FINDING FANNY: FILM REVIEW

My contribution to this blog comes in the form of a movie review, which the title of our blog may not necessarily convey. Anyway, the first movie I shall review is ‘Finding Fanny’, and my authority on the same is not final so feel free explore it for yourself. 

The plot of the film rests on a group of unlikely people taking a road trip together with varying motivations I never came to care for.The film comes with a studded star cast and most of them do not disappoint. Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapoor light up the screen and bring their respective characters to life. I was equally delighted to see how far Deepika Padukone has come as an actor (with specific reference to 'Cocktail'). Arjun Kapoor seems to have transported the essence of his enraged character from ‘Gundey’ (which was sold to me under false pretence of being an intentional comedy) to the quaint Goan village of ‘Pokoli’. Dimple Kapadia disappointed in the crucial scenes that could have inspired a connection with her character. My favourate one, however, was Ranveer Singh’s guest appearance as 'Gabo', for precisely 30 seconds, where he chokes on cake and dies on his own wedding day.

Of course, there is not much of a story but it is sprinkled with a few good dialogues, Don Pedro's (Pankaj Kapoor) addressing Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah) as the ‘Cassanova of the Konkan’ was funny because of so many reasons, one of being the irony because Ferdie was a'one woman man with no woman'. Some of the more reflective dialogues, however, felt forced in the attempt to in-organically forge a connection with the journey of the characters in the film. 

Sadly there wasn't enough in the movie to salvage it. The fact that you never buy into the universe of any of these characters makes the film quite boring to watch. The second half was dragged out and the ending made as much sense as any of Salman Khan’n interviews. The music of the movie was good, at least I thought it was, and some of the scenes were beautifully shot but none of it was enough to stop me from looking at my phone.

You could probably watch the film once and come out contemplating how could have spent your Sunday morning more productively, for instance by going to MKT and enjoying some pancakes and iced tea. 

Do you want to come over and kill some time?

The Coffee House, Majnu ka Tila

How to get there: Take the Metro to Vidhan Sabha. The market is one marauding e-rick ride away.

The Coffee House is a cozy little place, seating 10-12 groups at a time. Though it’s primarily for breakfast (served between 10 and 12 am), the fact that it’s tucked away in the basement of a building means that it is quite dark and must resort to…well..electric lighting. It’s nicely decorated, with a large display for the food. The waiter will offer you a menu and a tiny notepad to scribble your order in. The only other place I have seen this is Bhutan (yes, I am quite well-travelled that way).

Incidentally, Bhutan’s where I had tasted my first pancake. That however had made me question the foundation of my love for American television programming (You get points for guessing which show I am talking about).

All that changed with one bite of the Coffee House’s hot pancake covered with the classic maple syrup-it was like biting into a piece of cloud*. We also ordered a pancake with chocolate sauce, which was equally good, but if you are going alone or with only one other person, you might want to finish the first one before you order seconds.  Those things are filling. Though that might also have something to do with the two rounds of ice-tea we ordered. Because, oh my god, what ice tea!

Meal for three: Don’t remember for sure, but it was less than 500 rupees. Tips have to be deposited separately in a jar kept by the cash counter.

USP: The bliss you feel after that first bite of the pancake.

Cafe Lota, National Crafts Museum

How to get there: It’s a longish walk from the Pragati Maidan Metro station. Either choose a pleasant day or over-pay for an auto ride.

We reached there at peak lunch time, when we were famished, and going by how full the place was, so was much of upper class Delhi. We were made to wait for at least half an hour, but we couldn’t leave after seeing just how beautiful the cafe was. It’s well lit (naturally), the furniture is easy on the eye and there are big potted plants as decoration.  We first ordered aam panna and mint nimbu pani (I am not sure actually-it was green and in a tall glass-brilliant food reviewer I am turning out to be). The latter drink was nicer of the two, though both were refreshing. The Konkan Fish Curry with red rice was in dire need of some seasoning. The Goan Chicken was served with spinach paav (which tasted like normal paav but was a revolting shade of green-props for the novelty though) and channa (chick-peas). Eaten together, as insisted by Masterchef, it was quite nice. The servings are really small though.

Meal for three: 1500 rupees (inclusive of taxes and tip).

USP: The ambience. Plus if you go towards the end of lunch time, they let you sit for as long as you want. The waiters don’t even hover about your table.

Triveni Tea Terrace, Triveni Kala Sangam

How to get there: Get off at the Mandi House metro station. It’s a three minute walk from there

It’s not a restaurant really, more a canteen for the institute’s students, but most likely the prettiest canteen in any of Delhi’s colleges. There’s indoor as well as outdoor seating. However, if it’s raining, no matter how nice it looks, choose to sit inside-the tarp that serves as the ceiling for the terrace is torn in places. The menu’s fixed on a day basis. I went on a Saturday, when they serve Kadhi or Chicken curry. I had the latter with roti. It’s unpretentious, home style cooking. Plus the place actually caters to art students (and craftspeople?), rather than the poseurs who frequent Cafe Lota. No that’s not ill-founded stereotyping.

Meal for one and a one-fourth person (who only drank nimbu-pani): 180 rupees. Who tips at a canteen?

USP: The very efficient staff.

*Sorry Lakshita, that description was too good to not appropriate.