Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starred in their first film together since Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai but things have changed in the last 18 years. Anil Kapoor has taken up character roles while Ashwariya isn’t the young damsel in distress she was back then. Furthermore, the audience has changed as well and they would prefer younger actors like Rajkumar Rao who are proving their mettle with one superb performance after another. Sadly, the director Atul Manjrekar didn’t know that and that shows in the film Fanney Khan which can easily be termed as ‘poor man’s Secret Superstar version’ in a bad way.

Fanney Khan may be the official remake of Belgian satirical comedy Everybody's Famous but even that doesn’t help in saving the film from being just another remake. It is the story of a young girl, Lata who wants to become a singer but since she is overweight, nobody takes her singing seriously except the guy who named her Lata – her father. Prashant Kumar aka Fanney Khan (Anil Kapoor) tries everything in his hands to make her daughter (Pihu Sand) successful but fails until one day Baby Singh (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) walks into his taxi. He kidnaps her and with the help of his friend Adhir (Rajkummar Rao) make her manager do things that will eventually help Lata. Does the manager (Girish Kulkarni) help them or turns the table on them, watch Fanney Khan to know what happens next!

Fanney Khan could have been a great film like Secret Superstar had the focus been more on the girl than her father; in fact, no one sympathises with Lata because she is rude, she is thankless and she is not at all impressive in any way making things difficult for her father in every way. She picks the wrong songs for the right occasions and then blames her father whereas listens to her friend rather than a person who has been there, done that. In Secret Superstar, you sympathised with the mother-daughter duo and cheered when the mother finally put her foot down but here, no such moment awaits the audience. The soundtrack isn’t that great except for Sonu Nigam’s rendition of Badan Pe Sitare and maybe the song at the climax!

Anil Kapoor is first-rate as the father who is shown to be struggling but never tells his family; Rajkummar Rao is wasted in the role of a sidekick and so is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the roles were meant for neither of them. They are outstanding actors in their own rights who can carry films on their shoulders, rather than shoulder a remake that has no chance of survival. Divya Dutta as Lata’s mother is impressive and continues to prove her mettle. It was good to see newcomer Pihu Sand stand her ground in front of veteran actors but her characterization had a flaw and that was being angry all the time. In the end, while a few might have cheered her stardom moment, many were left wondering as to what would happen next because the character didn’t have a soul. Watch the film for Anil Kapoor (and of course, Sonu Nigam)! •