The news of Alizeh Agnihotri, Salman Khan’s niece, making her debut in Bollywood had been floating around for a long time. People naturally had a lot of expectations from her. Agnihotri finally made her debut with Soumendra Padhi’s ‘Farrey’ which was released in cinemas last year in November. The debutant actor won the Filmfare Award for this role. When the movie hit the theatres, there was a lot of buzz about Agnihotri’s role. After a substantial wait, ‘Farrey’ is now available to stream on Zee5. In case you missed the movie in the cinemas, you can choose to give it a watch now. Here’s all that you need to know about it before you choose to watch this flick over the weekend.
‘Farrey’: Story
Niyati (played by Alizeh Agnihotri) is an academically gifted student who has been raised in an orphanage home by the warden (played by Ronit Roy) and her wife (played by Juhi Babbar). She passes her class 10th exams with flying colours. She emerges as the state topper in Delhi. As the news of her excellent marks hit the news, she earns a scholarship at a prestigious school. There, she meets Akash (played by Sahil Mehta) who also hails from an almost similar background. Both of them stand a chance to sit for the Oxford University entrance test.
On the first day of school, Niyati befriends Chhavi (played by Prasanna Bisht) - a wealthy but academically struggling classmate. They become friends after Niyati helps her to solve a mathematical problem. One thing leads to the other and Niyati finds herself helping Chhavi to cheat during exams. Meanwhile, a worldwide entrance exam presents an opportunity for the rich kids of the school to buy their way into top colleges, with the help of both Niyati and Aakash. These two students are paid quite a lump sum to help the others cheat. As they deal with money and class divide, they start facing the consequences of their action.
‘Farrey’: Performances
‘Farrey’ belongs to Alizeh Agnihotri because hers is the only character that has been written with utmost thought and precision. Agnihotri has a great screen presence, but she needs to work on her dialogue delivery. Every dialogue comes across in a sing-song voice which mars the entire purpose of the narrative. She tries, but she tries too hard. She has the talent which can be utilized to its maximum potential but there is still that little flaw where you can see that she is acting for the camera. She has not been able to fully immerse herself in the shoes of Niyati.
Chhavi, played by Prasanna Bisht, is an annoying and privileged character. For some reason, I have always felt that playing these kinds of characters is quite easy because you just need to get on someone’s nerves. But Prasanna Bisht is unable to do even that. Her character did not have much to do except for order around. Yet she made it look OTT. Same with Zeyn Shaw who, clearly, has not been able to get out of his character from Netflix’s ‘Class.’
On the other hand, Sahil Mehta (who plays Akash) starts on a promising note. But as the movie progresses, he is unable to embody the grey aspects of his character effortlessly. After the sudden shift in the tone of the movie, his acting feels too unnatural.
Apart from these blunders, it is Ronit Roy and Shilpa Shukla who bring some semblance of acting to ‘Farrey.’ It’s a shame how Roy’s character is not given a name until the very end. When it comes to playing the role of a dad, the actor knows how to get the job done and deliver a reliable performance. On the other hand, Shukla as the strict principal has done ample justice to her role. If she had more on her plate, I am pretty sure she would have nailed that as well.
‘Farrey’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects
We see various films being adapted from Hollywood or even the Korean industry, but how rare is it to see a Bollywood film being an adaptation of a Thai film? In case you don't know, 'Farrey' has been adapted from a Thai film - 'Bad Genius'. Keeping this mind, the makers have adapted it in a fairly decent manner. The dialogues are well chalked out. But the characters are not fleshed out well. This brings the entire movie down because you really do not get to know the other characters.
On the direction part, Soumendra Padhi has done an excellent job. The movie has some skippable parts, but it makes for a decent watch if you keep the flaws aside. He has done a good job of focusing on the best parts of the story and polishing them, but sadly the negatives outweigh the positives here.
The music is another letdown in the film. None of the tracks make you want to groove. At best, you just want to skip through them. The beats aren’t fresh, the lyrics aren’t catchy, and neither is the choreography interesting. The songs just make you yawn.
‘Farrey’: Cast & Crew
Director: Soumendra Padhi
Writer: Soumendra Padhi, Abhishek Yadav Jeetendra, Nath Jeetu
Cast: Alizeh Agnihotri, Ronit Roy, Sahil Mehta, Prasanna Bisht, Zeyn Shaw, Arbaaz Khan, Juhi Babbar, Shilpa Shukla
Available On: Zee5
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes
Languages: Hindi
‘Farrey’: Can Kids Watch It?
Yes.
Outlook’s Verdict
‘Farrey’ starts on a promising note. The movie has ample material that could spark conversations – class divide, money, cheating, academic pressure, etc. But it feels like the makers added all of these subplots without thinking how they are going to treat them in the film. All of these subplots are tied loosely at the end without substantially treating them. The film feels unbelievable after a point of time. It needed to explore more of Akash and Niyati to make it gripping. It needed to show how and why they take their different paths. The only interesting thing about the film is the ingenious ways the students find to cheat in their exams. I am going with 1.5 stars.
