Movie Review – Fitoor
Based on Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, Fitoor delves into an aura of melodrama amidst elements of art, hue and blaze. Directed by Abhisek Kapoor, Fitoor talks about heartbreaks, innocent love, vengeful and social divides. The narrative style is almost a stereotypical Bollywood about a boy who sets on to win the love of his life battling various obstacles. The story follows a young Kashimiri boy, Noor who falls for Firdaus since his childhood. Firdaus’s mother, Begum Hazrat one of the wealthiest women in town sends her daughter to London for further studies when she came to know about the duo’s love for each other. She even entices Noor to make something out of him to get Firdaus back in his life yet she makes him stop in his tracks. Noor leaves no stone unturned to win Firdaus’s love and in doing so, he was getting trapped on Begum’s plot retribution of their young and innocent love. After years, he meets his lady love when Noor gets an education scholarship in art to London funded by an unknown benefactor and he discovers that intensity of his feelings has not reduced. They get together, move apart and then come back together again. At last, they both realise that their fate is like puppets whose strings are controlled by Begum Hazrat.
Aditya as Noor shines as a performer. His charisma and passion for acting can be well seen by his performance. He has put in a lot of efforts to get the role of Noor right from his body to his looks, his performance. Tabu is the only standout. She as eccentric, neurotic yet graceful rightfully justifies her role of Begum. Her virtuosity and an inner strength to build her character’s mystique are commendable. Undoubtedly, an actress class apart. Whereas Katrina looked extremely gorgeous but expressionless acting is one of the key points that led the film to go disappointing. She mostly stays placid, especially in dramatic and romantic scenes.
The screenplay of the film falls flat be its pace, impact and narration. It needs to be crisp at parts. The story meanders and loses way in between. Dialogues seem to bit over edge dramatic. Cinematography by Anay Goswamy is a praiseworthy asset. He has beautifully shot Kashmir making it a treat for our eyes which is visually stunning. The costumes, art direction and editing department have done its bit to enhance the film. Amit Trivedi’s is one of the assets of the film. Each song of the film is an auditory delight. The director has put in a lot of efforts to bring an elemental characterization in the film as that of the play. Be it the frustrated yet carrying the elegance along, Begum Hazrat or the obsessed lover as the brooding and passionate Noor, it has been nicely portrayed and is within the enclosed space of dramatization.
The crux of the movie is actually the twist and turn between the major three characters, Noor, his muse Firdaus and mercurial Begum Hazrat who plots retribution on these youngsters. Through, the film is a magnum opulence of grandeur, passion, emotions and sheer scenic beauty but it lacks that vehemence of love and obsession. It is not romantically compelling. Watch the film for its beautiful craft worthy camera work in unveiling the heaven on earth, profound characterization, soothing music and only standout performance by Tabu.
