Friday, August 20, 2004
Fida
Okay, it doesn’t make much sense, but then not many Hindi movies do. It has a loophole-laden plot, but then most Hindi movies do. Ken Ghosh’s Fida demands total suspension of disbelief and complete abstinence from common sense…if you can manage that, then there are a few ‘ups’ in the film—mainly the performances, the very glossy look and the relatively short running time.
Jai (Shahid Kapoor) is supposedly an orphan, but doesn’t seem to do anything to support his lavish lifestyle. Dumping his “best friend” (Kim Sharma), he falls for Neha (Kareena Kapoor) after just a brief glimpse.
He attempts suicide to prove his love for her and goes off to commit robbery to pay off her enormous debts. He walks into a trap laid by the evil Vikram (Fardeen Khan), the expert computer hacker, who transferred a gangster’s 550-crore fortune into his account. Vikram agrees to give Jai the money he needs, if he takes the rap for the heist and puts off the cops and gangsters off his trail.
Hold it, you want to shout— isn’t this too much of a script convenience to assume that Jai would fall madly in love at first sight, would agree to the exchange offer, would not succeed at his suicide attempt, would not go to the cops with the identity of the real robber and pocket a cool share of the loot as reward? Would a gangster store his ill gotten gains in a bank, would the cops bother to help trace it; wouldn’t a man with 550 stolen crores simply skip the country instead of wasting months preparing to ensnare a fall guy? Truly dumb!
Jai survives the cops’ and gangsters; bullets and lands up in Sun City to terrorise Neha and Vikram, and from here the film goes faster downhill into cheap shocks and somewhat predictable climax.
The writers have done a bad job of stealing the plot from wherever they have plucked it, the film coasts along on Shahid Kapoor’s super-energetic performance and high ‘cute’ factor. Kareena Kapoor, as the seductress-turned-vamp-turned-victim has also done a fabulous job. Fardeen Khan has a comparatively low-key role, but he does the tight-lipped schemer quite well.
The film has been shot on gorgeous locations in Dubai and South Africa—never mind that some of the places are sought to be passed off as set in India – and Ghosh (who started his career as a music video director) puts a lot of MTV-ish oomph into the song picturisations. An incredibly brainless, but stylish film.
Jai (Shahid Kapoor) is supposedly an orphan, but doesn’t seem to do anything to support his lavish lifestyle. Dumping his “best friend” (Kim Sharma), he falls for Neha (Kareena Kapoor) after just a brief glimpse.
He attempts suicide to prove his love for her and goes off to commit robbery to pay off her enormous debts. He walks into a trap laid by the evil Vikram (Fardeen Khan), the expert computer hacker, who transferred a gangster’s 550-crore fortune into his account. Vikram agrees to give Jai the money he needs, if he takes the rap for the heist and puts off the cops and gangsters off his trail.
Hold it, you want to shout— isn’t this too much of a script convenience to assume that Jai would fall madly in love at first sight, would agree to the exchange offer, would not succeed at his suicide attempt, would not go to the cops with the identity of the real robber and pocket a cool share of the loot as reward? Would a gangster store his ill gotten gains in a bank, would the cops bother to help trace it; wouldn’t a man with 550 stolen crores simply skip the country instead of wasting months preparing to ensnare a fall guy? Truly dumb!
Jai survives the cops’ and gangsters; bullets and lands up in Sun City to terrorise Neha and Vikram, and from here the film goes faster downhill into cheap shocks and somewhat predictable climax.
The writers have done a bad job of stealing the plot from wherever they have plucked it, the film coasts along on Shahid Kapoor’s super-energetic performance and high ‘cute’ factor. Kareena Kapoor, as the seductress-turned-vamp-turned-victim has also done a fabulous job. Fardeen Khan has a comparatively low-key role, but he does the tight-lipped schemer quite well.
The film has been shot on gorgeous locations in Dubai and South Africa—never mind that some of the places are sought to be passed off as set in India – and Ghosh (who started his career as a music video director) puts a lot of MTV-ish oomph into the song picturisations. An incredibly brainless, but stylish film.
Labels: Cinemaah
