Readers write!

Hats off to Khalid Mohamed for Fiza.

The film could have done with tighter editing. That apart, the film was immensely enjoyable.

One weakness? Neha. Surely a better actress could have been chosen? Her face appears totally expressionless whether she is romancing Hrithik, getting married or meeting Hrithik later.

Karisma Kapoor and Jaya Bachchan are brilliant. But the film does, indeed, belong to Hrithik. He does bring tears to the eyes in many scenes and is superb.

-- Sushmita Chakaravarti (20/9/2000)

I went to watch Fiza with a lot of expectations.

I was disappointed, to say the least. The film has weak storyline -- Hrithik becomes a terrorist to target anti-communal elements!). The songs were out of place. And the film reminds you of a patchworked effort!

-- Venkat K (20/9/2000)

This is one of the best films I've seen in a long while. It is also the most complete film.

The photography kept me enthralled throughout the movie. I thought the characters are well defined.

Not only have the lead protagonists done justice to their roles, but so have all the others.

-- Suresh (20/9/2000)

I wish the censors had really used their scissors in Fiza.

I am not sure what Khalid Mohamed was trying to achieve by glorifying jehad and jehadis.

I think it is criminal to glorify terrorism, especially when the country is being held to ransom by Islamic terrorists.

Khalid Mohamed has portrayed jehad as a fight against corruption, and it is ostensibly to protect both Hindus and Muslims. That's bull and rot. When the truth is that the jehadis only want an Islamic state. They have absolutely no religious tolerance.

Moreover, I think we face enough problems where terrorism is concerned without having movies which glorify it.

--Seema Sohoni

I give Fiza an 8 out of 10.

I have left 2 for the drawbacks. One is Neha and Bikram Saluja -- the man should really stick to modelling. And two, the songs in the second half were totally unnecessary.

Apart from that, I thought the way Karisma introduced Hrithik Roshan was very funny. They made a very convincing brother and sister.

Some of the scenes which haunt you are when Jaya sees Hrithik with a gun, her goodbye to Karisma before she commits suicide: Karisma was very good there -- I had tears in my eyes.

Also, Asha Sachdev as Jaya's friend has done a good job -- it's good to see old timers back again after a long time

For his second film, Hrithik has done well. His scenes with Jaya, Karisma and Manoj Bajpai were excellent. His eyes really touch your soul. The scenes which he kills someone for the first time, where he gives water to a little girl, runs away from Manoj Bajpai, the funeral scene where he gets to his mothers grave, and his taandav dance were brilliant.

The emotional scenes were very well-portrayed. Thanks to the director. Usually, emotional equates with screaming, in Indian movies.

People complained about the second half. I thought it was unfounded.

In sum, it was nice to see Jaya Bachchan in a film. The film could just turn up at the National Awards.

--Yvonne Pais

Fiza is different from the usual commercial fare we're fed.

It deals with the emotions of a family in the most beautiful way. The performances of all the stars is notable.

The music and background song were awesome. Of course, the direction was superb.

It is very easy to criticise a film, but very tough to give due credit to its strengths.

--Aarti

What I expected from Fiza was a quality movie, an intense presentation of human emotions.

What I found was a big let down.

I thought the director tried to push too many things in one movie. It was as if he had just this one chance to put in all his thoughts.

And this is evident not just from the story. It's evident from the large number of people associated with the film. It had three people for music, three people for choreography, three again for lyrics...

The caption read, Fiza: in search of her brother. But the film turned out to be a lot more than that.

Because of that, it lost its focus. There were too many messages being sent to the viewer, ultimately not putting a single point strongly enough.

The weak point of the movie was undoubtedly the script. It was hard to believe that it was from the same person who wrote Mammo and Sardari Begum. Or was it that Khalid could not deliver what his script wanted?

The 'search of the brother' turned out to be such an easy one that there was no excitement generated. And when the brother was found, it took just a couple of minutes to turn around the seven-year-militant.

But when was the search completed? Somewhere near the end of the movie? No. It was at Intermission. After which the movie moves but very loosely.

Fiza is everywhere, 'proving' her grit and determination. Amaan (the brother) again goes back to the earlier role of a militant. What goes through his mind in the meantime is just taken for granted. There is no proper explanation, just touching the things at the surface. A number of questions remain unanswered.

The movie was trying to put a lot many things at one go. That Muslims are as Indians as anyone else, that there are politicians who are trying to make a fool of everybody, that religions do not teach enmity, that inter-religious relationships are possible and so on.

It seems Khalid got a bit overtaken by some thoughts of Utopia. And because of this at times the movie drags.

There was just one character that was superbly presented and that was of Nishat Bi (Jaya Bachchan). The character seemed to be straight out of real life and the credit goes both to Jaya as well as Khalid for bringing out that on screen.

