Ferrari Ki Sawaari
By
Taran Adarsh,
Rating : 3.5/5
The Hindi film industry is going through realignment. The mood within the industry is that of experimentation and trialing and a lot is being done, with a wide variety of stories being explored. Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, first-time director Rajesh Mapuskar and writer Rajkumar Hirani choose an intelligible plot, garnish it well with humor and emotions, cast splendid actors and presto, a heart-warming tale of unconditional and unmitigated love between a father and his son is out for public consumption.
One can count the number of Hindi films that are so genuine and have inherent honesty within them. FERRARI KI SAWAARI is one such film. It tugs at your heartstrings, it urges you to scrutinize oneself, it makes you look at the world differently. How many motion pictures can boast of accomplishing all that? Uncomplicated and unpretentious in the truest sense of the word, it's a film that wins your heart because it's such a relevant and relatable story. Rusy and Kayo could be your friends, they could be your kids… who knows they could be a mirror image of yourself. Besides, director Rajesh Mapuskar, who wields the megaphone for the first time, uses the expensive car more as a metaphor for conveying an ordinary man's larger-than-life dreams and does it so beautifully.
A young kid, Kayo [Ritwik Sahore], thinks of nothing but cricket. His father, Rusy [Sharman Joshi], thinks of nothing but his little boy. To fulfill his son's dream of playing at Lord's cricket ground, the honest and upright Rusy performs the first small act of dishonesty in his life. He borrows a gleaming red Ferrari. Just for one hour. The only trouble: He doesn't inform its legendary owner. A wild, breathless, bumpy ride begins.
A ride that leads to a host of amazing characters: a wedding planner who'll stop at nothing, a Laurel-and-Hardyesque pair of loyal attendants, a greedy politician and his reckless son, a mechanic who specializes in stolen cars… As the Ferrari zooms through this chaotic world of street-thugs and mass-weddings, another saga unfolds: A grumpy old man [Boman Irani], his secret wounds and an epic rivalry that goes back fifty years.
A naive Rusy must dodge bullets and bouncers for one unforgettable night and play the role of a perfect father. Can he do it?
FERRARI KI SAWAARI is a rapturous and gratifying movie-watching experience. The premise is interesting, the screenplay [Rajesh Mapuskar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra] is engrossing and what truly sets it apart is the palpable sincerity about the whole thing. The movie makes us empathize with the characters, their relationships and their circumstances and that goes a long way towards allowing us to exonerate the screenplay's sporadic missteps and wrong turns, especially the politician and his son's track, which appears counterfeit in an otherwise true to life motion picture [Tatya and Pakya come across more as caricatures]. Besides, the film has been shot in an actual Parsi colony and the interiors of the house add so much authenticity to the proceedings.
I must highlight yet another important fact: Sachin Tendulkar has an intangible inhabitance in the movie all through. Mapuskar, very smartly, keeps the suspense behind the cameo alive right till the finale.
Pritam manages to dole out a decent album. The compositions are tuneful and Mapuskar places the songs at the appropriate situations in the narrative. The cinematography [Sudheer Palsane] is luminous, while dialogue [Rajkumar Hirani] seem straight out of life.
Sharman Joshi has amassed immense exaltation for his acting skills, but FERRARI KI SAWAARI will make people sit and notice his reach and range as an actor. Sharman adjoins prodigious appraisal to the character with his exuberant act in a number of sequences. Watch him rend the piggy bank, his rummaging for the bat in the shop, the emotional scenes and of course, the upheaval in the finale. What an incredibly awe-inspiring act!
With a variety of roles and multifariousness to his credit, he is one actor who fits into any role consummately. In FERRARI KI SAWAARI, Boman Irani delivers one of the finest, accomplished and dexterous acts. Watch the scene when he pounces on Sharman when he learns of the grandchild's plans of playing cricket. Also, the sequence with Paresh Rawal is astounding. It stays with you much after the curtains fall. There's one more sequence that deserves to be highlighted: When he offers to play cricket with his grandchild in the middle of the night. Sparkling performance indeed!
Ritwik Sahore is a brilliant discovery. The youngster is cast opposite some of the finest talents of the country and the kid stands up to them in every sequence. He is charming and endearing in the light moments and sparks up the goings-on in moments of anxiety. Paresh Rawal is superb in a cameo. Vidya Balan ignites the screen with her lavani number.
The supporting cast is tremendous. Each one of them -- Seema Pahwa [superb], Satyadeep Misra [effective], Aakash Dabhade [fantastic], Deepak Shirke [first-rate], Nilesh Divekar [good] and Vijay Nikam [terrific] -- is sure to be noticed.
On the whole, FERRARI KI SAWAARI is a noble film, a film that has its heart in the right place. It's well-intended and sincere and it goes about its business with incredible earnestness. Of course, the film has its share of hiccups, but then all films do, right? But keeping the fault-finding apart, FERRARI KI SAWAARI is an accomplished effort. It's that exceptional film that communicates a point and tells a sensitive story in those 2.10 hours. This heartwarming, tender and sprightly film should not be missed!
