2016 film ‘Fan’, directed by Maneesh
Sharma explores the real meaning of the word ‘fan’. The film stars Shah Rukh
Khan in double role: as a ‘fan’, Gaurav Chandna and as a ‘star’, Aryan Khanna. The film is a journey of a ‘fan’ from an
innocent love and respect for the star to the fatal obsession with him. Film
simultaneously raises questions of privacy, public life and shining life of
celebrities.
Gaurav is a Delhi-based young boy who
runs a cyber-café. For him, Aryan Khanna is everything; he is crazy about the
film-star Aryan Khanna. He also bears an uncanny semblance with the star. His
room is adorned with his photographs. He participates in the local competitions
where he impersonates Aryan Khanna and wins the competition every year. He
started considering himself Jr. Aryan Khanna. Thus, Aryan Khanna is a part of
his identity. Once, in the TV interview Aryan Khanna says that he is nothing
without his fans. Gaurav takes these words literally and starts seeing himself
as a complementary part of the star Aryan Khanna.
Gaurav decides to meet Aryan Khanna in
person. He uses his prize money to go to Bombay to wish Aryan Khanna his
birthday in person. But, he is adamant to go ‘without ticket’ and stay in the
Delite Hotel, Room No. 205, as when Aryan Khanna came to Bombay he came without
ticket and stayed in the same place. This act of Gaurav proves his madness
about the star. When he reaches the house of Aryan Khanna, there are thousands
of ‘Gauravs’, already, waiting for his glace. The security doesn’t allow Gaurav
to enter the house and meet in person. This incident makes us realize that
Gaurav is not normal, and he doesn’t have the understanding of public and
private space.
In the evening, he gets the news of the
fight between Sid Kapoor and Aryan Khanna. In order to befriend Aryan Khanna
and gain his confidence, he beats Sid Kapoor antd makes him apologize on social
media. He prepares this video and sends it to Aryan Khanna’s facebook page.
Aryan Khanna talks to him and gets his address and asks police to take legal
action. He comes to visit him in prison and informs him that whatever he has
done is wrong. Gaurav is adamant and says that he did everything for Aryan. And
he reminds him his words that he is nothing without his fans. He tells him that
Aryan Khanna is star because of the fans like Gaurav. The problem with Gaurav’s
understanding is that he believes that being a fan of someone; he is free to do
whatever he likes.
Aryan arranges for his safe return to
home. When Gaurav reaches Delhi, he removes everything related with Aryan
Khanna and pledges that until now a fan was running after a star but now a star
will run after a fan. Using his facial and physical semblance to Aryan Khanna,
Gaurav enters in a few places using the identity of Aryan. He behaves badly in
those places. Media and people think that it is Aryan who is behaving badly. It
affects Aryan’s stardom. He loses some shows and media is also negatively
portraying him. Gaurav also enters Aryan’s house and misbehaves with his wife
and destructs his trophy room.
Aryan goes to Gaurav’s house and talks
to his parents. Gaurav is still not at home. On telephonic communication, he
asks to meet at the competition. Aryan takes help from Gaurav’s parents and his
girl-friend, Neha. He acts on stage impersonating Gaurav and proposes Neha.
Gaurav shoots at them, but couldn’t injure anyone. Finally, after a long chase
and bloody fight between the fan and the star, Aryan asks Gaurav to forget
everything and restart his life in which he can create his own identity and not
a dependent identity. But, Gaurav commits suicide from the building. But, due
to all the controversy, Gaurav’s name is permanently attached with the name of
Aryan.
As mentioned above, the celebrities are
public figures and their public lives are envy-some and full of prosperity.
But, we forget that they also have a private life, their friends, their
families and their personal schedule. We, as a fan, see their stardom, but we
forget to see the hard-work invested to gain that social position. Gaurav
thinks that he is unique and Aryan has to identify him and accept him. But, for
Aryan, Gaurav is yet another fan like thousands of others. For a successful
stardom, one requires big number of fans. One fan, giving everything to the
star, is not sufficient for one to be a star. Thus, any star’s understanding of
fans is in terms of quantity and not of quality. Gaurav is unable to understand
this harsh reality. For him, Aryan has to be free like him and he has to give
him equal importance as he gives him.
Another important aspect of the movie is
the tarnishing the image of a star by the fan. The second half of the movie is
all about fan’s revenge as he was not given his due importance. He challenges
to finish the stardom of Aryan in 48 hours. Similar things happen in the domain
of politics and religion. Most of our political ideologies sprung from
man-worshipping, a political star that has thousands of followers. They are
ready to go to any extent for their hero. In politics, they are used quite
effectively. What Gaurav did to Sid Kapoor is very normal in present-day
political scenario. But, Aryan took a legal and moral stand against his own
fan. In political and religious spheres, such fans are supported and saved,
irrespective of what is legal and moral. Aryan’s stand costs him a fan and his
grudge. If he had appreciated what Gaurav did to Sid Kapoor, Gaurav would have
remained his life-long follower and ‘fanatic’ in true sense.
As Gaurav remembers only one line, “I’m
nothing without my fans”, the extremists also depend on such few lines and
their personal interpretation of such words. Such words are so powerfully
ingrained on their minds that they are unable to think otherwise. At times,
such a weakness is used for personal gain, and such extremists are supported
directly or indirectly.
Religious terrorism and political
extremism are two areas where fans are backed immorally and illegally. Many-a-times,
they are harmful to the very idea they are ‘fan’ of. In India, we have started
using the word Bhakt, a devotee, for the ideological extremists and
extreme followers of some political figures. Unfortunately, we have started
using essentially positive word for negative purpose, contrary to what we have
done with the word ‘fan.’
Published in: The Hills Times – Heritage August 4, 2017. Page No. 07
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