There was inconsistency in the character of Fiza (Karisma). As far as showing her grit, it was evident everywhere but a bit overdone and not subtly presented. But it is almost incredible to see a traditional middleclass Muslim family girl going to a discotheque to prove herself, or roaming in the Thar desert clad in jeans.

It was in these parts of the movie where the thoughts of Khalid overtook reality and because of which incoherence came in the character of Fiza. You need not make things unreal to prove someone modern or progressive.

In that, the character of Mehmooda Begum (Mammo), directed by Shyam Benegal and etched by Khalid himself, seemed to be more practical and determined, and straight out of real life.

But Khalid showed that he is no Benegal. The movie needs some editing to make it focus on particular issues.

The Johny Lever cameo (though a good one) appeared to be plug-in and unwarranted. The two songs (Karisma's at the disco and Sushmita's song) could have been done away with. The love angle of Fiza did not add anything. It seemed to distract the main story line.

The Hindu-Muslim politician scenes appeared to be cliché. If these could have been done away with, there would have been time for the character of Amaan (Hritik) to develop, which appeared to be very nascent. The whole character was presented quite superficially.

And Manoj Bajpai's talent was lost in the role of the leader of an extremist outfit, which had unclear goals to complete.

But there is also the positive side of the film. The performances by the three main characters are brilliant. Jaya Bachchan is superb in the character of Nishat Bi.

Considering all eyes were on Hrithik, he delivered superbly, and proved that he is here to stay. The reunion scene of Nishat Bi and her son was moving and emotional. Karisma has given a good performance.

One notable point is the Urdu pronunciation, which was near perfect throughout the movie, something unseen in present times. And I think Khalid deserves the credit for it.

The songs are melodious, but it is A R Rahman who steals the show with a top-of-the-class qawwali. Those who doubt the musical genius of Rahman should listen to Piya Haji Ali to discover his immense talent.

The cinematography by Santosh Sivan is at times brilliant, especially where general life scenes are snatched. And Khalid Mohamed's direction is exceptional in the scenes where a traditional Muslim setup is shown.

In the end, Fiza turns out an attempt at good cinema but taken away midway by commercial restraints and the director a bit confused at what exactly has to be presented. In parts the movie is outstanding but overall just an above average show.

--Faisal Mirza

A huge disappointment!

The expectation that one had from the Times Group and especially from Khalid Mohamed were astronomical. Hence the fall is that much greater!

While Karisma and Hrithik deliver, Khalid fails to deliver the goods!

Very abrupt script, almost disjointed in places. Khalid proves a poor storyteller. A very L-O-U-D movie, the shrieks and the screams follow you long after you have left the theatre (with a headache).

The audience comes out wondering about the purpose of the film as it also fails to deliver the social message that Khalid perhaps wanted to give. Some other points plague the mind:

1 Why force Sushmita Sen into the film if she doesn't have a place in the script?
2 Ditto for Johnny Lever?

3 Poor Bikram Saluja. He's wasted in the film. The character is portrayed to be a helping hand to Karisma but is never shown actually helping her
4 What was the purpose of a 'decent' Muslim girl suddenly breaking into a very hep and modern dance?
5 Why waste a great actor like Manoj Bajpai on a character that even an amateur could have handled?

Finally, the portrayal of urban corporate India is absolutely unbelievable! All my friends, colleagues and I are executives in topnotch companies. Who has Khalid been talking to, to conclude that girls are taken to bed in interviews?! Very unbelievable and unrealistic!

To conclude, Khalid is a great critic and should remain that way.

--Atul Phadnis

I watched Fiza yesterday and just loved it.

I went with 15 people. And all of us loved the film. I think the press is being extrememly unfair to Khalid, maybe because he might be a competitior to other film critics.

As for songs and absurd combinations, they are always part of Hindi films.

If Kajol can remain unmarried for eight years to wait for Shah Rukh in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Karisma could easily take six years to finish her graduation. What's the big deal?

One should look for the message and performances. Not minute geographical or infrastructural flaws in the film.

As for Karisma's number, I think though she was a Muslim, she had already been shown quite modern and outgoing right from the start, so her dancing in club was not a big deal at all.

The film was gripping and the performances commendable.

--Shweta Goyal

If indeed Fiza film was reworked to give much more scope for Hrithik Roshan, it would be entirely natural, both from the commercial and the artistic points of view, especially since your reviewer has rated Hrithik's performance particularly highly.

He has a remarkably mobile face, with hard planes that would make it possible for him to play much harsher roles than the typical Bombay film hero. That he has chosen, right at the beginning of his career, a film like Fiza and a role like that of Amaan speaks well of his approach to his craft.

Amitabh Bachchan, who was the undisputed Emperor of the marquee for years, never took such a risk, more is the pity!

--Shyamala B Cowsik