Cricket. This one
word, one sport, manages to achieve what no man working towards peace can ever
hope to achieve. As a sport, cricket is able to bring the atheist to his knees
in prayer, turn the hostile neighbour to Mr. Congeniality (in case his TV set is
broken and yours happens to be an LCD).
Not surprisingly,
then, innumerable movies have been made on the subject – be it the brilliantly
made Iqbal, or the slightly older and entirely forgettable Awwal Number, and
several others in between. Now, there’s one more addition to the list – Ferrari
ki Sawaari. The movie ropes in the concept of cricket at two levels. One is
direct, with the protagonist’s son being a cricketer-in-the-making himself. The
second is more subtle but as emphatic; and why wouldn’t it be, when it has to
do with the car that belongs to the God of the game himself – Sachin
Tendulkar’s Ferrari.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s
success as a film producer has always partially depended on the caasting. Half
his battles are won even before the filming of the movie starts, such is the
man’s knack for picking the perfect actor to play the perfect role in his
movies. Ferrari ki Sawaari is no different. Boman Irani, as Behram Deboo, blows your mind as the cynical has-been
cricketer. Sharman Joshi, the second generation Deboo, is also convincing in
his role as a Parsi man who works as a clerk in a government office. But
neither of them surprise the viewer, because both are preceded by their
reputation as being extremely fine actors. The one that truly surprises, however,
is Kayo Rustom Deboo, played by Ritwik Sahore. Little Kayo is probably the best
child actor to have surfaced in a long time, a truly great find. Besides
playing his role as a young, honest, motherless child who loves his father to
bits to perfection, it’s not just his acting that draws the audience. There is
something unspeakably endearing about the child and one can’t help but fall in
love with him the moment one sets eyes on him. Sahore is here to stay, and
hopefully, unlike many other child artistes who showed promise but were never
heard of again, we will see much more of him in the future, to the benefit of
cinemagoers.
The supporting cast is
equally brilliant, with the slightly corrupt but still likeable politician
(played by Vijay Nikam), Seema Bhargava as Babbo Didi and the politician’s son
(Nilesh Divekar) doing their roles brilliantly. A special mention must be made
here of Aakash Dabhade, the lucky
guy who plays the role of Sachin Tendulkar’s servant and who plays a pivotal
role in the Ferrari getting stolen. His timing is brilliant, and expressions
spot on. Deepak Shirke plays the role of the security guard as the toughie with
a soft interior very well.
And of course, for all
car fanatics, this movie is sure to be a treat; after all, the great man had
agreed to lend his Ferrari for the movie and it is a living, breathing
character in the movie. The movie also accomplishes to deliver good laughs
without resorting to innuendos and dirty jokes; a movie which is truly
child-friendly – although the Vidya Balan number could have entirely been done
without, considering it added nothing to the plot, even by way of an ‘item
number’.
Paresh Rawal’s cameo
as the cricketing legend who made it big under dubious circumstances is nothing
to write home about. To nitpick, how Rustom hopes to avoid the news of him
stealing Sachin’s car from reaching the big man’s ears, is a big question mark,
given that the media is all over it. In that alone, the movie is a little
shortsighted. And of course, we’re left confused as to where Boman’s talents as
a cricketer lie; at different points we’re introduced to his brilliant batting
and bowling abilities. Oh well, maybe he was an all-rounder. And the movie
could have done with a stricter hand in editing.
But none of these seem
to matter as the ‘niceness’ of the movie makes everything else worthwhile. Another
parallel to the plot is the relationship between father and son (two
generations of them). The first is simple and sweet – a relationship based on
love, faith and mutual respect. The second is more complicated, the father and
son both leaving things unsaid and suffering in silence. But it is the
relationship between Sharman and Ritwik that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy
inside. Their love makes you smile at the inanity of a father deliberately
looking for a traffic cop to pay a fine to for running a red light, just
because he wants to set an example for his son. But what would seem plain
stupid in other circumstances is made sweet because you believe the father when
he does this. The son in turn is as honest as the father, and completely
understanding of the father’s difficulties in spite of his young years. The
sacrifices the father makes for his son, and his disappointment when he fails
to give the best of everything to his child, is bound to touch your heart (and
if you’re someone with poor control over your tear glands, like me, then you
will even shed a few tears).
Ferrari ki Sawaari
comes as a breath of fresh air, a feel-good movie that every person should
watch. The narrative is typical of Rajkumar Hirani and his clean, simple form
of storytelling. The man who managed to portray roadside lingo without using degrading
language, continues to do just that with this movie too. Finally, it is cricket
that brings everyone together in the end in the way that only cricket can. This
movie is truly depictive of India for what she is – a cricket-crazy nation. If
you are a cricket fan, this movie will bring you much joy. Once again, cricket
plays the unifying role in our lives, albeit in the world of cinema.
