Feb 12, 2016 06:04 PM
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“Take nothing on its Looks, Take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule” - Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
The greatness of Charles Dickens’ one of the most celebrated novel “Great Expectations” lies in its narrative flow, in its ability to present different literary genre, in its representation of the class conflict of the Victorian era, the moral dilemma or rather the lack of it, in capturing the social and emotional isolation of its characters and the meticulous care with which the characters were developed, from an weird, jilted Miss Havisham to the coquettish Estella. Hence its adaptation requires depth, sensitivity and emotional resonance.
Unfortunately director Abhishek Kapoor who had previously adapted Chetan Bhagat’s “The 3 Mistakes of My Life” doesn’t see the broad line that differentiates a Dickens’s Classic from a Bhagat‘s “Literature”. The result – a beautiful mannequin, how I wish he would have made some attempt to breathe life into it. Neither the breathtaking cinematography of Anay Goswami, capturing the ethereal Kashmir, nor an usually brilliant Tabu or Amit Trivedi’s lilting music could save film that has been written badly. Talking about mannequin, the film’s leading lady Katrina Kaif, who debuted 13 years back( remember Boom!) continues not to exercise her facial muscles too much, the result – those standard dumb expressions .She looks so disinterested that in many scenes featuring her, during her dialogue delivery, the camera is facing her back, sparing us the horror of looking at her expressionless face. Aditya Roy Kapoor starts from where he left in Ashique 2, drunk and disoriented. Playing the character of Pip requires depth, Aditya instead has been asked to display muscles, which he gleefully does. To be fair to him, the role requires certain maturity that comes with experience.
However not everything is wrong with Fitoor. In fact the film starts on a promising note. The young Noor enticed by the cute Firdaus with a snow clad Kashmir as backdrop looked magical. Their Impish innocence, their chemistry, as Noor started falling in love with Firdaus looked believable. The class difference seemed real. Yet as the story progressed it started losing its soul. Noor’s movement to Delhi and then to London happened in jiffy. The plot started getting disoriented. Aditi Rao Hyderi, playing a young Tabu, seemed unbelievable. And from there on it was a downward journey. Fitoor’s biggest disappointment, besides its casting, is the way its dialogues been written and delivered. They never seem natural.
I will go out with 2 out of 5 for Fitoor. It can be celebrated as a great initiative towards “Incredible Kashmir “campaign, but Great Expectations, no way!
