Fast forward with 'Faster Fene'

Comic book hero Faster Fene (FF) is ready for a comeback; this time to the silver screen. FF has ruled Maharashtra's heart for decades since his debut in a 20-book series by Bhaskar Ramchandra Bhagwat (fondly called Bha Ra) in the early 70s and then in a Doordarshan TV series a decade later. The film FF has been produced by Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh's Mumbai Film Company and is being presented by Zee Studios.

The film tells the story of protagonist Banesh Fene (Amey Wagh, the young TV/film/web actor with a huge female fan following) from Baneshwar who comes to Pune for his medical entrance exam. He meets writer Bhagwat Aajoba (actor Dilip Prabhavalkar who plays Gandhi in Lage Raho Munnabhai), a brilliant kid thief who becomes his sidekick – BhuBhu, a firebrand journalism aspirant and childhood friend – Aboli and others. Banesh (Lord of Arrows) prepares for the exam, and at the exam centre befriends a brilliant villager Dhanesh (Lord of Wealth) who is extremely confident about topping the exam. An incident the next day, shakes up Banesh who suspects foul play and decides to investigate. With the help of his new friends he digs deeper, only to realise the mortal danger he is in. Appa (National awardee Girish Kulkarni, the despicable coach in Dangal) the cruelest, dirtiest and deadliest manipulator of the entire education system, comes forth as Banesh's biggest challenge.

So does the amateur teenage detective stand against the age-old agent of mayhem? "You'll have to watch the film and find out," laughs director Aditya Sarpotdar whose Classmates (2015) became a runaway hit. "Though FF's print and TV avatars still evoke huge nostalgia, it faded from memory as circumstances and context of the book are at complete variance from contemporary realities." He underlines FF is not merely a cinematic representation of the book. "We've created a new story, adapting the look, get-up, ideologies and temperament from Bha Ra to today's times, but ensuring the DNA of the character stays intact. His innocence, sense of sympathy and his strong call for action are all there."

Actor Riteish Deshmukh whose company has produced FF says he wanted to work with Sarpotdar ever since Classmates. "Whodunnits fascinate me and I wanted to work with Aditya in that genre. He told me he'd toyed with working on Bha Ra's FF for long," he recounts and adds, "We built it from scratch, making it relevant, contemporary and universal. Unlike books, which can be for either children, young adults or grown-ups, cinema can appeal cross culturally across age-groups. Hollywood does it all the time. Look at the Shrek films for example. I loved them as much as any child would." He also makes it clear that FF is not only a nostalgia trip for those who have read it in their time, but also reaches out to those who have not and are being introduced to the story for the first time. Echoing him is Kshitij Patwardhan who has scripted FF: "That was how we built each character. Otherwise, if you think of the cast, that plays on your mind. You are then so caught with that actor's style it starts dictating the script. We decided to discuss casting only after the script was locked."

Though the first meetings began in March 2015, it wasn't before October 2016 that the shooting commenced. "It took long because we spent a lot of time bouncing ideas on the kind of film we envisioned and found a zone to come on the same page," says Deshmukh. "It was also about the direction of the adventure. Look at Tintin. He can be in a jungle, in outer space, in the middle of a terror attack or wherever but still be Tintin. We wanted to make FF relatable like that." According to him, Fene encourages children to be better human beings and be responsible towards society. "This is the pressing need of our times. While we've avoided pontificating, we hope the film drives home these core values that Bha Ra wrote about."

Girish Kulkarni who plays Appa says his character symbolises the many patriarchal behemoths who like to become obstacles to anyone who challenges their worldview. "The film should inspire the Fenes within us to question. We need more dialogue between divergent views. One hopes the film rekindles that spirit."

We ask Ameya Wagh, who lost nearly 10 kilos and underwent action training to look lanky, fearless, sharp and fast as Fene, if he is brave like that in real life. "No. I'm quite laid back and chilled, and definitely not brave like Fene," he says only to be interrupted by Deshmukh, "Well he got married only four months ago after courting his love for 13 years. What could be braver?"