WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Wealth vs. poverty. Class vs. class. Intent vs. reality. Love vs. rejection. All are timeless themes, found in countless stories from all over the world. Yet amidst these universal struggles, the latter elements involving love so often echo the most in our minds and affect us most in our hearts. It is an age-old battle to find out if love can truly conquer all obstacles. As a young boy of 13, Noor (Mohammed Abrar) came from a poor village in strife-filled Kashmir. Shaped by an encounter with a fugitive, artistic notions, and a family tragedy, his ultimate solace was the friendship and infatuation with the daughter of Begum (Tabu), Firdaus (Tunisha Sharma). Sadly, circumstances soon take them away from youth’s innocence.
Now, 10 years later, Noor (Aditya Roy Kapoor) has grown to become a successful artist under the wing of Delhi gallery professional Leena (Lara Dutta) and fellow artists. Noor’s accomplishments suddenly pale, however, when events unexpectedly bring him back into Firdaus’ (Katrina Kaif) path. Resisting his advances yet inexplicably drawn to him, Noor and Firdaus play a dangerous game of rediscovering a love that was dormant for her and still burning within him, even as she advises marriage to a wealthy businessman, Bilal (Rahul Bhat), is pending. Meanwhile, tensions mount between Noor and Begum, even when a broken past as a young woman (Aditi Rao Hydari) casts a tragic understanding on her resistance to Noor and Firdaus’ love.
Soon, it becomes the ultimate test for mistakes being made to be corrected, for realizing what lies have been lived, what truths have been glossed over, and that following one’s heart in love is the only genuine answer.
Next, my Mind:
Screenplay co-writer and director Abhishek Kapoor does absolute and all-encompassing justice to the Charles Dickens classic narrative “Great Expectations” his film is based on, while more than successfully adding the unique Bollywood mood and delivery to its retelling. Invoking the deeply moving and emotionally charged love between Noor and Firdaus–how they experience it freshly as teens, lose it, then reclaim it as adults, despite others in their circles trying to keep them apart–the film keeps the viewer utterly transfixed through all 130 minutes of its runtime. Lush cinematography, almost poetic dialogue, and heart-wrenching/warming moments wrapped in haunting, impassioned music make the perfect canvas for a romance both tragic and eternally longed and hoped for.
Abrar and Sharma as the younger versions of Noor and Firdaus are quite simply perfect, reflecting the exact kind of childhood playfulness and real, even if immature, love they share between them as friends, fueling Noor’s growing admiration for her. Likewise, the adult characters, as played by Kapoor and Kaif, bring an equally intense, though far more fervent and fiery, reality to the rekindled love they experience, but also to the stormy road they endure to finally reach the place of realization needed to bring their destinies together. With the supporting, but integral, characters of Begum and Bilal, actors Tabu and Bhat very much bring out the war of class being waged within the overall narrative, and the ways they would try and manipulate things to ensure their desired outcomes.
Add the brief, but extremely potent, performance by Hydari showcasing Begum’s tortured past, and “Fitoor” is not only another Bollywood hit, but it demonstrates that, once again, concepts done before can be given fresh, vibrant life which can move a viewer to the very depths of their heart and soul.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
