If only the director had resisted the urge to insert cliched characters and reduced the run time, “Fanney Khan” would have been an out-and-out winner.

Last year we had Advait Chandan’s Secret Superstar, on a similar theme of trying to make it big in the world of music. Despite its share of naïveté and narrative contrivances it was able to forge a connect with the audience with its emotional authenticity and freshness. Fanney Khan, unfortunately, leaves one cold.