Fursat (2023)

A young man Fursat unearths an ancient relic that lets him peek into the future. In his obsession to control what lies ahead, he risks losing all that matters most in the present.

A man is fighting the time and speed of a moving train to save his love from dying. He has seen the future and it is all dooms day if he doesn’t manage to stop this train. There is maximum poetry even when Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar Sahab decide to make a 30-minute short film that too an idea that doesn’t easily make way for it. With Apple in picture, it is now proved on a bigger scale that you need a substantial idea and a phone to make a film. But does Fursat turn out to be a bulletproof product? Let’s find out.

Written by Vishal, Fursat finds its core in the emotion of love as the filmmaker is known for. A lover is trying to save his beloved while they are already in a strained relationship. To add the metaphor of fighting with the time and how their lives are standing on the unsettled ground, Bhardwaj mounts this story on a moving train. You see an engagement taking place in a lavish train compartment and the musical format lets the bride tell her state of mind and then quickly switch to reality.

Gulzar Sahab adds his poetry of longing very conveniently and beautifully to this arc where the man is running to save a woman who is secretly waiting for him to arrive. There are dacoits on the loose and the said train is under attack. The lover is ready to barter the biggest magic he possesses, a magical equipment that helps him see the future, with his beloved. Everything is going nicely until the film decides to wearing the most comfortable shoes and run at full speed.

After that point, every decision Fursat looks rushed and incomplete. The dacoit gets no time to shine as such and he ends up being just another character. The train suddenly has completely functional medical equipment to save a person who has had a cardiac arrest. And when he wakes up, everything is good with no problem or what so ever as everyone breaks into dancing. A very sore climax to a rather brilliant idea.

Vishal chooses to go the musical way for this short film and leaves us fascinated with his frames. An iPhone can do this and more he proves. The musical parts of it are sheer magic because he has Gulzar Sahab and Shiamak Dawar with him to create a three-dimensional magical experience. As for the scenes, the filmmaker is skilled to ace it all.

The music of Fursat barring Kal Kahin is very situational. The chances of songs other than the aforementioned track are very rare but that doesn’t mean they are bad songs. More of Kiran + Nivi, please! Tere Saath from Kuttey is still running on a loop here.

Salman Yusuf Khan does a decent job at being the dacoit but he is given a very one tone part to play and that limits him to be a stereotype.