We live in an era where productions by legendary filmmakers like Vishal Bhardwaj fail to find audiences and then the same audience complains about how bad Bollywood is. His 2017 war-drama Rangoon was highly misunderstood by audiences and critics, even though it was hailed by many as an ambitious and epic tale. And while his last film Pataakha (2018) was absolutely loved by the critics and audiences, it failed to find wider audience and hence flopped at box office. Now, while we wait for his big screen directorial return with Talvar 2, he has gifted the audiences with a #ShotonIphone sci-fi fantasy short film called “Fursat”. So, here’s a short analysis of the film without any significant spoilers to help you decide if you should watch it. Technically it’s just 30 minutes, so you must watch it but if that doesn’t convince you then read on.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s Fursat Review – A Short Tale With A Sweet Message
Rating – ★★★1/2
When legends like Bhardwaj, Gulzar, Shiamak Davar, Kailash Kher and Sukhwinder Singh come together to make something, you have to give it a try. Why you ask? Because even if that production would have some flaws, you’ll learn a lot and understand cinema more. Just like that Fursat is far from being a perfect film, but it has many elements every cinephile would thoroughly appreciate. First among them is Swapnil Sonawane’s cinematography which not only shows viewers what the new iPhone can do but also presents some incredible and unique shots. Within these 30 minutes I saw more wonderful shots than I see in most productions, be it Hollywood or Bollywood or any-wood.
Moving on, the music by Vishal Bhardwaj and lyrics by Gulzar, as usual did not disappoint and the songs, “Kal Kahin” and “Waqt Waqt” sung by Kiran and Nivi are just mesmerizing. Then we also have Lalkaar sung by Kailash Kher and Kudiye sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Hargun Kaur, which also serve their purpose adequately. What brings these amazing songs even more alive is the superb choreography by Shiamak Davar and passionate performances by the cast. Talking abut the cast Ishaan Khattar is shaping up to be quite the actor and maybe that’s the reason he was recognized by Bhardwaj. Wamiqa Gabbi did a terrific job as well however, Salman Ysuff Khan’s Chief Gangster turned out to be tad underwhelming both character and performance wise.
Now let us quickly talk about what didn’t work. So, first of all, I’d like to point out that the short felt too crammed up and failed to conclude the story clearly. A lot of questions were left unanswered and a lot of details were left ambiguous. The problem wasn’t so much in the writing as it was in the execution as many a times I found myself to be lost. Basically, the flow of the film is a bit off and so many unspecified details adds to that flow break. The audiences are never able to fully immerse themselves into the world presented by Fursat. Also, even though the concept feels a bit fresh in the Bollywood landscape, it really isn’t that fresh if you include international cinema. But what the story does succeed at, is delivering a very important message about how precious the present moment is.
Final Verdict – Fursat acts as a unique and fresh addition to Vishal Bhardwaj’s directorial list but the film was more about boosting off the crew’s technical and artistic prowess than delivering a fool proof narrative. If you keep the narrative and ambiguity of the events aside, Fursat is much more than what most of the filmmakers today can do in 30 minutes, that too, with an mobile phone.
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