Ferrari Ki Sawaari Review

First time director Rajesh Mapuskar 'Ferrari Ki Sawaari' boasts of a simple storyline but within its own creative zone, the film manages to pack in a lot.

There is a sports angle (the boy - Ritvik Sahore (natural to the core) - wants to be a cricketer), a moral science angle around honesty and right virtues without being pretentious or on your face (Sharman Joshi,bringing alive the character),an adventure angle (none less than Sachin Tendulkar's Ferrari is on the road without his knowledge) and then a hilarious angle (a female wedding planner brings the entire Punjabiyat on screen like never before).And then there is a superb back-story (with a brilliant Paresh Rawal and marvellous Boman Irani) and this'sawaari'is pretty much up for grabs.

So while the wedding planner is a delight every-time she comes on screen, the servant-guard sidetrack is loveable as well. In fact it is a delight to see Deepak Shirke,who would forever be known as Tiger's (Amitabh Bachchan) father in 'Hum',showing his comic side here. In fact even the Corporate angle doesn't really distract you much and while one does feel that a certain Sachin Tendulkar could have actually made a special appearance,the fact that one can see a shadow of him in the penultimate reel is a good enough bargain.

In the middle of this all there is an honest clerk,an opportunity to visit Lords, a conversation with a Loan Manager going wrong, a sports goods shop owner who is happy to allow a mark being put on a kit for later pickup, a jealous cricketer who has rose up the ladder of cricket administration, a cop who is pretty much a Mahatma Gandhi in today's time and a wannabe goon who insists on bringing his 'baaraat' in a Ferrari.

Mixing them all together must have been a massive challenge for the team of 'Ferrari Ki Sawaari' and even tougher would have been to strike a balance between humour, drama and emotional moments. Thankfully, Rajesh manages to bring it all together though one does tend to feel that the film's first half could have been much more breezy and lively.

It takes a real long time for the film to come on point and by the time Ferrari actually comes into picture, you have actually spent around an hour waiting for that to eventually happen. In the middle of this all there are some repetitive domestic scenes which, though well intentioned, make you a tad impatient for the action to unfold. The second half though is a breeze because you keenly await whether the son would eventually make it to Lords or not.

Sharman's effort to get back his money, the Ferrari being towed away, Boman's realisation of his grand son being a superstar in the making, his subsequent conversation with Paresh Rawal (the best scene of the film), the selection process that follows, the immediate scene after that at the selectors' office and post that the entire episode leading to the car being brought back into Tendulkar's house - one is thoroughly entertained in each of this episodes.

What adds to this all are the emotional moments that do make you teary eyed in the last 20 minutes. The drama doesn't go overboard and still manages to tug your heartstrings. This is where the real win of the film lies as a result of which one is happy to ignore a rather long drawn first half that could actually have done much better with a quicker pace and a conscious effort to come to the point sooner than it eventually does.

One expects an emotional outing in a Vidhu Vinod Chopra film and the man responsible for that is Raj Kumar Hirani. So strong has Hirani's stranglehold been on touching audience emotions that even when he is not directing a film, one expects his stamp over a film where he is even remotely associated. This is what one wants (and not just expects) 'Ferrari Ki Sawaari' to be as well and thankfully Mapuskar doesn't disappoint. Yes, he doesn't quite have a grip over the narrative as Hirani but in his own capacity, he delivers a worthy enough film that deserves a watch.

Rating: ***1/2