Fiza

Having not really watched Bollywood films, since the days of the action movies of the 70's & 80's, I wasn't really interested in watching the more recent offerings from Bollywood, since I assumed they were mostly love stories and were full of songs which had no reason for being there.

But, having watched a few (subtitled) films shown as part of an Indian season over here in the UK, I've started to change my mind.

I watched Fiza last night and even though it was full of songs and was let down slightly by the second half, I was amazed to find a film dealing with the Bombay Hindu/Muslim riots of 1993 and it's consequences on a Muslim family.

It starts with the 1993. Amaan (Hrithik Roshan) lives with his mother (Jaya Bachchan) and sister Fiza (Karishma Kapoor). One night Amaan goes out into the riot-stricken streets of Bombay and disappears. We then jump to 1999 and the first half of the film then deals with the consequences, as Fiza determines to find her brother.

Through flashback we find out what happened, as Amaan finds himself a outsider in his own country, but the real reasons for his disappearance are only discovered when Fiza discovers her brother hiding out with terrorists.

I won't reveal the rest of the story, but I will say, it was refreshing to see a film from the Indian-Muslim viewpoint and having central characters who were Muslim. Being British and of Indian-Hindu descent, I hadn't really thought about it before.

I know the film isn't an in-depth look at the problem or even that it represents Indian-Muslims in general, but it did open my eyes slightly to the problems facing India today, especially since the recent (2002) Hindu/Muslim riots in Gujarat showed how bad the violence could be and how much politics played it's part in them.

One last point, the performances from the three main leads is excellent. Hrithik Roshan was much better than I expected, but Jaya Bachchan and Karishma Kapoor were really outstanding.

Although, not a perfect film and still very Bollywood in it's style, I still found it much better then the standard Bollywood fare and I would highly recommend it.

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.

Hrithik Roshan's second and film critic Khalid Mohamed's first movie is an art house film with commercial interludes, obviously deemed necessary for box office performance and integrated with various degrees of success. The film suffers and profits at the same time from the 6 song/dance numbers and one prayer. While the prayer is wonderful and convincingly marries the plot with musical and visual elements, providing an esthetic and also emotional highlight of the film, the dance number by Sushmita Sen and the disco number by Karishma Kapoor, although solid and attractive per se, look forced in the context and have little connection to the film's central themes. The Karishma-Bikram song could be easily edited out at no loss. This is less the case with the Hrithik-Neha sequence which looks and sounds great and adds some desperately needed happiness to an otherwise rather sad sequence of events. And of course it's the only time Hrithik dances. Cutting this one would probably have caused riots in cinemas. The funeral piece is also well integrated and is not an artistic liability. Finally the martial training montage is as commercial and obvious as it gets, exploiting Hrithik Roshan's 'Rambo' aspect at its fullest. Technically well done and a blessing for the box office, no doubt, but artistically a capitulation. A very guilty pleasure indeed. The reason "Fiza" is nonetheless a quite impressive debut film is due to the three leads, two seasoned performers and a newcomer, but all three giving wonderful performances, and an uncompromising look at a subject that is controversial but anything but irrelevant, the Mumbai riots of the early 90s, the ethnic and religious hatred behind it and the unscrupulous forces causing and exploiting it to further their dubious causes. Watch the movie for its cast. This is clearly Karishma Kapoor's best performance so far and likely to fetch awards. As Fiza she shows great strength, resolution and the courage to lay bare emotional depths unseen from her so far. Jaya Bachchan as the mother is solid and turns in a fine performance. Hrithik Roshan, finally, puts to rest all worries that he might be a one film wonder and no real talent. His performance is simply amazing considering this is only his second film. There is hardly one wrong note to be found. His acting comes very naturally, his facial expressions speak volumes. His riot scenes have to be seen to be believed. His screen presence is impressive. He's probably the most charismatic new actor working in films these days, and I'm not talking about India alone. His performance would be very good for an old professional. For a newcomer it's incredible. His future in India and abroad looks extremely bright if that's a standard he can uphold and probably even improve upon. This is an actor to watch very closely in the future. International superstar material.

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!

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.