Aamir Khan - God Of Bollywood

FANNA = 2006

Fanaa (Hindi: फ़ना, Urdu:فناء, English: Destroyed in love) is a Bollywood thriller-romance movie released in 2006, starring Aamir Khan and Kajol in pivotal roles. It is directed by Kunal Kohli who previously directed Hum Tum, and is produced under Yash Raj Films. The film also stars Rishi Kapoor, Kiron Kher, Tabu, and Shruti Seth.

Fanaa released on 26 May 2006, in India. Fanaa was banned in the state of Gujarat due to protests against the lead actor Aamir Khan. Aamir Khan plays the role of a tourist guide in Delhi while Kajol plays a Kashmiri blind girl. The movie was the first to showcase Aamir Khan and Kajol's romantic pairing, even though they had acted together in Ishq in 1998. Many critics opined that the movie works largely due to the chemistry of the leads (see Reception below).

Rishi Kapoor and Kiron Kher play the role of Kajol's parents. The film marked the comeback of Kajol, who was last seen in Karan Johar's film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

THE STORY

Zoomi Ali Beg (Kajol) is a blind Kashmiri girl who travels without her parents for the first time with a dance troupe of which she is a part of to Delhi to perform. On her journey, she meets Rehan Khan (Aamir Khan), a casanova and tour guide who flirts with her. Although her friends warn Zooni about him, she still wants to experience the feeling of being in love for the first time, and spends time with him. In New Delhi, Rehan shows her the city and starts to develop feelings for her.

Zoomi and Rehan decide to marry. Her mother Nafisa (Kiron Kher) and father Zulfikar Ali Baig (Rishi Kapoor) acquiesce to the marriage, and tell her they are coming in from Kashmir for the wedding. Meanwhile, the young couple visit an ophthalmologist, who advises Zoomi that her blindness may be surgically curable, though the operation has a slim chance of a full recovery. They decide to take the chance and have the operation before the wedding. Zoomi asks Rehan to visit the Rashtrapati Bhawan (president's residence) to invite their friend, the guard Jolly Good Singh (Jaspal Bhatti), to the ceremony. While still recovering from the successful surgery - and before she can see Rehan—Zooni is told that Rehan has been killed in a terrorist bomb attack on Rashtrapati Bhawan. She is comforted by her parents who have arrived from Kashmir. Zooni feels she sent Rehan to his death in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

In reality, Rehan is a terrorist fighting to liberate the state of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan. As grandson of the mastermind and leader of a key insurgent group, the Independent Kashmir Front (IKF), he is its most trusted operative. He has been plotting and executing terrorist strikes against these two countries, including the explosion in which he is reported to have died and believed Zooni to have been killed in as well. He in truth had loved Zooni, but he knew that for his cause, he had to let her go and regretted ever falling in love with her.

Years later, the terrorists are about to pull off a huge strike as a part of their plan. With parts stolen from India, Pakistan and Russia, they hope to build a nuclear explosive device. This device is capable of destroying a whole city -- New Delhi or Islamabad - within a ten mile radius. They will use it to pressure both countries into leaving Kashmir. A critical part is missing: the detonator or electronic "trigger" device. Rehan is to bring in this trigger. Meanwhile, the mourning and guilt-ridden Zooni returns to Kashmir and is delivered of a baby boy, whom she names Rehan for his father.

Rehan infiltrates an Indian army unit that is taking the trigger back to Delhi to safeguard it from theft by the insurgents. During a helicopter transport in a remote area, he drugs his colleagues, takes the trigger, destroys the helicopter with a hand grenade and escapes by parachute. A key intelligence operative Malini Tyagi (Tabu) realizes who he is, but cannot deploy forces quickly enough to stop Rehan. He is wounded by the troops, but escapes. Tyagi orders a communications blackout in the area so that he will not be able to contact the IKF.

Exhausted, wounded, and incommunicado with a storm building, he seeks shelter in a remote house. He is shocked to find that the house belongs to Zooni and her father. Neither of them recognize him: Zooni had never seen Rehan as she was blind, and her father had never met him. The child Rehan is very taken with the man, and he likewise develops an affection for the little boy. Later, Rehan admits to his identity, though unable to explain what he has done for the seven years since they parted, or why he played dead. Nevertheless, he still loves Zooni and she loves him, and they marry in a simple ceremony performed by her father.

