FAN: Mature, syrupy SRK

Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Amin, Yogendra Tiku, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Waluscha de Sousa, Sayani Gupta

Rated: 8/10

Here comes Fan. Shah Rukh’s differently abled revelation. He is the star of this film. He is also its fan. He has the star swagger. He has the fan obsession. He has everything right and in equal measure which makes this one a film to visit and serenade the power of the star that has gone wrong on many previous occasions but is bang on this time round.

As movies go, this one is bold and away from the rut of the general SRK movies which usually take you by storm despite being surprisingly bad (Dilwale, Happy New Year). Fan is good. It is well rested on seasoning. It has direction. It has composure. And it has Shah Rukh all by himself and as his very different double.

As the star, he is unqueasy about leading you into the heart of his (read as differently named Aryan Khanna) home, into the backstage, into life away from the camera and even into snigger-oriented “ageing superstar” talk, taking it all in his stride.

That’s one real part of him. Then there’s this other, equally real. The buck-teethed Dilli ka launda who lives and breathes the ways of the superstar. A simple cyber cafe wallah who has no time for anyone except his idol, his star, his “senior”  Aryan Khanna. He has won a trophy for acting as his idol at a mohalla function and he is all set to leave for Mumbai on the star’s birthday for a “5-minute” jhappi, small talk and handover of the trophy and his mother’s Ghantewale ki mithai ka dabba.

Surprisingly, SRK breezes through both the characters though they are entirely paradoxical. That’s not SRK really. No hamming, no stammering, no over the top antics. And yet so engaging. It’s a film without fears of a future and so it comes out of the closet in style and maturity. There’s no heroine, no song and no locale props whatsoever. Just a slice of life, a dash of humour, thrills and all kinds of intensities that come out of a chase.

Only thing that jarred is that the star Aryan Khanna is all SRK, out and out. His old numbers, his Raj-Simran references, his dialogues everything SRK but with a different name? Why, one wonders?

Other than that, there’s everything in place. An SRK film not just for fans. In the autumn of his career that’s great going. And if you still have reservations, “chhodo, tum nahi samjhogey”!