The film based on Romain Puértolas’ best-selling novel, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, will hit the theatres in Canada, June 21.

South Indian superstar Dhanush plays Ajatashatru Lavash Patel or Aja in the soon-to-be-released, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir.
Directed by Canadian filmmaker Ken Scott and co-produced by France, India, and Belgium, the film also features Berenice Bejo, Barkhad Abdi, Erin Moriarty, and Abel Jafri as well as Gérard Jugnot, Ben Miller, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, and Stefano Cassetti.

Distributors A-Z Films will release the much-anticipated film in theatres across Canada, June 21.

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir won the audience award for “Best Comedy” at the Barcelona Sant-Jordi International Film Festival recently and was part of the 2019 IFFSA Toronto.

Scott adapted the film from Romain Puértolas’ best-selling novel, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe.

 In The Extraordinary Journey, Dhanush plays a goofy street hustler from Mumbai who embarks on an extraordinary voyage across Europe in search of his estranged father.

During the sojourn, he finds love in a Swedish furniture store in Paris, but danger ensues when he also finds trouble with Somalian migrants. Though other twists and turns, Aja ends up in London and stumbles upon some fortune in Rome.

“This film is a universal story that is a joy ride for every member of the family,” says A-Z Film’s Antoine Zeind. “Director Ken Scott has done a remarkable job bringing together many parts of the world and mixing in plenty of emotion through laughs, storytelling, and social commentary. I know Canadians will be very taken by The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir and I’m excited to bring this adventure to them.”

Here’s a bit of Dhanush trivia:

• His first film was Thulluvadho Ilamai, a 2002 coming-of-age film was directed by his father, Kasthuri Raja.
• Dhanush has starred in over 25 films and received the “Best Actor” award at the 58th National Film Awards for his performance in Aadukalam (2010).
• In 2011, Dhanush received international attention for his song Why this Kolaveri Di

Read on as Dhanush speaks candidly to his fans and audiences about:

The screenplay

“It had 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.”

On his character Aja

“He is a street magician. He is charming and can get out of sticky situations most of the time. But he is also a character who most viewers can identify with because he is truly philosophical about life – and doesn’t hesitate to take off on a mind-blowing adventure.”

Film’s director Ken Scott

“He 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 teamwork; with him, I felt like we were building scenes together, getting inspiration from both his approach and mine. I learned a lot with him.”

Work method

“I didn’t have time to do readings or rehearsals, but in retrospect, I’m really happy about that. Because I was able to keep a certain freshness and spontaneity that I wouldn’t necessarily have had if we had rehearsed.”

Dancing

“It’s an art that is an integral part of Indian culture. I’ve done more than thirty films in India, and in most of them, I had dance scenes. Since I’m used to dancing on a regular basis, I didn’t really need to do any preparation for that.”

A different world

“Probably the most difficult thing for me was adapting to a world so radically different from what I am used to. I had to get accustomed to different work methods and a different shooting style. During the first week, it was pretty tough for me, but after that, I really had a blast!”

 You can check out a couple of tracks from the film including Jaadu Ka Pitaara and #Madaari song sung by Vishal Dadlani and Nikhita Gandhi and music by Amit Trivedi at https://youtu.be/-UPuJATvHmc.