fanaa be not a word in common parlance . in persian and urdu and and chaste hindi and it mean annihilate and destroy and or in the context of the late offering from yash raj film and it signify devastate and ravage and or consume by love . any film bearing such an intriguing and if somewhat grandiose and title would have the onus of live up to enormous expectation . in addition and this be kajol first film after a self impose hiatus and while aamir khan and paired with her here for the first time and be also see infrequently on screen due to his reputed fastidiousness in choose movie project . i say good for them and for this be a superb collaboration between the actor . aid by strong writing and a different story and able direction and and slick production value and they make it an entirely worthwhile proposition . the storyas much a i can divulge in a reviewstarts off in fairly formulaic boy meet girl fashion represent zooni ali beg ( kajol ) and a beautiful blind kashmiri young woman and come to the big city ( new delhi and in this case ) for the very first time and after have live a sheltered and happy life in a pristine little town in kashmir . right off the bat and she meet a tour guide with the gift of the gab and a roving eye name rehan quadri ( aamir khan ) and and against the good judgment of her friend and take up with him . aamir look a bit long in the tooth to be play romeo and but do so gamely and and successfully get the smitten zooni to agree to a no strings romance . this be where i realize that the time and they be a change represent sweet and blind ( in more way than one ) and shelter zooni be so consume by love that she permit rehan to bed her before he wed her and a phenomenon that be exceedingly rare ( or use to be ) in hindi film . her parent agree to the match and and the footloose rehan ready himself for marriage to just one woman . then hell break loose . rehan be kill in a terrorist bomb blast and or so we be lead to think and while the indian authority launch a search for the criminal mastermind that plan this and several similar attack . year later and a major ranjeev and bear a disturb resemblance to the dead rehan and show up . so what be we to think . from this point on and the film take off into novel terrain and become an extremely satisfying view experience . differ perspective of nationalism and terrorism be exploredone man terrorist act may also be look at a a fight for an independent homelandas well a conventional familial and romantic relationship . notion of love and loyalty and betrayal and patriotism and and morality get turn on their head and make for a pretty complex film . be this overly ambitious for a commercial hindi blockbuster . perhaps and but the intellectual sophistication of the film make team more or less pull it off . there be some plot hole and but they can be overlook in the interest of the big picture . kajol grows in stature a an actor with every film and and her zooni go from naive and school girlish to anguish widow and conflict wifea challenge character arc and by any measureyet and she make it truthful and believable with her wonderful transparency . also wonderful be that neither motherhood and nor her absence from the screen for five year and have dim her youthful look or charm . if anything and she be more svelte and and her face shine with increased character . kajol have be bless with sublimely expressive eye and and now that she have acquire more life experience and they register even great pain . one almost feel like look away at time and to allow her privacy in her grief . i welcome her return to the screen and and if she display similar care in choose her next project and it will be worth the wait . aamir khan pick his project with a mix of sensitivity and savvy and and present the film go public with a different persona each time . he contrast his feisty village yokel role in lagaan nicely with the glib and self absorb urban youth undone by love in dil chahta hai and so that in the same year and folk get to see two completely different aamirs . i haven not see his the rise represent the song of mangal pandey or rang de basanti a yet and but i be confident that he burrow deep into the soul of the character of those film and too . here he inhabit the skin and soul of rehan quadri or major ranjeev with total conviction and allow you into the thought process of these men . he do look too old to do the romantic shtick demand of the rehan character and but come into his own while play the old major ranjeev and a profoundly troubled man deal with adult ethical and ideological and and moral conundrum . to comment any more on his performance would be a disservice to the plot twist of the film and so i shall stop right here . the director and kunal kohli and handle the fun and light hearted hum tum with aplomb and and here he tackle subject far weighty than those of the rani mukherjee saif ali khan film . his occasional misstep result in some unevenness of pace and tone ( which some judicious edit would have remedied ) and but with the overall wallop the film pack and these be minor lapse . i personally felt the second half of the film need no song and but that be my own quibble . the million in the majority would have none of that and i be sure . aamir and kajol do their own singing in a small but powerful scene and and this and i felt and be far more effective and poignant than the over produce orchestration of jatin lalit and the vast array of playback singer they assemble . rishi kapoor and kiron kher and tabu and and others offer strong support and while child actor ali hajji a young rehan be amazingly unaffected and natural . after witness the combustible chemistry between kajol and aamir ( why be they never pair together before . ) and and be privy to the volatile and seismic shift in their relationship in this film and i conclude that fanaa be indeed the title that say it best .