Ferrari Ki Sawaari

It wouldn't be wrong if I said Vidhu Vinod Chopra has become a factory which mostly produces a set of good at heart, inspirational yet thought provoking movies. 'Ferrari Ki Sawaari' is no exception. The job this time is given to débutant director Rajesh Mapuskar who earlier was the assistant director in 3 idiots. A simple and honest RTO officer, Sharman Joshi as Rusy (Rustam Deboo) falls in a dilemma when his promising cricketer son Ritvik Sahore as Kayo (Kayoze Rustam Deboo) gets an opportunity to join a cricket camp in London but requires a fee of 1.5 lakh rupees. To add to that we have Boman Irani as Father of Rusy who himself was a very talented cricketer but was betrayed by his friend during the final selection and thus considers cricket a waste of time. When a glimmer of hope knocks at the door as Sharman is promised the sum of money in place of a Ferrari ride for a few hours he steals it from Sachin Tendulkar's house. What happens then forms the crust of the story. The good thing about such movies is that even if they have 2 or 3 scenes that have that emotional and feel good touch it becomes terribly hard to hate them. And FRS has them. Pritam's music is mostly enjoyable although I did find Vidya Balan's item number unnecessary. Sharman Joshi gives a strong performance proving that he too can pull off lead roles and Kayoze does pretty well too. Actually, in a few scenes I was astonished to see how closely Kayoze's expressions and dialogue delivery resemble to that of Sharman . But Boman Irani steals the show for me. Still, I cannot say that the film lies in the same place as Munna Bhai. It could have easily been 15 minutes shorter and a bit more compact. Nonetheless, it has it's heart at the right place which makes it a good watch. 2.5/5

To start with FERRARI KI SAWAARI may not be a perfect film since it does have its flaws including its over length and few avoidable scenes & songs. But ignoring its weak points the film is indeed "One of the Best FAMILY movies of 2012" which even reminds you of another perfect family entertainer, 3 IDIOTS presented by the same production house.

The film obviously revolves around the subject of Cricket and A Ferrari, yet it's not entirely a SPORTS movie as you might be thinking. On the contrary, it is a film based on relationship between a father, a son and a grandfather. In poetic words it's a film based on cricket where the team consists of only 3 players and the rest all are simply cheering for them in their own unique ways.

FKS firstly becomes an enjoyable experience for everyone because of its emotional theme which talks about the most untouched or tense relationship in a middle class family that is between a father and his son. It enlightens a young father about how to bring in more positivity into this important bonding taking it onto a different level altogether.

Secondly it very importantly teaches you the value of Forgiveness when a person simply forgets and forgives his dear friend for having played a dirty game with him (ruining his entire life), arising out of professional jealousy & greed. And I rate a particular scene in the film, between Boman & Paresh as one of the best scenes of current times, capable of teaching you the art of forgiveness in just a few seconds.

Thirdly but most importantly, FKS actually gets converted into a worth watching film because of its two flawless performances by Sharman Joshi and Boman Irani wherein they both quietly surpass their own benchmarks set in their other famous masterpiece 3 IDIOTS. Sharman Joshi is simply exceptional in his simple yet impressive performance of an honest father. He infuses great positive energy in the entire film, especially in the opening and last 15 minutes when you honestly cannot stop falling in love with his character on screen. Complimenting him beautifully there is Boman Irani who undoubtedly is one of the most talented character actors in Hindi Film Industry at present. Boman simply takes over from Sharman like a relay race post intermission and delivers an even better performance than his 3 Idiots. Completing the trio is Ritwik Sahore, the kid who despite of being placed in front of such great actors, superbly makes his presence felt with elegance. Further, this team of 3 gets great encouragement from a brilliant supporting cast lead by Seema Pahwa, who is superb as the wedding planner and completely steals the show in many of her scenes.

Paresh Rawal is bang on in his short cameo and so are the other actors contributing a lot in the overall impact of the film. Cinematography adds to the excitement related with the Ferrari along with a fine background score. But musically, Pritam is just OK with nothing great as one does not remember the songs once out of the theater. The tag line of the review calls it a 'near perfect' film since FKS does have few weaker moments in its narration which could have been tackled in a better manner.

For instance the complete side track of a corrupt politician and his son's wedding seems to be a bit over the top with many cardboard like characters. The plot also takes too many liberties with the Ferrari moving freely on the roads without being noticed and the song with the car flying in the air in reality looks absurd and avoidable. As seen in many earlier movies on cricket, the scenes featuring the game once again remain the weakest ones. Like, how can one look for hitting the wickets when the ball is being pitched way outside the off-stump (when Boman is bowling to his grandson)? Now as mentioned before, Why I would like to ignore these drawbacks in totality? That's because we all lack one major feature in our lives which is called POSITIVE THINKING and FKS is full of the same positivity we all are looking for. We don't get to see such positive films too often and that doesn't mean that it is a 'weepy movie' at all. The film has a father and his son living their lonely life with a great positive attitude, people or neighbors helping out each other in the times of need and it even has good policemen, miles away from the routine kind of men on duty seen in every other film.

