For all the promise it shows, “Fan” ends up as a disappointment for its unwillingness to explore the complicated, at times unfathomable relationship between an actor and his fans, and for reducing it to an average thriller.

SRK is on top of his game and so is director Maneesh Sharma. Some of his decisions are real aces. The no song-and-dance approach really adds to the film’s experience. The background score as well as the cinematography add to the director’s vision. Even though the film is two and a half hours in length, it feels breezy. This is definitely a taut film. It takes a fresh concept and adds the right amount of zing to it. You could argue with the formulaic approach, but the usual thrills and spills don’t rob the story of its impact. Both the star and the fan have their grey shades. And that’s what makes Fan a smart film.

At the end of the day, it’s up to King Khan to save the film from itself, and, for the first time in years, the man delivers.

It’s an intriguing journey that Manish Sharma weaves, but one that, unfortunately, doesn’t end well.

Though Fan is far from being perfect, it urges us to think about issues relating to stardom, fandom, idolatry and public expectations from famous people without overtly appearing to do so. It is suspenseful without beating drums and clanging cymbals around its many twists and turns. Much of its appeal lies in the fact that the central characters are not stereotyped. Besides, when Shah Rukh Khan decides to go real and understated, it always makes for compelling viewing.

Fan is a good entertainer, not an outstanding one. Its first half is enjoyable but the post-interval portion is less entertaining and the climax is a big letdown. It will, of course, make profits but a long run at the cinemas is ruled out. Business in multiplexes and cities will be better than in the single-screen cinemas and small centres. Classes will like the film more than the masses.

Fan is a riveting story, well-told, sans any song and dance. And if you thought Shah Rukh Khan has forgotten how to act (refer to his recent work), think again. Just when critics were tempted to write him off (as they are doing to Aryan Khanna in the film), he’s back with a performance that deserves applause. Way to go, Gaurav (I mean Aryan) (No wait, SRK)!

It’s rarely that I have seen an audience step out of the theatre so sombrely after a Shah Rukh Khan movie. Perhaps in the mood and flow of the film which isn’t quite as light-hearted and feel-good as SRK starrers are preordained to be. Fan is completely out of SRK’s comfort zone. There is hardly any romance, not a single song, little to laugh about. Instead there is plenty of action, chases and unbridled emotions of the very dark and serious kind – in a film that’s all about a fan’s pursuit of the star and then the star trying to hunt down the fan.

Khan is predictably effective as Aryan, but he is solid as Gaurav. Stripped of the head tilts and gestures that have made him a latter-day Dev Anand, Khan is menacing as the deranged admirer who loses his balance and goes to extreme lengths to teach his icon a lesson. Khan commands the screen in a movie that is effectively a two-hander despite the presence of minor characters (Waluscha De Sousa as Aryan’s wife, Sayani Gupta as his secretary, Deepika Amin and Yogendra Tikku as Gaurav’s parents).