"Fanaa"

I treated myself to a second movie this week – not a big deal when it costs a mere 30 or 40 rupees to get in (yeah, that’s less than a dollar). English movies are few and far between here, though, so I had to pick one in another language. I chose a Hindi movie called “Fanaa.”

Hindi is India’s national language, as well as the language of all of the Bollywood blockbusters. Bollywood is a larger film industry than Hollywood – so large, in fact, that movies often change every single week. (That is why I had to go to two movies in one week; next week they might both be long gone, and I’ll be way out of luck.) Although I only know one Hindi word (panni = water), the movies are entertaining and lots of fun. I think it’s because, throughout the movies, sometimes completely out of the blue, the actors and actresses break out in song and dance. So, even when I can’t tell what’s going on in the movie, I can enjoy the soundtrack.

But, amazingly, I usually can understand what’s going on in the movie. Of course, I can’t follow any of the dialogue (except when they throw in that occasional English phrase), but the nonverbal language (along with the big picture on the screen) is usually enough.

From what I could gather, “Fanaa” was beautifully done, and it was an interesting movie. In the first half, a blind woman named Zuni falls in love with a handsome man named Rehan. The entire first half is basically a series of song and dance routines done around these two falling in love with each other. It’s kind of cheesy, but what other way is there to do “falling in love” on the big screen? Toward the end of the first half, when it is apparent that nothing can beat the love between these two, Rehan takes Zuni to have an operation intended to cure her blindness. While she was in the operation room, he commits a huge act of terrorism. And when Zuni’s operation is over, she is told (as everyone believes) that Rehan is dead.

After the brief intermission (during which people go get their tea and chips), it is seven years later. Rehan is involved in a big operation with a terrorist organization, and up in the snowy mountains of India, he has a run-in with some enemies. He kills about 10 people with a combination of poison, gunshots, and knife blades, but he is also hurt very badly. He walks through the deep snow into the night and bangs on the door of the first house he came to. Zuni opens the door.

Now, she doesn’t know it’s him because, remember, she has never seen him before. But he knows it’s her, and I’m sure he has some idea that the little boy Zuni is raising is his. (I mean, the boy is about seven, and there’s no husband, so that’s kind of obvious.) Rehan has to stay with Zuni (and her father, whom she is living with) because he is so badly injured. While he recovers, Zuni and Rehan go through this big drama where they fall in love with each other all over again, and, eventually, Zuni realizes who this man is. They get married, and you think they’re about to live happily ever after. But…

Just about that time, Zuni’s father also realizes who this man is – a terrorist who is wanted by the Indian authorities. He threatens Rehan and, for all his trouble, gets killed. While all this is happening, Zuni also finds out Rehan’s other identity, and she becomes very scared. She leaves her house, calls the authorities, and waits in fear for Rehan to come find her. He does find her, and, although he proclaims his undying love for her and Zuni truly does love him back, knowing what he has done and what he is bound to continue doing, she is forced to kill him. Zuni shoots at Rehan and hits him in the leg and then in the back. He falls, she runs to him, and the movie ends with Rehan dying in Zuni’s arms.

So, it’s kind of a downer of a story, but it entertained me for three hours and I really liked it. Plus, now I can impress you with my much I understood without being able to really understand.