and Taare Zameen Par (2007), were poignant and meaningful and also set the cash register ringing. Shah Rukh too sharpened his acting prowess and played the role of a character with Asperger's syndrome in Karan Johor's My Name Is Khan (2010). 

However, a new benchmark to gauge a film's success had emerged by the late 2000 -- '100 crores'. What followed was a maddening race among filmmakers, producers and actors to get their films into the '100 crore' club.

Interestingly, Salman, who went through a dark phase in the new millennium where he did more than 30 films but none matched his past rewards, emerged as the most consistent member of this club with film such as Wanted (2009), Dabangg (2010), Bodyguard (2011), Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Kick (2014) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) -- earning him unprecedented stardom. Amir also tried to balance it with Ghajini (2008), 3 Idiots (2009), Dhoom 3 (2013) and PK (2014).

However, Shah Rukh found himself sandwiched between two kinds of cinema dished out by the other two Khans. 

After Yash Chopra's last picture, Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), SRK starred in Rohit Shetty's Chennai Express (2013), Farah Khan's Happy New Year (2014) and Dilwale (2015) alongside Kajol. All the films were profitable but SRK received a lot of brickbats for his uni-dimensional portrayal of characters which seemed hollow and stale.

Shah Rukh is intelligent enough to know that the audience is changing and what he needs to do to woo them back. He can no more just seat back and play to the gallery like Salman or weave it like Amir and neither does he want to leave his fans to move away from him. 

Here lies the importance of Maneesh Sharma's Fan (releasing on April 15), where he is once again challenging himself to play a character which is obsessed and violent, a role which shows glimpses of his past portrayals in films such as Darr and Anjaam. 

From the trailer, the film seems to have been written interestingly, pitching an actor who had dared to tread uncharted territories and had caught the imagination of his fans in his earlier days against an actor that he has become over the years.

His dual roles of a superstar and his fan provides that double dose of SRK which even his critics are waiting to watch and if he can pull off something which Kangana Ranaut did with aplomb in Tanu weds Manu returns, it is surely going to shut the critics and win him many more hearts.

In fact, Rahul Dholakia's Raees (SRK's next release), co-starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui is another film which will decide which way his stardom goes.