A fan’s journey from admiration to dark obsession is the theme of Shah Rukh Khan’s new film – and SRK’s real-life fans cannot wait to see how he manages to portray both a 50-year-old movie star and a 25-year-old megafan.
The film, Fan, which tells the story of Gaurav, a Bollywood-obsessed man who goes from hero worshipper to sociopath, was directed by Maneesh Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films.
The trailer has racked up more than 16 million views on YouTube and promises a lot of action sequences set in Dubrovnik (Croatia), London, Oxford, Mumbai and New Delhi.
Here are four things about the film that break the usual Bollywood mould.
25 years younger
In the trailer, Khan is instantly recognisable, yet oddly different – and certainly much younger. Bollywood has never gone in much for prosthetic make-up effects but in this film they have been used extensively to create a more youthful-looking Khan.
The effect took six hours to create every day and, on occasion, wore Khan out because the prosthetics made him sweat. His cheeks have been plumped out, his skin looks smoother, the wrinkles around the eyes are gone and, he wears contact lenses and has a new hairstyle – the result is striking.
Khan said motion capture was also used, which involved scanning his face in a studio to capture all his facial expressions for digital effects. He believes this is a first for Indian cinema.
"After Fan, everybody will look up to Hindi films in terms of what we can do with visual effects and make-up," he recently told TV channel NDTV.
The canny promotions
Khan has been as savvy as ever in thinking of original ways to promote Fan. The logo is interesting – a collage of pictures supplied by Khan's real-life fans. He has been aggressively promoting the movie on television – on the talent show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and on Comedy Nights Bachao, a programme that pokes gentle fun at celebrities.
But the biggest coup? Acquiring permission from Madame Tussauds to move his waxworks model in London from the museum to the London Eye for a scene and to clothe the model in costumes that he wears as Gaurav. Yash Raj Films also released a five-part series that examines the idea of what it means to be a fan.
The first episode features fans of film and sports stars, while the others are devoted to portraying Khan’s own fans in India in all their obsessive glory.
The female stars ... er, who?
The female stars are relatively unknown. They include Goan model Waluscha De Sousa, who is making her Bollywood debut. De Sousa, who plays Khan’s wife, is not yet famous in India, although she has appeared in a few ads with SRK. She has three children from her marriage to actor and model Marc Robinson (they separated in 2013). Also making her debut in Hindi films is Shriya Pilgaonkar, a theatre actress and daughter of actor Sachin Pilgaonkar. Both women have blink-and-you’ll-miss-them roles, mostly because SRK looms larger than ever over this production.
Sing it nine ways
The theme song, Jabra Fan, is an ode to Gaurav's obsession, albeit in a humorous, light-hearted way.
“He’s not just a star, he’s my world,” he croons. The song has close to 20 million hits on YouTube and, capitalising on this, the soundtrack features nine versions of the track in a variety of languages: Hindi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Arabic, sung by Moroccan pop star Abd El Fattah Grini. The music is by Vishal and Shekhar, the Hindi lyrics by Varun Grover.
Fan is in cinemas now
artslife@thenational.ae
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
Switching%20sides
%3Cp%3EMahika%20Gaur%20is%20the%20latest%20Dubai-raised%20athlete%20to%20attain%20top%20honours%20with%20another%20country.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVelimir%20Stjepanovic%20(Serbia%2C%20swimming)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBorn%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20raised%20in%20Dubai%2C%20he%20finished%20sixth%20in%20the%20final%20of%20the%202012%20Olympic%20Games%20in%20London%20in%20the%20200m%20butterfly%20final.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EJonny%20Macdonald%20(Scotland%2C%20rugby%20union)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBrought%20up%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20represented%20the%20region%20in%20international%20rugby.%20When%20the%20Arabian%20Gulf%20team%20was%20broken%20up%20into%20its%20constituent%20nations%2C%20he%20opted%20to%20play%20for%20Scotland%20instead%2C%20and%20went%20to%20the%20Hong%20Kong%20Sevens.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESophie%20Shams%20(England%2C%20rugby%20union)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20daughter%20of%20an%20English%20mother%20and%20Emirati%20father%2C%20Shams%20excelled%20at%20rugby%20in%20Dubai%2C%20then%20after%20attending%20university%20in%20the%20UK%20played%20for%20England%20at%20sevens.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10
*November 15 to November 24
*Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
*Tickets: Start at Dh10, from ttensports.com
*TV: Ten Sports
*Streaming: Jio Live
*2017 winners: Kerala Kings
*2018 winners: Northern Warriors
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECVT%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E119bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E145Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh%2C89%2C900%20(%2424%2C230)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A%20MAN%20FROM%20MOTIHARI
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdullah%20Khan%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPenguin%20Random%20House%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E304%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A