Soon afterward, through a TV broadcast, Zoomi and her father both separately discover that Rehan is the terrorist for whom a manhunt is in progress. Her father tries to stop Rehan, taking him to an Army friend's house so he can use his radio transmitter and then attempting to shoot him. Instead, Rehan accidentally kills him, then uses the radio to contact the IKF. The IKF tell him they will send a pick-up helicopter the next morning. Then, when the army officer discovers Rehan in his home, Rehan kills him too.

Zoomi finds her father dead, floating by under the ice in the river near which Zoomi and Rehan Jr are playing. When Rehan returns home, and tells her that her father is at the army officer's house, she suspects that Rehan killed him. She takes the "trigger" to her father's friend's house, and radios the army. Tyagi apprises her of the seriousness of the danger, and the risk to millions of lives should the IKF get the device. Before the police or army arrives, Rehan finds her, and tries to convince her to give him the "trigger" so he can give it to his grandfather who is arriving by helicopter, telling her that this way they can have a happy future together. Unable to stop him any other way, Zooni shoots him,while saying "I love you Rehan". His grandfather is angered and aims to shoot Zooni, but Tyagi arrives in time with an Indian army helicopter and shoots the terrorist leader dead and his helicopter down with a pistol.

The final scene shows Zoomi and little Rehan laying flowers on the graves of Rehan Senior and Mr. Ali Beg. Zoomi tells him that it is easy to choose between good and bad, but life sometimes presents two bad choices or two good ones and Rehan Jr kisses his father's grave.

Directed by	Kunal Kohli
Produced by	Aditya Chopra Yash Chopra
Written by	Shibani Bathija
Starring	Aamir Khan Kajol
Music by	Jatin-Lalit
Cinematography	Ravi K. Chandran
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films
Release date(s)	26 May 2006
Running time	169 mins
Country	India
Language	Urdu Hindi
Budget	$5.3 million

CAST

Aamir Khan Rehan Qadri aka Rehan Khan
Kajol as Zooni Ali Beig
Rishi Kapoor as Zulfikar Ali Beig
Kiron Kher as Nafisa Ali Begum
Tabu as Malini Tyagi
Lara Dutta as Zeenat (Special Appearance)
Shiney Ahuja as Suraj Ahuja (Guest Appearance)
Gautami Kapoor as Rubeina (Ruby)
Sharat Saxena as Sushil Rawat
Lilette Dubey as Madam
Shruti Seth as Fatima (Fatty)
Jaspal Bhatti as Jolly Good Singh
Vrajesh Hirjee as Balwant or Cartoon Network (as called by Lilette Dubey in the film)
Master Ali Haji as Rehan (Zooni and Rehan's son)
Sanaya Irani as Bobo
Satish Shah as Colonel

RECEPTION

The film has grossed $22,175,908 worldwide. In India, the film grossed $17.7m, $187,187 from Australia,$2,18m from the British market and $2,105,352 from the US market.The direction of the movie received mixed reviews from critics. The critics however generally agreed on the performances of the main actors, Aamir Khan and Kajol, as well as their chemistry.

FILMING LOCATIONS

The film was originally planned to be shot in Kashmir before the lead heroine backed out due to the continuing insurgency in that region. The director chose to move the Kashmir segment to the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland, which also provides suitably snowy and mountainous terrain. It was filmed at certain historical locations in Delhi including the Red Fort, Jantar Mantar, Qutub Minar, Purana Qila and Lodhi Gardens.

TRIVIA

Many plot elements originate from Ken Follett's 1978 spy thriller novel Eye of the Needle, where the present-day Kashmiri terrorist and Indian girl are a German spy and an English girl.

Aamir Khan, when asked in an Aaj Tak interview on 4 January 2009, with which actress whom he shared the most chemistry with, had answered that he shared the most chemistry with Kajol in their movie Fanaa. This is on the backdrop that Kajol and Aamir Khan were not amicable prior to Fanaa due to personality differences during Ishq filming. Post Fanaa, they are now good friends.

It was the first film to be shot at Yash Raj Films Studios, Mumbai.

This was the first film that Aamir Khan had done with Yash Raj Films. Up till then, he and Salman Khan were the only "Khans" not to have worked under the Yash Raj banner. Salman Khan remains the only one who still has not worked under Yash Raj.