I am actually happy that they warn you before the movie itself begins. Yes, for the unaware, this movie is an "adaptation of Great Expectations". For the uninitiated, this is that very same book you were made to read in Class 7, chapter by chapter, with a hope that in a class of 25 at least 5 will actually begin to "appreciate Classics". There's Pip, there's Estella and my all time favorite jilted bride turned manipulative bitch, Miss Havisham and there's Miss Havisham's wedding dress! For me atleast, after class 7 and this book, I learnt a fancy new word - bildungsroman, and discovered the magic of "To Kill a Mocking Bird", and as cliched as it may seem, became a Lawyer.Fast forward 14 years, and in 2016, the first thing I hear about Fitoor, is the great "55 Lakh Rupees Hair" Controversy, when I was listening to the radio in a friends car. Wait what! 55 lakhs? really? for hair dye? woah! Isse acha Godrej le ata! Well done, Kat. That's why I guess my friends and I found a bit too much of red in the movie, her red hair, red clothes, his red paint. The promos included Pashmina choreographed in a style akin to a very famous Ed Sheeran song, really? Come on, man.
Set in a picturesque Kashmir, a weirdly artsy Delhi full of emotional, sentimental and kind people (Where, bro?) and a cliched London with black town cars and red phone booths, this movie is a visual treat. Obviously it is a visual treat, I mean when you take two pretty faces and put them in a movie with a lot of pretty scenery, that's all you will get. It's almost as if the locales were chosen hoping to take the attention away from Katrina's blank face, Kapoor's dull acting and the zero chemistry between them. Even the kissing scenes looked boring.
Tabu, is, inevitably the saving grace of the movie. It's almost as if she has perfected the art of playing the Kashmiri begum. For the Dickens loyalists, there is no Havisham in her, nope and definitely, no unchanged wedding dress. All this and the heavy Kashmiri clothing, and bad eye makeup do not effect the sheer brilliance of her acting. Lara Dutta and Aditi Rao Hydari try to do justice to their limited roles.
The narrative is dull and boring. The final act of the movie, as opposed to the novel, only falls flat on the audience's faces. It's almost as if everyone were looking forward to pack up and leave. The dialogues are uselessly heavy, almost as if words were used just for the sake of using fancy words. The music is sublime and suits the stunning visuals. Another example where its clearly been proven that visual aesthetics and pretty main pairing, aand Aditya Roy Kapoor's abs cannot cover a limp storyline and uselessly heavy dialogues.
Watch this movie for Tabu, the locations and the sets, and maybe the music. I give it a 3 on 5.
