It’s an English language “offbeat” entertainer; made by an Indian director with three veteran and two young stars of Bollywood, and topped with one promotional Hindi song — that’s Homi Adajania’s Finding Fanny. Arjun Kapoor, who plays one of the five “oddballs” in the movie, believes Indian audiences are ready for such content.
“I was scared and apprehensive to begin with, but as the journey went on, I was more and more happy that I made the brave choice of doing an English film, which is offbeat,” said Arjun.
“For me, it’s a film which the country is ready to watch, and the fact that the trailer has received an overwhelming response shows that people are willing to watch such content,” he said. The Finding Fanny trailer garnered over two million views within two days of hitting YouTube.
Arjun, son of veteran film producer Boney Kapoor, has four distinct movies behind him. Starting with the 2012 movie Ishaqzaade, in which he sported a rough and rebellious look as Parma, he pulled off a double role in Aurangzeb, essayed the hot-headed guy in Gunday and then the nerdy yet affable boy-in-love in 2 States.
Arjun says he was surprised when Adajania, the man behind English language film Being Cyrus and the Bollywood saga Cocktail, approached him for the role of Savio D’Gama in Finding Fanny, especially after watching him in Ishaqzaade.
The fact that the forthcoming movie has a stellar cast, with senior and prolific actors such as Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, as well as Deepika Padukone in a de-glam avatar, made the Finding Fanny journey all the more inviting for Arjun.
“Had Homi taken five unknown actors, it would have been a very niche film. But he has taken five known actors and set out to do something different. I think it’s an intelligent choice on their part to mix known commodities with an unknown world,” said the actor.
Of course, Arjun stepped into the film understanding that unlike the commercial Bollywood potboilers that he’s been part of so far, this one’s going to have a limited audience given the fact that it’s in English and without any of Hindi cinema’s song and dance routines.
“That’s the amazing part about making cinema! People can have an opinion about it. I’d rather be part of a film about which people have an opinion than be in a project people don’t notice.”
“Finding Fanny is definitely relevant in terms of getting people to talk about it. If it does well, people will talk about encouraging young talent to make films like this. If it doesn’t, then they will think about how this kind of cinema won’t work.”
“I think it is a talking point kind of film. It won’t just come and go, which is what I like — it’s got people talking already. And you can’t always expect people to love everything you do. If they notice, for better or for worse, it’s a good thing,” said the actor.
Presented by Fox Star Studios, Finding Fanny is produced by Maddock Films. The film, a satirical comedy, releases September 12.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.
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I am quite happy that new comer like Arjun Kapoor is taking such chances. Even Deepika is an established actress and if one movie of her will be flop than there will be not that much damage.
I am sure working with Naseer Sahab, Pankaj Sahab and Dimple Ji - Arjun and Deepika have learnt a lot.
Now I am eagerly waiting for this movie and other Deepika Padukone Upcoming Movies as well - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_b1ID83MFw