Ferrari ki Sawaari review

2.5 / 5

‘Ferrari ki Sawaari’ marks the return of Vidhu Vinod Chopra to production after 3 Idiots. Raju Hirani is also involved with this movie as a dialogue writer and creative producer, while Rajesh Mapuskar is the director. Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and young Ritvik Sahore complete the cast. Music has been provided by Pritam while there is Vidya Balan in a special item ‘lavani’ song.

The movie traces the lives of the Deboo family comprising young Kayo (Ritvik), his father Rusy (Sharman Joshi) and his grandfather (Boman Irani). Kayo is a cricketing prodigy while his grandfather is skeptical about the young kid’s cricket interest due to his own failed past as a promising cricketer ruined by his close friend (played by Paresh Rawal). Rusy, a ‘Mr. Do-Gooder’, wishes to make his son a cricketer by any possible means despite his meager savings from his government job. An opportunity to send his son for coaching to a prestigious club at the home of cricket (Lords, London) comes up and Rusy goes through one helluva rollercoaster before he finally arranges the required money and fulfills his dreams. The grandfather also joins in the cause to send his grandson to London, once he is convinced of the young kid’s caliber.

As the title suggests, a Ferrari also plays a prominent role in the scheme of things. One must say that the red Ferrari is indeed jaw dropping and to add to its appeal, it belongs to ‘Little Master’ Sachin Tendulkar. There are a set of people who are after the Ferrari for various reasons and these events surrounding the Ferrari are half-funny and take the focus away from the aforementioned main plot which is truly endearing. There is also a lot of Sachin worshipping in the movie which is justified because the movie is set in Mumbai which is the cricket heartland of the country. The movie in fact is dedicated to Sachin.

The movie has a truly special opening few minutes when we are introduced to the special bonding between Rusy and Kayo. These sequences will bring a light tear to the eye. Boman Irani also adds to the emotional appeal of the movie with a typically fantastic performance in a different makeover. Sharman Joshi and the kid are very earnest and their bonding is what makes the movie tick. Generally, filmy kids act over smart while here the young kid is natural and truly likeable. His face and innocent smile will win you over. Sharman has caliber and he proves it yet again in the emotional scenes. The father-son bonding has shades of the climax portions of ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Life is Beautiful’. Generally also, movies based on the sacrifices made by a father, always strike a right chord. In that sense, ‘Ferrari’ is a timely release for ‘Father’s Day’.

There is some needless melodrama and mush in the climax which could have been toned down and it is also tough to digest the fact that an entire community back in Mumbai is watching a live feed of an under-14 match happening in London. Needless to say in these scenes, Kayo is worshiped on the lines of Sachin himself.

Hit machine Pritam has given nice feel-good songs which are on the mark. The VFX work for the title song is authentic. Most of the songs just go with the flow of the movie as montages. The BGM score also adds to the mushy, feel good appeal of the movie. The item number featuring Vidya is a good distraction.

Ultimately it is the honest intention of the movie and the endearing, earnest nature of the grandfather – father – son bonding that make the movie work to a large extent. The scenes featuring the Ferrari are illogical and are just supposed to provide some fun. Also, the climax could have been made more believable even though it is an underdog movie which is supposed to end in triumph.

VERDICT: A feel-good ‘underdog’ movie with its share of flaws.