#Fitoor:
“Take nothing on its Looks, Take everything on evidence.
There’s no better rule”
-
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
The greatness of Charles Dickens’ one of the most celebrated
novel “Great Expectations” lies in its narrative flow, in its ability to
present different literary genre, in its representation of the class conflict
of the Victorian era, the moral dilemma or rather the lack of it, in capturing the
social and emotional isolation of its characters and the meticulous care with
which the characters were developed, from an weird, jilted Miss Havisham to the
coquettish Estella. Hence its adaptation
requires depth, sensitivity and emotional resonance.
Unfortunately director Abhishek Kapoor who had previously
adapted Chetan Bhagat’s “The 3 Mistakes of My Life” doesn’t see the broad line that differentiates a Dickens’s Classic
from a Bhagat‘s “Literature”. The result – a beautiful mannequin, how I wish he
would have made some attempt to breathe life into it. Neither the breathtaking cinematography
of Anay Goswami , capturing the ethereal Kashmir , nor an usually brilliant
Tabu or Amit Trivedi’s lilting music could save film that has been written
badly. Talking about mannequin, the
film’s leading lady Katrina Kaif , who debuted 13 years back ( remember Boom !)
continues not to exercise her facial muscles too much , the result – those
standard dumb expressions .She looks so disinterested that in many scenes featuring
her , during her dialogue delivery ,the camera is facing her back, sparing us
the horror of looking at her expressionless face. Aditya Roy Kapoor starts from where he left in
Ashique 2, drunk and disoriented. Playing the character of Pip requires depth,
Aditya instead has been asked to display muscles, which he gleefully does. To be fair to him, the role requires certain
maturity that comes with experience.
However not everything is wrong with Fitoor. In fact the
film starts on a promising note. The young Noor enticed by the cute Firdaus
with a snow clad Kashmir as backdrop looked magical. Their Impish innocence,
their chemistry, as Noor started falling in love with Firdaus looked
believable. The class difference seemed real. Yet as the story progressed it
started losing its soul. Noor’s movement to Delhi and then to London happened
in jiffy. The plot started getting
disoriented. Aditi Rao Hyderi , playing a young Tabu, seemed unbelievable. And
from there on it was a downward journey. Fitoor’s biggest disappointment,
besides its casting, is the way its dialogues been written and delivered. They
never seem natural.
I will go out with 2 out of 5 for Fitoor. It can be celebrated as a great initiative
towards “Incredible Kashmir “campaign, but Great Expectations, no way!
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