Spoiler Alert: Before I start let me tell you I am not letting out the plot but I might refer to crucial plot points so if you have not watched the movie, you might do so at your own risk.
The last I had watched Fanaa was in 2006 when it had released in the theatre. Now that I am watching it ten years later I not only see the movie with new eyes but I also know that my worldview has changed significantly. The last time I saw the movie, I was still a girl, whose knowledge of the world came through what she read in the newspaper and saw in the movies. Of course, these were the only options in the pre-Youtube, pre-Google era. But of course having lived away from my country has changed my perspective significantly. And of course, writers like Basharat Peer have managed to throw some light on the opinion and circumstances in Kashmir.
When I had watched the movie the last time I had thought of it as nothing more than a Yash Chopra candy floss romance, only set in Kashmir. If you think how could I miss the militant plot of the story. No I didn't miss it but how I imagined it to be was how most Indians imagine the Kashmir issue to be, that is the terrorists who creating trouble for the valley and for its people (who want to be with India,) and that is what the soldiers are protecting the people from.
One hint of where the moviemakers stand on this is in the debate between Malini Tyagi and Susheel Rawat on why the plebiscite was never applied. Kashmir was promised the right to choose whether to join India, Pakistan or form a separate state. But according to Rawat that cannot be done, because half of the Kashmir was with Pakistan and if Pakistan does not agree on such voting, no such voting can be carried out.
Of course, thanks to reading from more than one sources has now given me a different perspective on the matter. When watching Fanaa again I know how odd it would be to show a Kashmiri girl to be patriotic, the patriotism being about India. It is hard to say that the moviemakers have not thought about this aspect, I mean Kajol saluting the Indian flag is the very first scene of the movie.
Next she is goes to Delhi for a show representing her state, since that is the only dance shown, it is hard to say why the dance was not based on showing specific cultural aspects of Kashmir and was rather pan-Indian (and again patriotic) in its theme.
That said Kajol's knowledge of her own culture can be put to question. When quoting the famous lines
Farsi Couplet:
Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast...
English Translation:
If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this...
She attributes these lines to Emperor Shahjahan, where as those lines were written by Aamir Khusrow. While other Indians might make a mistake like this, a Kashmiri girl, whose family is in interested in poetry, should not have made this mistake. Moreover, the parents' knowledge of shayari also seems limited to Bollywood songs.
Aamir Khan, who plays Rehaan Qadri, who plays a tourist guide in the first part and a Intelligence Agent for an organisation called IKF, which is fighting for a Kashmir independent from both India and Pakistan. Here is the problematic part of the movie, while Rehaan is actively working for IKF, all other Kashmiris who are revealed the nature of his work, look at him as a traitor. While rest of the India might buy this, this is not true. As complex as the situation is, people living in Kashmir perhaps will not perceive him as such.
So Rehaan is on a mission to seize, a trigger device from the Indian military. It seems that the IKF has managed to collect parts of a nuclear device from various countries but cannot deployed without a trigger. While Tabu's character Malini Tyagi (Anti-Terror Special Force) informs us that Rehaan is the master of disguises, it is never clarified how he manages to penetrate into the Indian Intelligence and other such agencies to steal other parts of the nuclear device. And how does Rawat know that the IKF do not have the trigger.
Coming back to how a Kashmiri might actually act in a situation, both Rishi Kapoor who plays Kajol's father and Kajol herself decide to stay loyal to India while sacrificing their life, happiness and stability. I am sure there might be grey areas there but from what we know this is not an entirely plausible situation.
The first time around I was taken in by the great visuals and acting skills of the actors, now knowing what I know, I find it sometimes naive and sometimes contrived that they could pass off this plot and it was a hit.
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