Review: Ferrari ki Sawaari

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.