The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir

Ajatashatru "Aja" Lavash Patel (Dhanush), 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. 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 (Erin Moriarty) 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, while being pursued by Parisian taxi-driver Gustave Palourde (Gérard Jugnot), whom he swindled out of a cab fare back in Paris. Along the way, he befriends a Somali man named Wiraj (Barkhad Abdi), an illegal immigrant whom he met on the way to London.

• Dhanush as Ajatashatru "Aja" Lavash Patel
• 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

The film was launched in January 2016 with Iranian director Marjane Satrapi and actors Dhanush, Uma Thurman, and Alexandra Daddario in the lead roles.[7] However, the director left the project and was replaced by Canadian director Ken Scott. Thurman's role was given to French actress Bérénice Bejo.[8] The filming began in May 2017 in Mumbai. In its first schedule the principal photography took place in India, Brussels, Paris and Rome.[4]

The film trailer for Australia was launched in August 2018 by Icon Films Australia & New Zealand on YouTube.[9] For release in India the official trailer was launched on 3 June 2019 by Zee Music Company. It fetched more than 5 million views since its release on YouTube.[10]

The Extraordinary Journey of The Fakir released on 30 May 2018 in France.[5] The film was released in India, USA, Canada, UK, Singapore and Malaysia on 21 June 2019.[1] The film was also dubbed in Tamil as Pakkiri benefiting off Dhanush's popularity. The makers had previously considered the title Vaazhkaiyai Thedi Naanum Poren for the dubbed version.[11]

The music of the songs is composed by Amit Trivedi, with lyrics by Anvita Dutt. The chorus singers are Rajiv Sundaresan and Suhas Sawant in the song "Madaari". The Zee Music Company holds the right.[12]

The film won two international awards: in 2018 it won in Norwegian International Film Festival the Ray of Sunshine Award[13] and in 2019 in Barcelona Sant-Jordi International Film Festival, it won an award for Best Comedy.[14]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 5.31/10. 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."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 8 critics.[16]

The New York Times states that the film is "a bustling, whimsical voyage.”[17]

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir fared poorly at the box office, grossing $3.26 million against a $20 million budget.[18]

• The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir at IMDb