''The Fakir of Venice'' is a 2019 Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Anand Surapur. The film stars

Farhan Akhtar Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, playback singer, producer, and television host who works in Hindi films. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he grew up under the influen ...

Annu Kapoor Annu Kapoor (born Anil Kapoor; 20 February 1956) is an Indian actor, singer, director, radio disc jockey, and television presenter who has appeared in over a hundred films, as well as television series. His career has spanned over 40 years as a ...

and

Kamal Sidhu Kamal Sidhu (born February 24, 1968) is a Canadian model, VJ, TV anchor and actress. She won the Miss India–Canada title in 1991, she has a successful career as presenter and show host. Early life Sidhu was born in an Indian Sikh family who ...

in the lead roles and is written by Rajesh Devraj with a story from

Homi Adajania Homi Adajania (born 1972) is an Indian film director and writer. He made his directorial debut with ''Being Cyrus'' (2006), an English-language psychological drama. He followed this with the commercially successful Hindi-language romantic comedy ...

. It was presented as Opening Night Film in April 2009 at the

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema

. It was released on 8 February 2019, 10 years after its premier. The film's release was halted for ten years due to production related issues and was Akhtar's first acting role. The music is composed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

Cast

as Adi Contractor *

as Sattar *

as Mandira *

Valentina Carnelutti Valentina Carnelutti (born 6 February 1973) is an Italian actress. She has appeared in more than 40 films since 1995. Selected filmography References External links * 1973 births Living people Italian film actresses {{Italy- ...

as Gia *

Mathieu Carrière Mathieu Carrière (; born 2 August 1950) is a German actor. Life Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's firs ...

as Massimo

Music

Songs and the background score for the film have been composed by

A.R.Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

Marketing and release

The official trailer of the film was launched on 2 January 2019.

Release

The film was scheduled to released on 1 February 2019, ten years after its premier at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2009. The film was released on 8 February 2019.

Reception

Critical response

The film has received mixed reviews. Isha Arora of ''TIMC'' giving seven stars out of ten to the film says "Surapur's directorial is a well-thought and shot movie and the brilliant performances by the two lead actors will win everyone's heart. We wish that The Fakir of Venice could have been released on the silver screen, much sooner but it's definitely worth a watch." Reza Noorani of

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

rates the film two and half out of five stars and writes "While the first half meanders and stretches on, it is in the second half when the film finds its groove. At 1 hour and 38 minutes, the film still feels a bit long. Had the makers worked on the screenplay and made it a tad more complex, it would have been a great film on how, people from different classes, connect with each other and posed bigger questions on mortality and the nature of death. But it falls short of that and ends up being a weak, sideshow at some European art fair.""

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fakir of Venice, The 2009 films Films set in Venice Indian comedy-drama films 2000s Hindi-language films Films set in Italy Films shot in Venice Films shot in Italy Films set in Veneto Films shot in Veneto