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'Fitoor' Obsessive Love
Obsessed with each other: Firdaus defies her mother and expresses her love to Noor (Aditya Roy Kapur)
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Obsessed with each other: Firdaus defies her mother and expresses her love to Noor (Aditya Roy Kapur).
'Fitoor' tells a love story made difficult by class differences in scenic Kashmir. While the start is slow, the rest of the movie promises to be worth the wait.
Fitoor, a Hindi film based on Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, is directed by 2009 Filmfare award winner Abhishek Kapoor. Shot in Kashmir, the movie is the story of Noor, played by Mohammed Abrar. He recalls his life when he was young living with his sister and her husband while going to school and developing his exquisite talent for painting. One evening as he was walks across a bridge near his house, he bumps into Muazzam, a fugitive. The latter demands food and warm clothing from him. The young Noor obediently goes to his home and packs some food and a blanket and takes them to Muazzam. When the police come looking for him that night, Muazzam manages to escape.
The next day young Noor gets reprimanded for coming home late. He keeps quiet about the incident with Muazzam. His sister's husband takes his side and tells his wife he was busy drawing. Noor's brother-in-law advises him to design some good pictures to offer to the Queen.
The next day young Noor and his brother-in-law are given a job fixing a window at the Queen's house. On the premises he sees young Firdaus (Tunisha Sharma) riding a horse and is mesmerized by her beauty. He could not help but stare continuously. The young girl, upon seeing him, notices one of his shoes has a hole in it.
Young Firdaus grabs Noor and takes him to her mother Begum Hizrat (Tabu) who is found sitting in the corner of her room puffing from a hookah. Firdaus presents Noor to her mother, who instantly sees the love-drugged look in Firdaus' eyes. Begum offers the boy a job in her house, as well as food and clothing. Thereafter, the two young kids spend time together and Noor's love for Firdaus grows stronger.
A few days later, Noor walks into downtown Kashmir with his brother-in-law to meet his sister. As she approaches Noor and her husband, a bomb explodes, killing her. Noor is heartbroken and when he doesn't see Firdaus on the day of the funeral he runs to her house to look for her, only to find Begum in her usual corner of her room. Begum sees the tears in Noor's eyes and knows that he is looking for comfort from her daughter, but she doesn't care. She has already sent Firdaus to London for fear of more bombings.
The young Noor never forgets about his first love as he grows into a handsome young man. He opens a shop selling his own creations. Begum finds him in the shop when purchasing a painting and the grown-up Noor asks about Firdaus. Begum informs him that she is in Delhi. She promises to pass on Noor's (Aditya Roy Kapur) good wishes.
A few days later, a man approaches Noor and informs him that he is the recipient of an art scholarship in Delhi from an anonymous person. Upon reaching Delhi, he gets guided by a curator named Leena Becker (Lara Dutta). He also makes friends with Aarif (Kunaal Khyaan) who takes him to a magnificent party where he sees Firdaus (Katrina Kaif).
Noor's feelings for Firdaus have never changed and he is still very much in love with her. While Firdaus flirts with Noor, she informs him that she is dating Bilal (Rahul Bhat), the son of a Pakistani minister, and is about to become engaged. This information does not distract Noor and he continues to pursue her. Though starting to fall in love with Noor, Firdaus stops herself because Begum has prohibited her from doing so. Begum had in fact used Noor to try to heal wounds from her own sad love story.
Begum had once fallen in love with a poor man against her parents' wishes. She had attempted to elope with him, taking jewelry with her, but on the bus her lover Mufti (Akshay Oberoi) had disappeared, taking her jewelry with him. She had never married. Firdaus was an orphan given to her by an employee whose wife had passed away when delivering her. She had brought up Firdaus like a princess and taught her never to settle for any man lesser than herself.
Noor's talent flourishes in the Delhi art scene, as does his courtship with Firdaus. He seduces Firdaus, but she leaves him the next morning. Noor follows her to Kashmir and when he sees her she behaves as if nothing happened between them. His brother-in-law hears that he is back and asks him to visit, but brokenhearted by Firdaus, he doesn't. He returns to Delhi, his work lagging because of his problems.
At an art auction, Noor meets Firdaus and Bilal. When Firdaus goes out for a smoke, Noor follows her, and in their conversation Firdaus tells him that she won't settle for him because of his background. Noor protests: What about their love and what happened between them? She tells Noor that Bilal is the man for her.
A mystery unfolds in the end, though Fitoor is sluggish at the beginning. Abhishek manages to capture the breath-taking scenery of Kashmir but lacks the power to narrate the story perfectly. The film at some point gets confusing, because it is only in the second half that Begum's own love story is revealed. When Abhishek reveals Begum's love story, he uses a different actress, Aditi Rao Hydari. This is also confusing because viewers cannot tell if she is Begum or not. Muazzam's role is also unclear, and not in tune with the story. He had met Noor on the bridge when they were young and 15 years later he reciprocates the kindness Noor had shown, anonymously. One wonders why?
Viewers should concentrate hard to be sure they understand this movie. Aditya and Katrina's performances are not compelling, however, which makes this harder. Katrina's role in Fitoor is not very different to her role in Jab Tak Hai Jaan where she also played a confused love-struck woman. Aditya's innocence is convincing but he does not portray love profusely. His characters love cannot be felt ' and it needs to be. There is also hardly any chemistry between Katrina and Aditya. Tabu's performance as Begum on the other hand is a prize winner, bringing life to the film. Superb cinematography also enhances the film's quality.
Like many Hindi films, the music and dances are very entertaining. The emotional lyrics of the song Yeh Fitoor Mera in the background are a heart tingler! Fitoor is a must watch.
