'Fukri' turns back time to a decade where a dilly-dallying-hero-turned-imposter saves the day and turns the golden boy, all for a cause that he himself isn't sure about. But this isn't the 90s, neither does it feel like a directorial by Siddique—the man who churned out impeccable comedy movies during the time.
An aimless engineer, Lucky (Jayasurya) stumbles upon one unlucky event after another to land in a rather muddled problem. What really inspires him to get involved remains a blur. So, armed with friends (Bhagath Manuel, Kalabhavan Niyas), he successfully hoodwinks his way into two families of different faiths making them believe that he's their long-lost heir.
What follows is an unsuccessful bid at comedy with the hero and the party prancing about making up impossible lies and unexciting stories just to unite a father and son who are at loggerheads (which is none of the hero's business really). While swindling and con acts are laughter-inducing elements, the dearth of hilarious scenarios is what makes the film a drab affair.
And somewhere along the line walks in the love of Lucky's life (Prayaga Martin), although the blossoming of love is intermittent with surprisingly no songs to accelerate the process!
Jayasurya serves up a lacklustre performance largely owing to a flawed script. Siddique looks the part of a grand old patriarch, and KPAC Lalitha makes for an endearing grandmother. An almost forgettable respite is offered by Kalabhavan Niyas and Nirmal Palazhy, who keep looking for opportunities to sneak a line in. While Prayaga Martin hardly stays in the picture, Anu Sithara ends up playing a flimsy character.
But finally it all comes down to one question. How did the director who has churned out some of the finest comedies in Malayalam cinema, come up with such a laughable attempt at creating hilarious scenarios? There wasn't anything new or unforeseen attempted in the movie that markedly stayed away from any real or relatable humour.
While it's hard to pick a reason to cheer the film, what seems an easier thing to do is to cry out, 'this just wasn't expected of you, director Siddique.'