Album

Starring:Karisma Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Jaya Bachchan, Neha, Bikram Saluja
Director:Khalid Mohammed
Producer:Pradeep Guha
Music:Anu Malik
Written by:Khalid Mohammed
Cinematographer:Santosh Sivan
Choreography:Saroj Khan, Farah Khan

The story starts in the disturbing Babri masjid time period, a happy family comprising of savvy Mum Nishatbi (Jaya Bachchan), an upright Fiza ( ) and a beguiling Amaan (Hrithik Roshan). Life is a bed of roses for the family, till the day Amaan disappears, and time stands still for the Mother and Sister. For six years they lead a life of drudgery, in the hope that Amaan will return. Till Fiza can take it no more, she decides to end the mystery over the disappearance of Amaan. But then you know this much from slickly edited promos flooding your idiot box for months now. What follows is where lies the ticket's worth (?).

Fiza treks the sand dunes of Rajasthan asking his whereabouts, and finally manages to track him. By now, he has become a terrorist for a cause - Jehad. Fiza is disgusted and distraught at the change her brother has gone through and decides to reform him, so she brings him back to Bombay.

Here Amaan is constantly brooding over his life and feels listless, circumstances grip him and he finds himself back at square one. He has to take recourse to guns to redeem himself.

Fiza is a fictional story about an authentic historical faux pas, but Khalid, much to the scribe tribe's chagrin, seems to be scared at making comments or taking a stand. He only squeaks in patriotic dialogues meant for the gallery. The characters of the films are as etchy as a seven year old kid's sketches. We have a fanatic Syed (Dinesh Thakur) and against another - Singh, whose motives are as unclear as Stephen King's theory on the Fourth dimension. Anirudh (Bikram Saluja) and Shehnaz (Neha) the respective lovers of Fiza and Aman simply flutter in the background.

Unfortunately for the Director Khalid, there is no benefit of mercy for his maiden attempt as he has written films like Mammo, Sardari Begum and Zubeida for Shyam Benegal. Its damnright heart-aching to see him confirming to the same pattern that he has been warning against to other directors, for the past two decades (the item dance by Sushmita Sen and the comic sequence by Johny Lever). One thing is evident, Khalid Mohamed, the notable critic-turned-director, never knew how to direct his own instincts that is what he really wanted to say (wish he could have seen Mani Ratnam's Bombay, before shooting Fiza), all he seemed to be sure about was to subscribe to Hrithikitis.

Santosh Sivan, the master cinematographer charms with his visual artistry. The background music by Ranjit Barot was enchanting to say the least.

Lady luck seems to be enamored with the grey-eyed hunk, Hrithik. What more could he ask for a film that is totally centering around him and he manages to stand up to the enormous expectations burdened on his muscular frame. He seems to be an Amitabh in the making, completely dominating the scenes he is present and shadowing those in which he isn't. Karishma Kapoor tries hard and manages to succeed to a certain extent to shed her commercial trappings and gives a sincere performance.

Jaya Bachchan enthralls with her performance, what a naturally gifted actress she is, performs straight from her heart. Poor Bikram Saluja, it just shouldn't have been his debut film. Manoj Bajpai is wasted in a cameo appearance. Ditto Sanjay Narvekar.


01	Aaja Mahiya	06:42
02	Mehboob Mere (Sunidhim, Karsan)	05:34
03	Tu Fiza Hai(Sonu, Alka)	07:01
04	Gaya Gaya Dil(Sonu Nigam)	06:35
05	Piya Haji Ali(Kadar, A.R. Rahman)	06:46
06	Na Leke Jao(Jaspinder Narula)	06:39
07	Mere Watan Amaan's Fury	03:22
08	Aankh Milaoongi(Asha Bhosle)	05:54