Ken Scott directed this joint English/French film based on Romain Puertolas’s best-selling novel with the even longer title: ‘The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe’. Dhanush stars as Ajatashatru Lavash Patel, aka Aja, a con-man from India who embarks on a fantastic adventure across Europe while trying to get back to Paris. The film is a feel-good fantasy that’s occasionally a little too sweet and simplistic, but the colourful locations and an engaging performance from Dhanush ensure that it’s entertaining throughout. The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir released in Melbourne as part of the Indian Film Festival after debuting in France earlier this year, and is slated for a summer release in Australia.

The film starts in India where young Aja (Hearty Singh) lives with his mother Siringh (Amrutha Sant) and drives her to distraction with constant questions about his missing father. Siringh works in the dhobi ghat and to supplement their meagre income, Aja cons tourists on the streets of Bombay. Along with his two cousins, he steals wallets and picks pockets by distracting tourist with his magic tricks. Perhaps Aja’s greatest revelation occurs when his school lessons teach him that he is in fact poor, something that had previously never occurred to him, and which totally changes his view of the world. Another critical moment comes when he picks up an Ikea catalogue in the doctor’s surgery and instantly finds the perfect ideal for his imagination. He pictures his neighbourhood just like a catalogue page and has memorised every collection despite the difficult Swedish names. Naturally then when he discovers that his father was actually a street performer from Paris, part of his wish list is to visit Ikea and finally see all the marvellous collections for real. His mother had always talked about going to Paris, so when she dies, Aja decides to finally make the trip.

Aja’s father had sent love letters to Siringh, and armed with these, his mother’s ashes and his new passport, he sets off for Paris to find his father, and to visit Ikea. By chance he meets Marie (Erin Moriarty), an America ex-pat living and working in Paris, and immediately falls in love. They arrange to meet the next evening at the Eiffel tower, but with no money, Aja elects to stay in the Ikea store overnight, and that’s where his troubles begin. He hides in a wardrobe which is subsequently shipped off to England with Aja inside. The wardrobe is part of a load in a lorry which also contains a group of illegal immigrants and reality starts to encroach on the fantasy as they describe some of their experiences and the sad fates of others who had started the journey with them.

Aja is picked up by English customs, who then send him to Spain, along with many other displaced persons they want to deport. They all end up stuck in the no-man’s land of the airport since the Spanish authorities also deny them entry. Ken Scott keeps up the whimsey with Aja but still manages to convey the despair and hopelessness of the refugees stuck in limbo while various governments argue their fate. It may be a rose-tinted version, but the rows of sleeping bags still speaks to a problem that is all too real and still current across many countries.

Aja manages to escape and travels to Italy where he meets film star Nelly (Bérénice Bejo) before falling foul of pirates and ending up in Libya. Here, he reunites with Somalian refugee Wiraj (Barkhad Abdi) before finally making his way back to Paris. His travels are all by the most unlikely methods – a suitcase, hot-air balloon and of course by wardrobe, which keeps a fantastical atmosphere to the story, while Aja’s ability to always land on his feet adds a fairy-tale quality to the tale. Dhanush keeps the child-like innocence portrayed so well by Hearty Singh, but adds some street smarts and an ability to engineer his way out of every difficulty. It’s his warm-hearted portrayal of a rather naïve con-man that makes the story magical and more than just a series of mishaps and contrived co-incidences.

There is plenty of comedy included in the adventures as Aja struggles to cope with officials, foreign customs and occasionally his own ineptitude while trying to make it back to Paris, and Marie. Dhanush is charming and perfectly cast as the well-meaning and kind-hearted magician who seems to strike bad luck at every turn. Until he improves his karma, of course. He fits into the role well, and as always puts his heart and soul into the performance, making us all want him to get back to Paris and win the girl, even though she’s rather drab and dull in comparison. Erin Moriarty is pleasant enough as the love of Aja’s life, but there is little life or sparkle in her character and it’s her friend Julie (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse) who makes more of an impression, despite a dodgy storyline about her attempts to embrace an alternative life-style. Bérénice Bejo is much better as the Italian star and she even gets a dance routine with Dhanush, who burns up the dancefloor in his usual signature style.

Cinematographer Vincent Mathias splashes colour across the screen and makes Paris look magical, as we see it though Aja’s eyes. Italy gleams in the bright sunshine, and even Libya is colourful with all the migrants scattered across the sand dunes. There is a richness and vibrancy to every scene and the story is appealing with a good mix of comedy, adventures and magical fantasy. It is overly naïve at times, and there are rather too many chance meetings and lucky breaks for Aja, but if you want an amusing and non-taxing adventure with a feel-good storyline and charming lead, you won’t go far wrong with The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir.