Fanney Khan

In June 2016, it was announced that Anil Kapoor would play the lead role in a Rakesh Omprakash Mehra production, which was tentatively titled Fanney Khan.[4] The film is an official remake of the Dominique Deruddere-directed Belgian Dutch-language satirical comedy Everybody's Famous! (2001).[5] The original was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 73rd Academy Awards, and follows the relationship between a father and her teenage girl, whom he forces to be a singer.[5] Fanney Khan was directed by debutant Atul Manjrekar, who had previously directed television advertisements and was a close associate of Mehra.[4] Other than Kapoor and Mehra, members of the cast and crew were not finalized when the production was announced.[5] Musical recording and other preparations began on 20 June 2016, and auditions were initiated for the role of two teenage characters.[4]

Prernaa Arora of KriArj Entertainment wanted Aishwarya Rai to play the character and directly approached her.[6] The announcement also declared that the role of the pop singer would be played by Rai.[7] Arjun N. Kapoor of KriArj conveyed that the film dealt with a father-daughter relationship and said, "Fanney Khan is a very emotional story that needs to be told."[8] The film marked the third collaboration between Kapoor and Rai after Taal (1999) and Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000).[9]

In August 2017, reports suggested that R. Madhavan was being considered to play the romantic interest of Rai's character.[10] Arora declined to acknowledge the rumors, adding that she couldn't confirm the news before anything was decided.[11] She stated that Mehra and Manjrekar were searching for a suited actor to play the character up to that time.[12] On 31 August 2017, Madhavan stated that he couldn't play a role in the film owing to conflicting schedules with his other films.[13] On the same day, Mehra publicly revealed that Rajkummar Rao would play the role opposite Rai through his Twitter handle.[14] Rao stated that he would attend workshops and readings in preparation after filming for the web-series Bose: Dead/Alive in Poland.[15]

Mehra initially approached Kapoor in 2013 with the idea of a remake and gave him a DVD of Everybody's Famous!.[16] At the time, Kapoor did not take Mehra's request seriously.[16] During the production of Mirzya, which was directed by Mehra and starred Kapoor's son Harshvardhan Kapoor, he was approached again by the film's financer and distributor to consider the proposal.[16] Kapoor then watched the original, and realized that he was foolish in not agreeing to do the film earlier.[16] Mehra and Kapoor then procured the rights to remake Everybody's Famous! from its makers.[16] He played the role of a middle-aged singer and father in Fanney Khan, which was the second time he portrayed a singer in his career after Woh Saat Din (1983).[17] Kapoor felt that no film in Bollywood had previously dealt with the subject of body-shaming.[16] The film's subject also has parallels to his real life.[16]

Manjrekar joined the film after Mehra asked him if he wanted to direct the subject.[18] He felt that it was a relevant subject.[19] Manjrekar felt that the film merely retained the "soul and essence" of the original.[20]

Principal photography of Fanney Khan commenced on 3 September 2017 in Mumbai.[21] The initial filming schedule only included Kapoor, Divya Dutta and debutant actress Pihu Sand. Both Rao and Rai later joined the film on 3 October 2017.[22] On 6 October 2017, Rai refused to film as she was not satisfied with the costumes assigned to her; as a result, shooting was postponed to late October and Rai's costume designer, Manish Malhotra, was asked to redesign the clothes.[23]

Filming was supposed to resume on 26 October 2017, but was further postponed after Rao fractured his leg while filming for the Farah Khan and Ali Asgar-hosted television show Lip Sing Battle.[24] Eventually, Rai began filming her scenes along with Kapoor on 5 November 2017 in Mumbai.[25] While filming, some photographs featuring Kapoor and Rai were leaked from the set.[26] In April 2018, filming was stalled by unpaid crew members,[27] becoming the fourth time a KriArj Entertainment production was entangled in a financial controversy.[28] KriArj had had to part ways with Parmanu (2018), Kedarnath and Batti Gul Meter Chalu after in light of similar issues.[29] In May 2018, the company opted out of Fanney Khan to resolve all matters concerning the production house;[30] Bhushan Kumar of T-Series took over the task of completing the production.[31]

Rai's introduction song, titled "Mohabbat", was choreographed by Frank Gatson Jr., who had previously worked with Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Rihanna, among others.[32] In June 2018, Rai completed the rehearsal for her entry sequence.[33] On 19 June 2018, the final filming schedule was completed at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai.[34] A wrap-up party was held at the studio and was attended by all members of the cast.[35]