After his first film, Being Cyrus, director Homi Adajania’s movie graph has been on the rise. His second film, Cocktail, was a massive hit and also a turning point for actress Deepika Padukone. His next offering, Finding Fanny, is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. The plot is already out: about five oddballs from a Goan village who set out on a journey to find Fanny, a character played by Anjali Patil.
The other characters are played by Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Kapur, Padukone and Arjun Kapoor. Though the script was ready back in 2009, Adajania delayed the film. “No one was willing to back it with the same vision I had. I don’t really get it, but strangely I had to deliver a Cocktail, which was very different to Finding Fanny, to get the budget that I needed,” begins the director, who is married to fashion stylist Anaita Shroff.
The quirk factor
Each character in the movie has a distinctive trait and Adajania explains how he went about choosing them. “They are all slivers of personality traits that I’ve seen in people and myself. I gave each one a dominant trait that is ‘quirky’ and then layers that ‘normalise’ them,” he shares.
Finding Fanny will premiere 17 days before the actual release of the film. “It is not Inception or some thriller where the story needs to be kept under wraps. It’s more about immersing into an experience. The idea is to get together the industry and like-minded people to create a talking point. It is a very different film and I truly believe that today we have a desire to encourage the growth of different cinema in our country,” he says.
His idea of Goa as the setting was instinctive. “When I envisioned the story, I only saw a quaint Goan village in my mind. That’s also why it was shot in English, as that is the natural language the characters speak,” says Adajania, a qualified diver.
Horror disconnect
As far as Bollywood is concerned, Adajania says times are changing. “People tend to knock big earning films, but really it’s these films that make our industry so healthy and, ironically, encourages all forms of cinema.” The former freelance travel writer declares that you can expect anything but a horror film from him. “I know I’d be good at making a horror film, but I can’t watch them. My mind is too vivid and it screws me for days after,” he laughs. As for trying over-the-top movies like Rowdy Rathore, he is game. “I haven’t seen it – but I’d be up to trying anything that I’m not sure how to make,’’ he concludes.
Finding Fanny is scheduled to release in September.