Verbotene Liebe

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.

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.

When a novel as renowned as Charles Dickens' Great Expectations is adapted for cinema, there's not much that can go wrong with the plot, right? After all, the original piece of work received worldwide critical acclaim, and is revered as a classic.

Abhishek Kapoor's Fitoor begs to differ. This is a pointless film, meandering along in no particular direction, stopping and starting until finally it stumbles to a rather boring halt.

For the uninitiated, Fitoor tells the story of a poor orphan boy and his childhood love for a girl who is from a rich elite family. How their social status comes in the way of their romance forms the rest of the story. Oh, and somewhere there's a disjointed flashback as well.

Aditya Roy Kapoor plays Noor (Pip) to Katrina Kaif's Firdaus (Estelle). Kapoor looks alright for the role, but his character is obsessive to the point of creepiness. It's hard to sympathize with Noor when he does the most stupid and desperate things in the name of love, shredding every bit of his self-respect.

Kaif does what she does best: look pretty and not act.

Abhishek Kapoor casts Tabu as Firdaus' mother, Begum Hazrat (Miss Havisham) and despite being burdened with a role where she hardly gets scenes to shine, she's a treat to watch. Her Urdu diction is impeccable and there's a striking resemblance to her portrayal of Ghazala from Haider. She rightfully gets top billing in the opening credits as well.

If there's one thing Abhishek Kapoor did right, it was to make Kashmir the setting of this movie. The place is majestic, as evidenced by the beautiful shots cinematographer Anay Goswami has captured.

Amit Trivedi's music stands out once again, like it always has, in a movie that doesn't deserve it. Pashmina is a gorgeously mounted song, setting the tone for the rest of the movie, only to amount to nothing.

A lot was expected from Abhishek Kapoor after his refreshing Rock On!! and the fact that he made Chetan Bhagat's worst novel into a passably good film in Kai Po Che, but here he definitely falls short of the mark.

Fitoor is a pointless adaptation, and a disjointed film. Not only does it add nothing to the original source material, but it can't even manage to do justice to Dickens' vision.

As to whether you should watch Fitoor, ask no questions and you will be told no lies!

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.

I saw the movie 3 years after its release on Netflix and to my surprise I think this is the best Aditya Roy Kapoor has done so far. I never really was into his acting before this but he surely has earned a fan. Tabu has been excellent as always! And I cannot even begin to describe the cinematography. It's beyond beautiful!!! I'd request people to just see and not judge this piece because art is only understood when you leave your judgements behind