# The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir is a 2018 adventure comedy film directed by Ken Scott and written by Scott, Romain Puertolas, and Luc Bossi. It is based on the French novel The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by Puertolas. The film stars Dhanush in the lead role, with Bérénice Bejo, Erin Moriarty, Barkhad Abdi, Gérard Jugnot, and Ben Miller as the supporting cast. The premise follows a street magician from Mumbai who embarks on a global journey to find his father. The film was shot in India, Belgium, France and Italy. This film marked Dhanush's international debut.
The film released in France on 30 May 2018 and in India, USA, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia on 21 June 2019. Alongside the English original version, a subtitled French version and a Tamil dubbed version was released owing to the popularity of Dhanush.

## Plot

Ajatashatru "Aja" Lavash Patel, who has lived all his life in a small Mumbai neighborhood, is a street magician and trickster who tricks people into believing that he possesses special magic powers. He narrates his story to three kids caught by police and are now going for a four year judicial custody.
After his mother's untimely death, he sets off on a journey to find his estranged father in Paris with a fake EUR 100 note. There, he meets a woman named Marie Riviere in a furniture store whom he initially swindles, but is quickly attracted to her personality. Aja then experiences a series of wide-ranging adventures around the world, initially in an IKEA wardrobe to London, England, then a Louis Vuitton suitcase to Rome, Italy, and a hot air balloon to a ship heading to Tripoli, Libya. In the ship, he gets robbed the money he earned by selling the shirt on which he wrote an emotional incident from his childhood. In Libya, he meets a Somali man named Wiraj, an illegal immigrant whom he met on the way to London. Together with Wiraj and group of other friends he gets back the money. In the refugee camp where Wiraj lives, he distributes all the money to the people in the camp. He has just enough money for a fake passport and ticket to India. But before going to India he goes to Paris where he meets Marie, who is now dating another guy.
He comes back to India and starts working as a teacher in school. One day Marie comes to the school and tells Aja that she has left her fiance, and then they kiss. And with this he ends his story to the three kids. He then offers those kids to be pardoned for the four year custody if they attend Aja's school daily, which they agree to.
Just before the movie ends, one of Aja's colleagues asks "Was that a true story?" and Aja replies "Yes, all of the important bits."

## Cast

* Dhanush as Ajatashatru "Aja" Lavash Patel
** Hearty Singh as young Aja
* Bérénice Bejo as Nelly Marnay
* Erin Moriarty as Marie Rivière
* Barkhad Abdi as Wiraj
* Gérard Jugnot as Gustave Palourde
* Ben Miller as Officer Smith
* Abel Jafri as Captain Fik
* Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse as Rose
* Kay Greidanus as Pieter
* Amrutha Sant as Siringh, Aja's mom
* Harshad Kumar as vegetable vendor
* Rakesh Jaiswal as Doctor
* Romain Puertolas as Thomas Grégoire

## Production

The film was launched in January 2016 with Iranian director Marjane Satrapi and actors Dhanush, Uma Thurman, and Alexandra Daddario in the lead roles. However, the director left the project and was replaced by Canadian director Ken Scott. Thurman's role was given to French actress Bérénice Bejo. The filming began in May 2017 in Mumbai. In its first schedule the principal photography took place in India, Brussels, Paris and Rome.

## Soundtrack

The score is composed by Nicolas Errera
The music of the songs is composed by Amit Trivedi, with lyrics by Anvita Dutt. The Zee Music Company holds the right.
All lyrics are written by Madhan Karky

## Release

The film trailer for Australia was launched in August 2018 by Icon Films Australia & New Zealand on YouTube. For release in India the official trailer was launched on 3 June 2019 by Zee Music Company.
The Extraordinary Journey of The Fakir released on 30 May 2018 in France as L'Extraordinaire Voyage du Fakir. The film was released in India, USA, Canada, UK, Singapore and Malaysia on 21 June 2019. The film was also dubbed in Tamil as Pakkiri (transl. Fakir) benefiting off Dhanush's popularity. The makers had previously considered the title Vaazhkaiyai Thedi Naanum Poren (transl. I too will go in search of life) for the dubbed version, which was a based off the song "Udhungada Sangu" from Velaiyilla Pattathari (2014) also starring Dhanush. Dhanush sang that same song while promoting the film in Paris. The film was made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

## Critical reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 60% based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The critics consensus reads, "The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir is undermined by its mawkish indulgences, but Dhanush's charming central performance is difficult to resist." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 8 critics.
The New York Times stated that the film is "a bustling, whimsical voyage.”

## Box office

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir fared poorly at the box office, grossing $3.26 million against a $20 million budget. This movie was a box office bomb.

## Awards and nominations

The film won two international awards:
| Year | Award | Category | Outcome | Ref. |
| 2018 | Norwegian International Film Festival | Ray of Sunshine Award | Won | |
| 2019 | Barcelona Sant-Jordi International Film Festival | Best Comedy | Won | |