Film director Ken Scott with lead actor Dhanush.

• Contributed by Kamlendra Prasad | Entertainment Editor

Dhanush fans are going all out to reinforce their love for the star by supporting his first international film The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir that hit cinemas on June 21 in Canada and other countries across the globe. 

Dhanush plays Ajatashatru Lavash Patel, a poor boy who grows up to be a street magician and embarks on an extraordinary voyage across Europe in search of his estranged father. During his trip, he finds love in a Swedish furniture store in Paris, but danger with Somalian migrants ensues and he ends up in London, then more threats follow the young man until he finds himself in Rome, where an unlikely threat shadows the hustler on to a hot-air balloon that rides across the Med.

“I really enjoyed the film,” said a fan coming out of York Cinemas in Richmond Hill in Canada on June 21.  “It was refreshing and very entertaining. What I found most interesting is it takes the life of a very ordinary person and brings out the extraordinary in it.  It is a film that everyone should see.”

“The film has a fantastic message to send out to the world, combined with irresistible humor. It was also the promise of a journey I hadn’t yet dared to take in my career. You rarely get the chance of being offered a role like that”.

– Dhanush

Dhanush who is the lead in the film co-produced by France, India and Belgium, co-stars with Berenice Bejo, Barkhad Abdi, Erin Moriarty and Abel Jafri as well as Gérard Jugnot, Ben Miller, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, and Stefano Cassetti.

The film has been adapted from Romain Puértolas’ best-selling novel The Extraordinary Journey Of The Fakir Who Got Caught In An Ikea Wardrobe.  The screenplay of the film was written by Puértolas and Luc Bossi who is also producing through his Paris-based company Brio Films. Other co-producers include Vamonos Films, Little Red Car Films, Scope Pictures, M! Capital Ventures, Impact Films and Golden Ratio Films. 

Dhanush speaks candidly to his fans and audiences about the film:

“The film has a fantastic message to send out to the world, combined with irresistible humor. It was also the promise of a journey I hadn’t yet dared to take in my career. You rarely get the chance of being offered a role like that”.

Dhanush, who didn’t have time to do readings and rehearsals, was able to keep a certain freshness and spontaneity in the film.

“Director Ken Scott is an extremely pleasant director and at the same time, he has a very clear vision of what he wants. It’s fantastic to be directed by someone who knows how to take you exactly where he wants you to go, yet allows you to make the character your own. He encourages real team work; with him, I felt like we were building scenes

together, getting inspiration from both his approach and mine. I learned a lot with him,” says Dhanush.

Meanwhile, the Madaari song from the film, sung by Vishal Dadlani and Nikhita Gandhi and music by Amit Trivedi, has everyone swinging and tapping their toes.  

The film has won many awards and is currently in cinemas, distributed in Canada by A-Z films.