Cast: Shah Rukh Khan

Direction: Maneesh Sharma

Produced: Aditya Chopra, Yash Raj Films

Writer: Habib Faisal

Genre: Action, Drama.

Duration:143 Min*

Gaurav Chandna's (Shah Rukh Khan) hero-worshipping ways are fun to behold in the initial reels of the film. He has a shrine devoted to the actor in his room and has grown to emulate him over the years. The die-hard fan even wins an impersonation competition where he is aided with a background projection and sporting parents (Deepika Amin, Yogendra Tiku) to recreate the magic of Aryan Khanna's (Shah Rukh Khan again) movies. Gaurav is determined to literally follow in his celluloid God's footsteps by travelling ticketless to Mumbai and renting a room in a beaten down motel where Aryan first lived as a struggler.

As it happens when a human is exalted to the status of a God, Gaurav returns to Delhi, shaken and disillusioned in the matinee idol. The unsavoury encounter was certainly his fault. Which star would be pleased to know that his crazed fan avenged his public insult by attacking the person responsible? Aryan could have been nicer in his confrontation - it would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, he snubs someone, who is clearly a little disbalanced to begin with and sends Gaurav on a rampage.

That Gaurav was already obsessed with Aryan was clearly established in the beginning. Why does Aryan need to be villainised to justify his revenge mission? Gaurav sets about stalking his favourite-star-no-more and taking apart his career in 48 hours. The impersonation skills come handy. So does a little parkour, though the story establishes no precedent on why actor and fan would be so well-versed with such a specific ability. It is not like Aryan is established as an action hero who does his own stunts which his fan eagerly copied to master the technique.

Fan is the better SRK film to release with a coherent story and without the flashy song-and-dance with bootylicious babes (any inclusion of that in this film is meta). Somewhere the interesting premise comes undone with convenient plotting. For instance, why does Aryan not have an elaborate entourage of security and assistants? How is it so easy to sabotage him? When Aryan returns to Mumbai after the mayhem Gaurav triggered, why does he come in a cool cab, instead of high security? What do Gaurav's parents make of his absences? They seem fairly involved with his life.

Fan also emphasises the culture of shaming celebrities on the slightest pretext, the fragility of fame and the downside of dealing improperly with possessed fans. For a film with a good start, it gets dark and asks for a suspension of disbelief that lesser films demand. That said, Fan caters to the hardcore SRK followers and will not disappoint. It dishes out the kind of value-for-money entertainment you would get for an early morning show over a weekend.