Fiza

Having recently seen FIZA in Bombay, I certainly understood what all the fuss about the movie is about. Addressing the highly controversial Indo-Pak issue in a fashion which may be viewed as anti-Indian, the controversy goes well beyond the Muslim-Hindu conflicts, the 1993 Bombay Riots, and India/Pakistan themes. The director has been generally panned by critics, yet the public has voted positively at the box office, making it one of the biggest Bollywood successes in recent memory. The film features Bollywood hottest young stars, and this has added fuel to the fire as well. Hrithik Roshan, the lead actor (though FIZA is his well-meaning sister's name) has been crowned as the undisputed heart throb of the Indian sub continent after this film. Following his now-classic ubiquitous Cola TV commercial, and AAGHAZ, this was expected. His fans have become so fanatical (even by Indian standards) that many have felt this role presents Hrithik in a negative light. This fact was highlighted at FIZA's first showing at the Aarti Cinema in Ludhiana. The audience felt so let down, they set a fire, destroyed theater property, and ransacked the premises. On the other side, the movie continues to be Number 1 at the Box Office, and its songs are constantly played on Indian MTV, and indeed in Pakistan, as well.......The film is high drama, Bollywood-style, with good action and great songs, with plenty of eye candy for males and females alike: the gorgeous Sushmita Sena and Karisma Kapur for males, and Hrithik Roshan leading the handsome men for the female audience. Perhaps not unexpectedly, but nevertheless bizarre, the lead stars are very fair, very non-Indian looking actors, with light eyes to boot (surely contact lenses in most cases, but nevertheless confirming a disturbing "Michael Jackson trend" in the Indian subcontinent to admire beauty as "Western beauty.") If you see only one Bollywood movie this year, or indeed, if you have never seen one, this is the one to see.

A powerful movie with superb acting from all the actors and actresses. Beautifully choreographed music. This movie was the best movie I've seen this year. Hrithik Roshan is a brilliant actor as the role he played was very demanding.Karisma Kapoor was also outstanding and the special appearance by Sushmita Sen was in a class of its own ! Go and watch the movie with an open mind. You will not be dissappointed!

My husband and I really enjoyed this movie. The music is great, and the story was really really good. I think this was a great way to introduce us to Hindi movies since the story was so compelling and included a look at Hindu/Muslim relations that Americans don't really know or understand. Plus the cinematography was beautiful. After seeing this one, we hardly watch any english language movies anymore! Go Bollywood!

Kahalid Mohamed's Fiza is one gem of a movie. This is a realistic portrayal of the consequences of war, violence, hatred, and the dehumanisation of people at times of a war. Families losing people, parents losing sons, sisters losing brothers and so on. This film is about Fiza, a smart, intelligent and strong young Muslim woman who lost her brother Aman seven years ago during the 1993 Mumbai riots. He disappeared and no one knows where he is. Meanwhile, she and her suffering mother live a poor and ordinary lifestyle. Fiza decides to go in search of her brother and is well determined to find him by any means possible. She meets different people on her way and finally meets her brother, just to find out that he is not the simple young man he used to be.

The film is brilliantly narrated, well pictured, and quite authentically portrayed and acted, so I believe most people will find it easy to relate to the story, to the characters and their different tribulations. The dialogues are well-written and they often waver between the realistic and the utterly theatrical, but that is really a nice sort of balance as far as I'm concerned. The people Fiza meets on her way represent the variety of people in our society: the bad, the good, the deceived, the corrupted, the ugly and the generous. The story changes drastically when Aman enters the picture, it becomes lighter and does lend some relief after the more intense first half. But it's just for a little while. The film soon becomes far more dramatic and intense with some shocking twists. Some of the proceedings are heart-breaking and powerful.

Karisma Kapoor delivers one of the finest performances the Hindi screen has seen. What a magnificent performance. She is natural, sincere, beautiful, charismatic, charming, and performs with great nerve, depth and conviction in every frame. She makes the feisty Fiza an unforgettable woman. One particular scene that must be noted is the one in which Fiza breaks down and starts literally mourning post a very tragic incident (see the film to understand). It is an extremely powerful and heart-rending moment of real pain and despair.

Jaya Bachchan, in one of her best performances, is amazingly compelling and moving as the hurt yet vivacious and lively Nishatbi. She displays maternal pain and later helplessness and despair with amazing depth and pathos. Her silence, as one can expect from an actress as skilled as she is, tugs at the heartstrings. Hrithik Roshan is impressively competent. His role is very complex and he plays it with complete dedication even if sometimes something is missing and it feels too starry. It's a very good performance overall, though he obviously does not create the same kind of impact as his female co-stars. Other cast members, including Asha Sachdev, Manoj Bajpai and Neha, support very well. Asha Sachdev in particular stands out in a relatively small role. She provides great comic relief with her natural sense of humour. There is also a funny sequence with Johnny Lever imitating different Indian stars.

The music is fantastic and helps to relieve the otherwise extremely serious proceedings. Sushmita Sen's number "Mehboob Mere" was effective, but the one I liked the most is Karisma's "Aankh Milaoongi" dance number. She danced very well and I found the number quite alluring despite its evident irrelevance within this film. "Aaja Mahiya" and "Tu Fiza Hai" are very melodious and romantic.

Khalid Mohammed, a well-known film critic, must have stored the idea for a real and artistic film for a long time. His attempts to draw balance between the mainstream and the so-called art cinema within this film, are a little weird at times but still, this is a wonderfully made film in all aspects. It is authentic, not one-sided, it conveys emotion, fun, entertainment, tears, pain, without going to any extremes of unnecessary drama. The story is interesting and, combined with the good acting, manages to keep the audience, and I'm speaking for myself, constantly engaged. The cinematography is fantastic, the action is not overdone (okay maybe just sometimes), and the background score is exceptional. The ending is shocking but contributes to the drama. This film is highly recommended for all those who love Bollywood films, or realistic films, or just films that make sense.

Fiza is definitely one of the better movies churned out by Bollywood in recent times. It carries a message that every religion is good but it is the politicians who are using religion as a weapon and destroying innocent families for ulterior motives. It deals with the problems being faced in India currently which have been repeatedly erupting and causing a huge dent in the economy. Since the past 50 years, every time India has got back on its feet a new politician created calamity has dragged it back down preventing it from being a power to reckon with and doing away with national problems like poverty and illiteracy which prevents people from leading a normal existence. And every time the roots of these calamities can be traced to religion. Everything is not fair in the name of religion. The film has good music and both Karisma & Hrithik have rendered superb award winning performances. Some people may feel that Hrithik's character is not very strong but looking at it from a perspective of what he is subjected to and circumstances which he cannot control make him the person portrayed in the movie. The silent scene of him in the train says it all.