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). 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.

The film was critically acclaimed and did well at the 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 film-making. 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.^[11]

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.^[12]

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".^[13][14]

Casting

Originally Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan were supposed to have cameo appearances, but their numbers were removed due to running time considerations. Urmila was signed for Karishma Kapoor's role but opted out.^[15]

Others

The scene where Johnny Lever demonstrates different kinds of laughter and makes fun of Shah Rukh Khan while Hrithik Roshan stands next to him, smiling, is an insider joke referring to the Coke wars the two stars had with each other. Hrithik supported Coke, Shahrukh Pepsi. A Pepsi commercial made fun of Hrithik, which created quite some outrage among his fans and was widely reported in the media.

Khalid Mohamed originally wanted to have Ram Gopal Varma direct this movie when he finished the script. Although Karisma Kapoor plays Hrithik Roshan's older sister in this movie, he is five months older than her in real life. Originally Hrithik Roshan had a very small role. But after Kaho Na Pyar Hain became a blockbuster over night, Khalid Mohammed panicked. He knew expectations were high because of Hrithik, so he increased his role. Many scenes like his workout, and an extra song were added to suit Hrithk's new status of a Superstar.

The film was set to be an artistic film. But Khalid Mohammed decided to commercialize the film due to pressure from the distributors. Karishma Kapoor had a dance number added. Johnny Lever park scene was added. More songs were added. Hrithik's role increased including his work out and more songs.^[16]

Filmfare Awards

Won

• Best Actress – Karisma Kapoor
• Best Supporting Actress – Jaya Bachchan

Nominated

• Best Actor – Hrithik Roshan
• Best Cinematography – Santosh Sivan
• Best Male Playback – Sonu Nigam for "Tu Hawa Hai"
• Best Female Playback – Sunidhi Chauhan for "Mehboob Mere"
• Best Music Director – Anu Malik
• Best Lyricist – Gulzar for "Aaja Mahiya"

IIFA Awards

• Best Actress – Karisma Kapoor
• Best Supporting Actress – Jaya Bachchan

BFJA Awards

• Best Director – Khalid Mohammed
• Best Actor – Hrithik Roshan
• Best Actress – Karisma Kapoor
• Best Supporting Actress – Jaya Bachchan

Sansui Awards

• Best Actress Jury - Karisma Kapoor

• Hrithik Roshan ... Amaan Ikramullah
• Karishma Kapoor ... Fiza Ikramullah
• Jaya Bachchan ... Nishatbi Ikramullah
• Shabana Raza ... Shehnaz
• Asha Sachdev ... Ulfat
• Bikram Saluja ... Anirudh
• Isha Koppikar ... Gitanjali
• Johnny Lever ... Laughing Club Comic
• Manoj Bajpai ... Murad Khan (Guest Appearance)
• Sushmita Sen ... Dancer (Special Appearance)
• Savita Prabhune ... Policewoman (Special Appearance)

• Editor – Mr Sreekar Prasad
• Chief Assistant Editor – Sejal Painter

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.^[17] It features songs like "Aaja Mahiya", "aankh milaoongi", "Tu Fiza Hai" and "Mehboob Mere" which was performed by Sushmita Sen as an Item number. Anu Malik received a Filmfare award nomination for his commendable work in this album.^[18] 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.^[19]