Keyur Seta
Mumbai, 27 Oct 2017 7:00 IST
The Amey Wagh starrer is based on the iconic comic book character by Bhaskar Ramachandra Bhagwat.
Detectives from Bengali literature like Satyajit Ray’s Feluda and Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s Byomkesh Bakshi have found a place in Bengali cinema since a long time. Now Marathi cinema follows suit with Aditya Sarpotdar’s Faster Fene. The film is based on the famous comic book character of the same name created by author Bhaskar Ramachandra Bhagwat.
The comics were based in yesteryear, but it can safely be said that the makers have succeeded in placing the character in today’s times and provided a fresh entertainer.
Faster Fene revolves around the youngster Banesh Fene (Amey Wagh), who stays in Baneshpur with his mother. His father is no more. Banesh is no ordinary youngster. He loves solving small crimes like theft using his mental faculties. Banesh visits Pune to appear for his medical entrance exam. He stays at his uncle’s (Dilip Prabhavalkar's) place. He impresses him straightaway by solving a case of theft at his place.
Banesh befriends Dhanesh (Om Bhutkar) just minutes before the start of his exam. After the exam, he is shocked to learn that Dhanesh committed suicide at the college itself. Banesh refuses to believe it is suicide and tries solving the case on his own as the police show no interest in his theory of murder.
But Banesh is unaware that he is pitted against the dreaded admission agent Appa (Girish Kulkarni), who is ready to go to any lengths to fulfil his nefarious motives.
Serious on-screen detectives are mostly grown-up men. Even the amateur ones are usually proper adults. But Banesh is a rare example of a young man barely out of his teens taking on some mighty forces. More importantly and thankfully, it doesn’t look far-fetched. Most of the times, we are convinced about his actions and their outcomes.
But Banesh is not just an adventurous bloke. His kind heart is the reason you root for him. For example, his relation with a boy from the slums.
But what really keeps the film going is the quick-paced screenplay, convincing presentation, well-etched characters and creative dialogues. The last is a surprise because we generally do not get to hear such deep-meaning, philosophical lines in a thriller.
Good-versus-evil thrillers have a tendency of going downhill or losing their fizz after the interval. As this doesn’t happen here and the tempo is kept up, Faster Fene turns out to be thoroughly satisfying. This has probably also got to do with the exploration of the subject of corruption in medical studies.
The noticeable negative point is that too much of creative liberty is taken. On quite a few occasions, things happen very conveniently for Banesh.
The contribution of the background score can’t be ignored in the overall effect. The signature tune, which is heard in the promos, enhances the impact of the proceedings. Don’t be surprised if this turns out to be a popular caller tune with youngsters. Apart from this, there are other impressive sounds that add thrill to the film.
Milind Jog’s cemerawork is excellent. It is difficult to remember the last time Pune was shot this way through a bird’s eye view. The editing and packaging of the film are also impressive.
The makers should be lauded for not including a single song because, frankly, there is no place for it in the storyline. Even the promotional video featuring producer Riteish Deshmukh is not to be found in the film, and rightly so.
Amey Wagh is going through a positive phase. He was praised for his act in Muramba earlier this year. With Faster Fene, he takes his career graph higher. He not only fits the character of Banesh Fene perfectly, he delivers a meticulous act.
Girish Kulkarni is once again brilliant as the negative character. He frightens you every time he arrives on screen. But at the same time, there is an undercurrent of humour, which makes his act more enjoyable.
The veteran Dilip Prabhavalkar has played a senior citizen many times in recent years. But he still brings in something new to each act of his, like he has here.
Child actor Shubham More, who was lauded for his performance in Half Ticket (2016), is adorable once again. Parna Pethe as the journalist and Shrikant Yadav as the police officer offer decent support. Siddharth Jadhav is funny in a cameo.
Overall, Faster Fene is an entertaining detective saga that leaves you feeling satisfied.