Keeping that in mind, FERRARI KI SAWAARI is indeed one of the best FAMILY films of 2012. It is a fine first time attempt by director Rajesh Mapuskar backed by the same talented men (Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Raj Kumar Hirani), who gave us Munna Bhai films and 3 Idiots. So that should be another big reason why it deserves to be seen by all.

Rajesh Mapuskar's 'Ferrai Ki Sawaari' is a decent film, that relishes on simplicity. However, this film's actual merit is its leading man, the sinfully under-rated Sharman Joshi, who shines in his part & delivers a career best performance.

'Ferrai Ki Sawaari' Synopisis: How the pursuit of an Indian cricket legend's Ferrari makes a young boy's dreams of playing cricket at Lords a reality.

Rajesh Mapuskar & Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Screenplay is simple & uncomplicated. Its a decent story about dreams & hope. However, the writing in the first-hour, is extremely slow. Rajesh Mapsukar's Direction is noble. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are fine. Music by Pritam, is ordinary.

Performance-Wise: As mentioned, Sharman Joshi delivers a career best performance. He's excellent from start to end. Boman Irani has essayed this kinda character a number of times before, but the actor manages to impress, as always. Ritvik Sahore is a talented, sincere performer. Deepak Shirke is amazing, so is the entire supporting case. Acting Giant Paresh Rawal stuns in a cameo, while Vidya Balan's item number is energetic.

On the whole, Watch 'Ferrari Ki Sawaari' for its simplicity & Sharman Joshi's winning performance.

Watched "FERRARI KI SAWAARI". Ride was just like an economical class car ride not the luxurious one. It is an average movie. Positive mouth publicity seems difficult. First few scenes are really impressive. They tried to make realistic cinema but it is not very easy. After few scenes, they kneeled down to the word cinematic liberty. They misused it very well. Even the main plot of Ferrari was very fictitious, some time at the level of being illogical. If the movie belongs to 2012 then how can one relate that an honest head clerk of R.T.O can't manage to collect one lac and fifty thousand rupees. Dialogues by Mr. Rajkumar Hirani are enjoyable. Performance of Mr. Boman Irani is par excellence. Sharman Joshi is quite good even the boy Ritwik Sahore is very good. Music is not massy or classy. They tried to put some commercial aspect by keeping an item no but not the music, choreography or performances are enjoyable. They used graphics also to lure the kids but nowadays kids are very smart. Just after watching the few frames they can easily tell that is it Spiderman part..... It will not work in single screen but in multiplexes will work till some extent but one shouldn't give credit to the film for this, it is the big banner and their reputation.

My son wanted to buy me an Audi for Father's Day. His exact words to my wife when she asked him what he wanted to gift me for father's day were, "Papa ki car bahut purani ho gayi, unko Audi le dete hai". Although this has nothing to do with the movie "Ferrari ki Sawaari", I mention this incident because father-son bonding (on which the movie is based) is always an exciting and emotional topic, a topic close to the heart & filled with anecdotes like the one above.

"Ferrari ki Sawaari" starts of exactly like a Ferrari with great momentum, promising to be an interesting ride with the father-son duo as the main characters. But, somewhere down the line, the movie fails to keep up the initial momentum and though a great topic it lacks the quick wit and punch-lines which is a signature of Vidhu Vinod Chopra production (Munnabhai series & 3 Idiots).

There are some great moments in the movie, like the one where Sharman Joshi's character goes to a traffic constable to pay a fine for jumping a signal which no one saw, just to show the value of honesty to his son. Or, when he breaks a piggy bank to buy a cricket bat for his son and deliver it in the middle of a match. The movie revolves around this father son (& grandfather) relationship, with central theme of cricket. In India cricket and movies always generate a larger than life response and their combination is sure to win hearts of millions of Indians. "Ferrari ki Sawaari" also exploits this formula well, added to it the emotional connect between father and son, which deliver some tear jerking moments too.

Sharman Joshi is brilliant as a middle class hardworking, sometimes helpless, father and most fathers will connect with him at some level. Ritwik as Kayo and his son delivers an impactful and subtle performance. Boman Irani as usual is in his element as a grandfather (and an ex- Ranji cricketer) who feels he has been short-changed in life.

But for me something was amiss in this whole movie which failed to make an impact and leave me with an after-taste. The plot moves a little slowly, seems dull & going around in circles at some point. Besides the 3 main characters, other characters fail to support them effectively and appear patchy at places. The much talked about Vidya Balan's item number lacks the thrust and fails to deliver.

I enjoyed the movie at places but was not able to take it back home with me.