Review of the film Fakir of Venice: Farhan Akhtar's film is lost in translation

There are movies that have a story, which is much more exciting than the movie itself. The Fakir of Venice directed by Anand Surapur, supposed to be Farhan Akhtar's first film as an actor, is one of them!

The film took 14 long years from its conception to reach the theaters. Homi Adajania (from Being Cyrus, Cocktail and Finding Fanny (fame) has not yet made his debut at the time.It apparently wrote history ( derived from a real story), sold it to producers and moved to Peru for a stay! Rajesh Devraj turned Adajania's edgy narrative into a script.

The film staged Adi Contractor, a boy from Mumbai, (Farhan Akhtar), a somewhat rogue production badistant and Sattar (Anu Kapoor), a poor laborer This work is a pretty nifty commentary on the exotic spiritual sector of India, which There is a huge market in the west, and its miraculous appeal is what the curator of a famous biennale of Venice art is basing on when looking for a Fakir from India.
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Adi, a film director, can never refuse a mission. He finds himself one day looking for a Fakir as part of an idea of ​​an Italian gallery for an artistic installation. What he is content to do is rather Sattar, who, in his childhood, learned to bury himself in the sand during long stays at Juhu Chowpatty, in Mumbai, to earn his livelihood. The tip seems to be the one that suits a Fakir best and soon they turn into a must-see attraction in Venice. Until then everything is fine, but then the plot points begin to feel arduous.
Rajesh Devraj's scenario does not follow Adajania's ambitious goals. What could have been a brilliant black comedy ends with a pale shadow of its possibilities. Budget constraints appear and despite the presence of two ancient and beautiful cities – Varanasi and Venice, The Fakir of Venice with a delicate post-production, has little aesthetic sense. Grainy shots eventually make the film dull and dull for the most part.

What raises the film somewhat and makes it more watchable is the performance of Farhan Akhtar as Adi's contractor. He was pretty well established with Dil Chahta Hai to be his director (by the time the film started his production), but for his first film as an actor, it's quite obvious that Akhtar is an all-out actor. natural. He slips into the role smoothly, flitting effortlessly from the impetuous scythe to the easygoing and caring young man who wants to get away from his life in Mumbai. The actor with his ability to walk lightly and display a flawless timing makes the endearing Adi shallow. Indeed, if this film had been released at the time of its production, the performance of Akhtar would have been praised as much as its role in Rock On.

Annu Kapoor, as always, is solid, bringing the right amount of despair and vulnerability. .

The director Surapur, advertising filmmaker also, shows his ability to draw the good performances of his actors, which is a big part of the work, but he fails in the creation. drama exacerbated. This incapacity continues to be the Achilles' heel of several accomplished pub directors who, while struggling for realism and lack of realism, often fail to elicit emotions, so essential to the experience watching Indian movies.

An example of this is a scene in The Fakir of Venice where Sattar and Adi, standing astride a bridge in Venice, share their truth about why they accepted this crazy concert on foreign shores. Adi's quest is optimistic, he wants to help himself to a better life while Sattar hopes to use his imminent death to help his sister Hamida. It's quite revealing and could have had a stronger resonance and yet, because of the way it's treated, the moment almost escapes as it was. An informal discussion about time.

Even Adi's quaint encounters with an badortment of sadhus in Varanasi on a trip to find the right Fakir are jewels that should have been better used to create a more powerful narrative. Although Surapur's style of filming is suitable for films seeking to qualify as a foreign film, he has very little to offer viewers who focus largely on Bollywood or even Hollywood-style dramas. And the film falls between the two stools, even if he had a leg to stand on.

Unfortunately, The Fakir of Venice as his main attraction, Sattar the Fakir, draws attention to what he has in reserve but does not meet the expectations he puts in place.

Note: 2/5

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