Fida (2004)
Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Shahid Kapoor
Director: Ken Ghosh
Music Director: Anu Malik
Synopsis: Reasonable thriller that fails to deliver what it promised.
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

Fida is not an easy film to review because the story depends so heavily upon its surprises that discussing it in any detail inevitably gives something away. Not that the film necessarily deserves such secrecy because, when all is said and done, it rests upon a thoroughly ridiculous premise which then lurches from one twist to another before arriving at a dark and ultimately preposterous conclusion.

The film opens with a spectacular internet robbery. A mysterious hacker manages to transfer 550 crores from one account into a secret Swiss bank account. All hell promptly breaks loose. The police are left completely baffled while the account holder, a fourth-rate don (Akhilendra Mishra in an embarrassingly over-the-top performance), becomes obsessed with tracking down the culprit.

Enter Jai (Shahid Kapoor), all boyish charm, infectious smiles and youthful optimism, forever searching for the perfect girl. The moment he sets eyes upon Neha (Kareena Kapoor), he is hopelessly smitten. Within two exchanged glances he is completely fida. So besotted is he that he even manages to mutilate himself after Neha dismisses his advances. Faced with such absurd devotion, Neha eventually relents and romance blossoms.

Their idyllic love affair comes to an abrupt halt when Jai discovers Neha on the verge of suicide. It transpires that her now deceased father, a petty criminal, had accumulated debts amounting to six crores owed to another gangster. Rather than spend her life being hunted by hoodlums, she sees death as her only escape.

After desperately considering every possible solution, Jai reaches the astonishing conclusion that robbing a bank might be the answer. Although Neha extracts a promise that he will do nothing reckless, Jai cannot resist temptation when he witnesses a man withdrawing six crores in cash. Convinced fate has handed him the solution, he sneaks into the man's house under cover of darkness, only to be promptly captured and handcuffed to a chair.

The man turns out to be Vikram (Fardeen Khan), who calmly proposes an extraordinary bargain. Jai may have the six crores, but in return he must surrender himself to the authorities as the elusive hacker. Vikram, the real mastermind behind the cyber theft, longs to disappear and begin a new life. Hopelessly in love with Neha, Jai agrees without hesitation, setting into motion a chain of events that leads him towards a devastating and wholly unexpected revelation.

To say much more would spoil the film's central surprises and rob Fida of what enjoyment it undoubtedly offers, notwithstanding the gratuitous violence surrounding the don's character. The difficulty is that once you begin examining the screenplay with even the slightest degree of logic, the entire structure starts collapsing under the weight of its own improbabilities. The only sensible approach is simply to surrender to the ride, enjoy the popcorn and resist the temptation to question how any of it could possibly happen.

Ken Ghosh is clearly a director with visual flair and an eye for style, but he cannot entirely be forgiven for the contempt he shows towards the audience's intelligence. There comes a point where sheer implausibility begins to undermine even the most entertaining thriller. Having said that, I still found myself enjoying the film simply because it represents something rather different from the formulaic fare Bollywood usually churns out.

What makes Fida particularly intriguing is its casting and the willingness of the principal actors to play against audience expectations. Fardeen Khan is surprisingly effective as the cold, calculating Vikram, a thoroughly unsympathetic character whom he portrays with icy confidence. Kareena Kapoor spends much of the first half all smiles, innocence and bubbly charm before revealing considerably darker shades in the latter half, where she is noticeably more interesting, even if never truly outstanding.

The biggest surprise, however, is Shahid Kapoor. He delivers an assured performance and compensates for what he perhaps lacks in screen personality with genuine sincerity and conviction. There is little doubt that he is an actor worth watching, although his perpetually youthful appearance may well restrict the range of roles available to him in the years ahead.

Anu Malik contributes a reasonably catchy soundtrack, the photography is handsome throughout, and the film certainly has its moments. Fida remains engaging entertainment despite its glaring flaws. One simply wishes Ken Ghosh had shown a little more faith in the intelligence of his audience.