Peter Young
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 vice versa. This film is about Fiza, a smart, intelligent and strong young 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 in any way possible. She meets different people in 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 so brilliantly narrated, so greatly pictured, so authentically and naturally portrayed and acted that you can feel a real relation to the story, to the characters and to the different situations. The dialogues are well-written and enduringly interesting. The people Fiza meets in 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, nicer 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 a shocking story development. These 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 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. Hrithik Roshan is excellent. His role is very complex and he plays it with complete ease. It's a very impressive performance, though he 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 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 song relevant and nice. "Aaja Mahiya" and "Tu Fiza Hai" are very melodious and romantic.Khalid Mohammed, a well-known film critic, apparently was fed up of all the crap around and decided to show filmmakers how to make a real and artistic film. This is a wonderfully made film in all aspects. It is authentic, it is not one-sided, it conveys emotion, fun, entertainment, tears, pain, without going to any extremes of unnecessary drama, and above-all, it has a very important message. The story is engaging and interesting, and combined with the excellent acting, never gets boring or repulsive. The cinematography is fantastic, the action is not overdone, and the background score is also exceptional. The ending is shocking and unclear but adds some mystery and lets the viewer make his own conclusions. This film is a must-watch for all those who love Bollywood films, or realistic films, or just films that make sense.
urtousetomyhoney
This movie was excellent. Before I watched this film, I haven't heard of anyone who had seen it. It came on one afternoon, and I almost passed over it. I'm glad I didn't. Jaya, Hrithic, and Karishma especially were outstanding. The music was horrible, but this is a film to watch for the great acting.Aside from the great performances by the three main characters, I thought the plot was clever. Karishma plays a devoted sister, looking for her brother after he disappears during the riots. Jaya plays the hopeful mother. Although she is told regularly that her son is dead, she never gives up hope that her son will return. Hrithic, of course, plays the son. I don't want to give away the plot, but I have to recommend this movie to all. It is very emotional. It is the type of film that will move you to tears long after it has ended.
kellyjeanne
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!
