Fitoor

It requires Passion & Ambition to mount a film as big & colorful as 'Fitoor'. Director Abhishek Kapoor's romantic-drama, based on Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, suffers however, due to its misguided story & bland narrative. Its beautifully shot & has moments of power, but the end result, is under-whelming.

'Fitoor' Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Noor falls in love with Firdaus, daughter of Begum, the wealthiest woman in town. As their potential romance grows despite their class issues, the vengeful Begum plots retribution on their young and innocent love.

'Fitoor' is a body beautiful, minus soul. The romantic-drama is meant to break your heart given the struggles its heartbroken protagonist faces, but you are barely invested. Reason? The Writing is misguided & you fail to understand what are the makers of this film trying to say? The intension remains unclear & despite the stunning scenery, you yearn for a story that lacks heart.

Abhishek Kapoor & Supratik Sen's Screenplay is a downer. A stronger, clearer Screenplay was the need of the day! Abhishek Kapoor's Direction is rich visually. Cinematography by Anay Goswamy is the highpoint of this enterprise. Each & Every Frame has been captured with flourish. Editing, also, is mostly crisp. Art & Costume Design are detailed. Amit Trivedi's Score is brilliant.

Performance-Wise: Tabu is electrifying as the terrifying yet grief-sticken Begum. She dominates every scene she appears in & handles her part with remarkable conviction. Aditya Roy Kapur springs a pleasant surprise. Kapoor, who's otherwise typecast as a drunk, displays true intensity here, portraying a difficult part with unexpected maturity. Katrina Kaif doesn't deliver. A better actress would've elevated the part. Talat Aziz is first-rate. Ajay Devgn is wasted in a cameo.

On the whole, 'Fitoor' is all beauty, no heart.

This movie was more about feel than watch. One imbibes a sense of beauty and serenity and is brought into a transparent world. It uses expressionistic techniques rather than the melodramatic techniques. For me this movie is for a learned audience and no actor disappoints you. They are all up to mark. It is a worth watching movie for those who love art. The visual beauty and expressionistic techniques are visible at every moment. Aditya's language needs applause as he has it, i mean the characters native accent .... Thanks to Fitoor team for such lovely feast. This movie un-tells more than it tells you and it is your imagination which is in charge. Tabu shines in the movie for her excellent acting and so do others. The young Estella is equally very impressive and so is the young Pip. Only thing that I felt was, it could have been expanded by some length and the directors cut is somehow not very genuine.

Good story and an awesome performance by Tabu and Aditya Roy kapoor. Katrina also did well

What worked:

• adaptation; it will be unfair to compare the novel with the movie but the movie overall is not bad. It takes the jest from the novel and adopts to the context of the culture and timeline. Since it keeps the main idea almost true, the movie as a storytelling works. Amit trivedi is a gem. Also interesting is the cameo of actors like Devgn and Lara Dutton's added the charm.

What did not work: -the final impact; although everything is rightly done, it fails to give the strong impact it should have, maybe because of the two main lead characters Aditya and Katrina. That being said , it's still a good watch. Final verdict: recommended, a one time watch

I had no expectations when I watched this movie on Netflix. Although I had liked the trailer at the time I had also read the poor reviews the movie had received when it released. I mainly tuned in because of the nice soundtrack and I was pleasantly surprised that this was a visually stunning and very well acted movie. All the actors depicted their characters beautifully and this was the first time we see a mother hindering her daughter from chasing love because of her own sad story. It was very well directed and a beautiful film, even if is much slower than the usual bollywood fare it was a convincing tale and captivating.