Go see the movie for Tabu though
When one sees names like Charles Dickens, Tabu and Katrina Kaif in one sentence, it is not a “Fitoor” of mind to have some Great Expectations.
A cinematic adaptation of Dickens’s classic novel, the Great Expectations, “Fitoor” is directed by Abhishek Kapoor, starring Tabu, Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur in lead roles of Begum Hazrat Jan (Dickens Miss Havisham), Firdaus (Estella) and Noor (Pip) respectively. Set in nineteenth century, the novel revolves around the sentiments of desire, rejection, love and revulsion on the canvases of poverty and affluence.
The movie begins with Noor’s narration of the story of his life for the viewer. In an eye catching, painterly scene depicting a snowy night on the shores of Dal Lake, Sri Nagar, where young Noor has a violent encounter with an runaway Kashmiri militant (Ajay Devgan). Noor makes a connection by providing him with food and shelter for the night until he sets out to escape the oncoming soldiers.
The first few scenes show a touchingly warm depiction of life of a nine year old Kashmiri orphan living with his caring sister and brother in law who is a wood worker. Noor’s heart is in art and he is always busy drawing sketches while he helps his brother in law in his workshop. The sets of the little wood carving shop and the house where he lives are romantically attractive.
The second chapter of his life starts with a visit to the dilapidated mansion of Begum Hazrat Jan, a wealthy widow who later hires him as an apprentice. There he meets Firdaus, the beautiful heiress, whom he falls in love with. The story evolves to the times of Noor’s sister’s tragic death in a blast and the departing of the young friends/lovers when Firdaus is sent to London to study. A heartbroken Noor is ridiculed by Begum for not being worthy of Firdaus and is told to return to his world. So he does and awaits his fortune while remembering his lost love. One day, he is approached by a stranger who asks him to go to Delhi for training in the world of art, all arranged by an anonymous benefactor. Assuming it was Begum trying to help, Noor accepts and takes it to the world of glamour in Delhi. There he finds his lost love, Katrina Kaif, who is now engaged to her suitor, an equal match from a top-notch political family of Pakistan. While Katrina welcomes Noor, she does not reciprocate his passion. They both meet in London again, where Noor is set to have his dream fulfilled. He is invited to present his art at a prestigious gallery in London where Firdaus is making the final arrangements of her marriage. Travesty strikes when he finds out that the secret sponsor who helped him in his journey from the life of an orphan to the pinnacle of art was not Begum, but Jagirdar, the escapee he protected for a night in his childhood. Devastated, he returns to Kashmir. Begum, now remorseful of her own cruel plan, dies in anguish.
It is there that the movie takes a Bollywood turn from the novel and Katrina, clad in a flawless white lehnga with a three yards dupatta and black leather boots, runs a marathon from the grave of her mother to the decks of Dal Lake shouting for her love:
“Noor, Noor!! Kaha ho tum?”
Of course, the holy matrimony or the union takes place amidst cascades of styrofoam snowflakes falling only on the actors’ side of the camera, to live happily ever after.
Other than the happy ending, the movie fails to become an all pleasing experience for the viewer. Though it is difficult to keep the flow of the narrative of a sixty chapter novel in a two hour and eleven minutes’ film, I do think that the script writer could have put in a better effort at meeting this challenge. The script was unsuccessful at keeping chronological sequence of various events. In fact it was not easy to grasp the contextual details of Tabu’s dialogues with Noor unless the viewer had read and remembered the plot of Great Expectations.
The brief mentions of politics and art being related was not elaborated and appeared to be out of place. So was the slogan Noor utters as a political catchphrase when Firdaus walks out on him: “doodh maango gi tau Kheer dai gay, Kashmir maango gi tau cheer dai ge”
Though initially planned for Rekha, Tabu was incredible in the role of Begum, Miss Havisham, an eccentric woman, betrayed by her lover. She is enraged and revengeful which leads her to wreak a warped plan against love. She instils coldness and indifference in her adopted daughter towards her lover, in whom she perceives her deceiving husband who left her while she was bearing his unborn child. No one could have portrayed all these emotions better than Tabu. The ornate jewellery, the extravagant yet elegantly dull shimmer of her silk and organza dresses in the shadowy rooms of the desolate mansion is a visual treat.
Katrina, though the perfect cast for Estella, the stunningly beautiful , cold hearted, wealthy heiress who could not recognise the passion of love, fails to impress even with her embroidered lace or velvet long gowns or short, chic western outfits. She still did better than her hero, Aditya Roy Kapur, who took the advice of “playing smitten face” too seriously. Even as a viewer, I failed to understand his passion. The child star that played orphan Noor (Pip) was truly superb. The grown up Noor was not only unimpressive in his acting; he also had a difficult time in keeping an expression on his face or a shirt on his body throughout the movie. Yes he did have sinewy physique but who cares? The character demanded an expression of compassion, gentleness, the love of a passionate, poverty ridden artist who later becomes a London based nobleman. I did not get that impression from Aditya Roy Kapur.
Speaking of music, I do not remember a single song. Usually even if I do not leave the theatre humming a tune from the movie, I often find myself looking up on line, etc, for the songs later to listen more closely. This time I had no desire to do so.
In short, go see the movie for Tabu. Katrina is the same as she is in every other character she plays. Not much of Kashmir scenery there but few of the night time snow clad mountain shots with Shikaras in the Dal Lake in foreground, scenes of a derelict mansion in ruddy colours of fall with artistically choreographed role of a mysterious wealthy woman who lived there. Again, Tabu and she alone is a good reason to watch the movie.