Fukri is an amusing timepass family comedy directed by veteran Siddique who also acts as the Fukri family patriarch in the film. Jayasurya stars as Lucky. Lucky is a wannabe engineer who with his band of friends tries different get rich quick schemes. They accept a job for two young women caught skipping school for a Salman Khan film. They girls want Lucky to pretend to be their cousin to meet the school principal. Of course Lucky falls for the beautiful Nafsi (in the red scarf below) played by Prayaga Martin.
The girls say he is the son of their long lost uncle who left after a violent argument with their grandfather over his interfaith marriage. The girls saying that Lucky is their cousin sets everything in motion. Both his Brahmin “grandmother” and his Muslim grandfather (Fukri) then want to meet Lucky and welcome him back into the family fold. To complicate matters, the real child (Anu Sithara) of that long lost son reveals herself to Lucky.
At first Lucky and his friends are enjoying staying in the wealthy homes of his “family”, but Lucky’s good nature lends him to try to mend the rift between the two families. I’m sure you’ve suspected that the long lost son makes a dramatic appearance, and it’s Lal, so it’s quite the entrance.
Family farce comedies like this are a staple in Indian film. Mistaken identities, family feuds, arranged marriages to the wrong partner, all with happy ending wrapped in a bow.
I’ve only seen Jayasurya as a supporting player in films like Mumbai Police and Classmates, and he has impressed me in those roles. He is charming here as the mischievous scamp with a heart of gold. I don’t know if he quite though has the magnetic star power to carry a film like this however. Lal has a powerful impact as the estranged son of patriarch Fukri (Siddique). None of the actresses in the film blew me away. They were fine, but not exceptional.
I’m not sure I’ve seen another of Siddique’s Malayalam directed films, but I did enjoy the light Hindi film Bodyguard (remake of his Malayalam hit) starring Kareena Kapoor and Salman Khan.
I wouldn’t tell you to run out and catch Fukri in the theaters. It’s a decent timepass to watch on a streaming service. It had some amusing moments, but wasn’t consistently laugh out loud.
Pardesi Reviews 