Fiza

Plot

The film is about a girl Fiza (Karisma Kapoor), whose brother, Amaan (Hrithik Roshan), disappears during the 1993 Bombay riots. Fiza and her mother Nishatbi (Jaya Bachchan) desperately hold on to the hope that one day he will return. However, six years after his disappearance, Fiza, fed up with living with uncertainty, resolves to go in search of her brother. Driven by her mother Nishatbi's fervent hope and her own determination, Fiza decides to use whatever means she can—the law, media, even politicians—to find her brother, which brings her into contact with various characters and situations.

When she does find him, to her horror she sees that he has joined a terrorist group. She forces him to come home, and he finally re-unites with their mother. However his allegiance and thoughts make him want to return to the terrorist network, led by Murad Khan (Manoj Bajpayee) who apparently is a Muslim but is a bad human with no religion in reality. A confrontation with two men who harass Fiza leads to Aman revealing his involvement with the terrorist network in front of his sister, mother and the police. His mother's grief and disappointment eventually lead her to commit suicide.

Fiza tries once more to find her brother, with the help of Aniruddh (Bikram Saluja). Amaan has been sent on a mission to kill two powerful politicians; when he does succeed in assassinating them, his own terrorist group tries to kill him. He escapes and Fiza follows him. They confront each other and with the police closing in on him, he asks her to kill him. As a last resort to give him an honourable end, Fiza kills her brother.

Reception

The film was critically acclaimed and well at box office. Critics praised the three lead performances. Karisma Kapoor in particular was applauded for her performance as a disillusioned sister. Vinayak Chakravorty from Hindustan Times gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "Fiza is more than just about Khalid Mohamed's foray into filmmaking. It is about Karisma Kapoor's proving a point as an actress of some substance. It is about Hrithik Roshan's establishing that he doesn't need maximum footage or glitz to impress. It is about the return after a hiatus of the ever-delightful Jaya Bachchan." Mimmy Jain of The Indian Express, in a positive review, wrote, "Fiza is the kind of movie that every critic prays will never come his way. For a critic's job, after all, is to criticise. And Fiza offers little scope for criticism." She further noted Karisma for delivering "a superbly flawless performance". Sanjeev Bariana of The Tribune labelled the film "only a little above average", but was highly appreciative of the performances. Chaya Unnikrishnan of Screen praised the performances and concluded that Fiza "does live upto the expectations". Screen magazine's critic Chaya Unnikrishnan, while disappointed with the film's second half, described it as "a mature film" and commended the performances.

Karisma Kapoor won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress and Jaya Bachchan won the award in the Best Supporting Actress category, while Hrithik Roshan was nominated in the Best Actor category for his role (But Won For his performance on Kaho Na Pyar Hai. Both Kapoor and Bachchan also won the IIFA Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards respectively.

The movie was also the main winner at the BFJA Awards in the Hindi film section, taking the Best Director award for Khalid Mohammed, Best Actor for Roshan, Best Actress for Kapoor, and Best Supporting Actress for Bachchan.

In May 2010, Fiza was one of the films 14 Hindi movies selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center to be screened as part of a section called "Muslim Cultures of Bombay Cinema" which aims to "celebrate and explore the rich influence of Muslim cultural and social traditions on the cinema of Bombay to the present".

Filmfare Awards

Won

Nominated

IIFA Awards

BFJA Awards

Cast

Crew

Music

The background score of the film was composed and co-orchestrated by Ranjit Barot. The movie soundtrack contains 8 songs, 6 of them composed by Anu Malik, "Piya Haji Ali" composed by A. R. Rahman and "Mere Watan" composed by Ranjit Barot. The album was one of the most popular soundtracks of the year. It features songs like "Aaja Mahiya", "Piya Haji Ali", "Tu Fiza Hai" and "Mehboob Mere" which was performed by Sushmita Sen as an Item number. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 25,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fourth highest-selling.