Farzi review: A predictable crime thriller
Raj and DK offer an interesting combination on the OTT platform by not only getting the extremely talented Shahid Kapoor and the high-voltage Vijay Sethupathi but also roping in some amazing talent like Kay Kay Menon and Amol Palekar. Tragically the virtues nearly end here.
Considering that it is a very linear story bereft of multiple or complex layers, Raj and DK could well have scripted the eight-episode story with the flesh and blood of the idealist (Amol Palekar), the evil (Kay Kay Menon), the law (Vijay Sethupathi and Raashi Khanna) and the victims (Bhuvan Arora and Shahid Kapoor).
Unfortunately, the filmmakers choose the populist thriller module of Tom and Jerry running the familiar roads and predictable clashes. The innovations, if any, are few and far between.
Given the effort and the cast assemble must be said this is yet another opportunity lost to unimaginative commercialism. Left high and dry by his father and abandoned without cause or success young Sunny finds a soulmate in Firoz on a railway platform.
Naturally blessed as an artist they begin to make small coins of money. Sunny’s grandfather Naanu (Amol Palekar) finds them at the railway station and rares them in the comparative yet impoverished comfort of his dying newspaper ‘Kranti’. Sunny (Shahid) and Firoz (Bhuvan Arora) continue to be soulmates as they evolve in the dirt and dust of crime.
Criminals are specialists. Here they break the multi-faceted criminal talent into a duo concentrating on producing counterfeit high-denomination Indian currency. Unwittingly, they trespass into the occupied monopolist space of Mansoor (Kay Kay Menon) who is a large and successful player.
Discerning the talent in the twosome, he first picks them up but later negotiates and gets Sunny to partner with him in an International cartel in counterfeit notes. Close on heels is the police force headed by Micheal (Vijay Sethupathi) whose team among others has Megha (Raashi Khanna).
Perhaps to give it yet another stereotypical curve, Megha has to fight for her place in the team. Predictably again, Megha and Sunny are given a contrived romantic space. Things hot up when the police begin to breathe precariously close to the carton and even capture an important member.
Out in the open are the many hues of grey competing for space and expression. There lies the tale of the not-so-imaginative clash of good vs evil, long shoots, tiring thrills, seeming smart turns and strategies. As long as the players of evil come from different backdrops and nurture different goals, they are bound to part ways. A whiff of air is sufficient to get such selfish relationships to fall like a pack of cards.
The matrix now involves smart police, corrupt police, badmen and good badmen, the idealist and not to mention the criminal. This is also a farfetched salute to the profound theory that a criminal only commits a crime, society creates it.
The series calls for patience or an abundance of indulgent time. Alternately one could be a keen follower of these baked crime thrillers now plenty and counting even on the OTT platforms. Vijay Sethupathi and Kay Kay Menon suffer sketchy roles. Amol creates flesh even within a minuscule space. Given the length, both Bhuvan and Shahid come out as winners. Bhuvan takes the bromance to a very subtle yet soul-filled pitch. In fact, he matches the extremely talented Shahid Kapoor. This in itself is no mean order. Farzi is moderately viewable and a clear case of opportunity going a-begging.
