Farzi Review: Shahid Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi and Kay Kay Menon’s cat and mouse game is a win for Raj and DK MGG

Plot

After creating The Family Man, Raj and DK come up with a crime comedy, Farzi. It’s their dream subject, which at one point of time was planned as a feature film. The story chronicles the Journey of how greed to make money takes Sunny aka. Artist (Shahid Kapoor) and Firoz (Bhuvan Arora) in the dark world of counterfeit money i.e. fake currency. The conflict intensifies and takes a spin with the entry of Michael (Vijay Sethupathi), an honest taskforce officer and Mansoor Dalal (Kay Kay Menon), a wanted gangster in their lives.

What works?

Farzi explores a premise that’s fresh for the Indian audience. Raj and DK treat their premise keeping the commercial trappings of filmmaking intact – the series grips up into the world in the first two episodes, and keeps you on the edge of your seat through the last three. Their biggest victory as a story teller lies in the fact that you are relating to the journey of two protagonists – Sunny and Firoz – and there are times when you don’t want the characters to take a certain decision, as deep within they are the middle class families, trying to make it big. It’s essentially an underdog story about the protagonists, who are ready to go to any extent for their Nanu (Amol Palekar), before getting into the mould of greed and power.

While there are multiple characters introduced through the 8-episode series, Raj and DK manage to give every character their moment of glory and intertwines it seamlessly into the narrative. Not once does their screenplay go off the tangent as most of the sub-tracks eventually lead to the same destination – counterfeit money. The background score is fantastic, and the same can be said for dialogues, cinematography and the performances by the entire ensemble.

Despite being a web series, the emotions of Farzi are very rooted and relatable, something that director duo of Raj and DK have mastered in through their Family Man Franchise and now, Farzi.  The entire Zakir Hussain track is a riot and the finest moments of the series lie in the interactions of Micheal and Pawan Gahlot (Zakir Hussain).

What Doesn’t Work?

First things first – Farzi is not as impactful as Family Man. While the premise does work as a standalone film, it falls a little short of expectations for the fans of Family Man. While the plot is fresh and sub-tracks are inline with what they want to convey, it is stretched with some of the emotional episodes expanding far beyond what the subject warranted. The impact of the series would have been a lot better if the entire conflict was packaged as a 6-episode series, rather than the conventional 8-episode approach. Farzi starts with a bang as the opening two episodes lay the platform to explode, but the pace dips from episode number 3 to episode number 5. There are certain instances that get repetitive and the director duo take too much time before introducing the catalyst, Mansoor, into the lives of Sunny and Firoz.

The cat and mouse race intensifies with the 6th episode, but until then, there is a possibility of losing some interest and one just waits for some adrenaline rush in the screenplay. The entire romantic track of Sunny and Megha (Raashii Khanna) is seen in multiple thrillers and lacks the spice to keep one on the edge of their seat. The final 20 minutes could have been better, with the story getting a proper closure, but it seems, the team is keen to take Sunny and Firoz on another adventure ride with Mansoor and Micheal in the second season.

Performances

Farzi isn’t just a cat and mouse race between the characters, but also their actors to be at their best. Once again, Shahid Kapoor makes a statement on why he is among the best actors of the country, as he leaves a mark with his act as Sunny. He starts off as an underdog, but slowly and steadily transforms himself into a man full of himself. Watch out for the subdued emotional outburst at multiple occasions – there are times when Shahid lets his eyes do the talking. He is simply fantastic as Sunny. Vijay Sethupathi also makes a powerful digital debut and aces his character of Micheal. What works beautifully is his seamless style of mouthing those sarcastic one-liners as that lends a unique arc to his character. Theirs is a sense of heroism in the way he carries himself through the series without trying too hard. Kay Kay Menon as Mansoor too gets his moments to shine but the best as an actor is kept for the finale. Bhuvan Arora as Firoz is the find of Farzi and one will hear his name frequently in the times to come by. If Shahid carries Farzi on his shoulders, Bhuvan is the one supporting him to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Zakir Hussain is a riot as Minister Pawan Gahlot, and the actor uses his craft to validate the madness happening around him. Raashii Khanna too gets an author backed character, playing RBI Officer, Megha Vyas, and is confident through her presence in the series. Her interactions with Vijay Sethupathi are among the major highlights. Amol Palekar as Nanu is delightful. He is outrightly natural in his dialogue delivery and brings a smile to your face with his mere presence. The rest of the ensemble cast do well in their respective roles.

Final Verdict

Farzi is a tentpole cat and mouse chase between the right and the wrong done right keeping the Indian template of story telling intact. Despite the drag moments from episode 3 to 5, the series has enough due to its dialogues, performances and fresh plot to hold attention and make for a good thrilling watch for the audience.