Fitoor Movie Review

Bollywood has been going through a renaissance lately with content driven cinema beating out extra commercial potboilers. This has made it tough for actors like Katrina Kaif, who once ruled the roost due to her looks, but has now been overtaken by Deepika Padukone. So Katrina has a point to prove. Can she emote? Can she act? Fitoor could be the answer. Abhishek Kapoor has made two hit films like Rock On and Kai Po Che. Choosing an epic like the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations to adapt in Hindi is a huge gamble. Does it work out eventually? Let’s find out.

Story: Noor (Aditya) is an orphan who lives in Kashmir. He is looked after by his sister. His life changes when he falls in love with a rich girl called Firdaus (Katrina). They both become friends quickly and bond well. But Begum Hazrat (Tabu) who is the adoptive mother of Noor sends Firdaus abroad for her studies when Noor is recovering from the death of his sister. Noor is obviously heartbroken at the back to back twin tragedies of his life. Years pass by, Noor becomes a talented artist and earns a scholarship to go study in Delhi. There he comes across Firdaus once more and discovers his love for her is still intact. But Firdaus is engaged. Is Noor able to get his first love? How does Begum deal with the new proceedings? Watch the movie to find out.

Story and Screenplay: Abhishek Kapoor clearly has grand ambitions. He tries to adapt a story as complex as Great Expectations into an Indian milieu. He mostly gets it right with how he sets the movie but everything else is a hot mess (with a cold setting). The script meanders, takes far too long to come to the point. The story moves ever too slowly and the subplots take away from the main love story. What could have been a passionate love story has almost no love/romantic scenes. A lot of the tonal inconsistencies arise from the loose adaptation of the great material. Maybe, just maybe, Abhishek Kapoor should stick to adapting Chetan Bhagat’s books for the big screen.

Fitoor is gloriously shot. It is one of the best looking films of recent times. This is achieved due to the breathtaking landscapes of Kashmir, the fantastic cinematography, the great looking actors, and the lavishly put together costumes. Sadly, the editing lags and lacks any slickness. The film goes on for far too long. Even the music by Amit Trivedi doesn’t make too much of a difference. Amit needs to reinvent his music soon. And he needs to stop choosing his own voice for so many songs. None of the songs make any mark.

Acting: Fitoor lags in the acting department as the two lead actors who are supposed to have a passionate chemistry because of the surreal treatment of the source material, have next to zero chemistry. They don’t even emote properly, and the dialogues are just spoken, when they should be felt. Aditya Roy Kapur is still the better of the two and tries his hardest to make it worthwhile. Katrina Kaif fails once again to make a mark with her acting skills. She feels like a life-like doll throughout the film. You’d think with over more than a decade in the industry, she would’ve learnt to act, but alas it was not to be. Even Tabu doesn’t shine like she normally does. Her dialogues are stale, and it shows in her expressions. Maybe she knew this but didn’t want to pass on such an iconic literary character after Rekha left the part. The script is partly to blame for the acting debacle. Even a cameo by a big actor doesn’t make the sort of impact it could have.

Conclusion: Fitoor could and should have been been adapted for the Hindi film audience by more assured writers. The adaptation ends up coming short of everyone’s great expectations. The landscape and the gorgeous frames can’t make up for the horrendous acting and tonal inconsistencies. It is too slow and meandering for any epic. The love story has almost no romantic moments (staring is not love). If you were expecting a great love story set by the iconic Dal Lake, be prepared for a dull lake. Go spend some time with your loved ones on Valentine’s Day instead of watching this slugfest.

Reasons to watch Fitoor:

• Fitoor looks amazing because of the setting
• The background score is decent
• Cinematography and costume design is lavish

Reasons to skip:

• Tonal inconsistencies throughout
• A love story with hardly any romantic scenes
• Acting is drab and lead actors have no chemistry
• The music is disappointing
• The film is far too slow and long

Rating: