Farley review: Salman Khan’s niece Alizeh scores high in her debut film | Bollywood

Jamtara’s Soumendra Padhi’s exam hall heist thriller Farhi can be summed up between two ironies. First of all, it’s what the elite sidekicks are to the underdog protagonists in his 2017 Thai thriller Bad Genius, which is the original story. . Both have benefited from the invisible brilliance of lesser-known benefactors.

If there’s any indication that a year of redemption is near for mainstream Indian blockbusters, it’s the current trend for epic stories starring reliable box-office pipers. Farley has campaigners of the ‘content-driven’ movement, which seems to have been set in motion by the emergence of his OTT storytelling from the house of Salman Khan.

It begins with the street-smart protagonist writing exams for clients in exchange for extra pocket money, a scene that deftly establishes her personality type without aiming too high. She is one of her 20 or so girls in an orphanage in Delhi run by a couple (Ronit Roy and Juhi Babasoni) born out of the Rajshri Productions project. Our protagonist, Niyati, tops the All India Class 10 board exams and after she is admitted to a prestigious school in the Student of the Year universe, she makes friends with the ruling gang of wealthy bitches. It will become.

Like capitalist opportunists, the callous gang (with some help from the social climber protagonist) quickly figure out how they can use their bottomless cash to take advantage of their new friend’s bottomless academic talent. I notice. You know what’s going to happen (even if you haven’t seen Bad Genius), but there’s a certain sense of fun and unapologetic flair to how it arrives and how it arrives. Ronit Roy played the most sanskar-like role of his life (as the salt-of-the-earth adoptive father and slasher warden), and Shilpa Shukla played the opposite of her breakout role in Chak De (though cool). Not even a moralistic school principal. ! India (2007), with its 2000s banalities and strict insistence on integrity, may strain the Faustian pact these raucous Gen-Zers have made. Please try to imagine. They need Sydney’s spectacular sunsets to enjoy their own time in the sun.

Another delicious irony of Farey is the casting of Alizeh Agnihotri as a genius girl from an underprivileged orphanage who stares wide-eyed at the vile over-resources in her wealthy friend’s home. It’s comforting and reassuring to see Salman Khan’s niece bringing such confident physical energy to her first acting role. One of the fortunate things about this star athlete is that her character allows her to be seen as (I hate that word) unattractive, unyielding, and unstable. The fact is that it makes it possible. All of which are unlikely to happen to someone in her position. recognized as.

Furry is also a lot of fun, thanks in no small part to its gray-focused characterization, which is reminiscent of the ambiguity that OTT-style storytelling has brought back to keep long-form content engaging. It has become. Sahil Mehta of “Tabbar” and “Good Luck Jerry”, who plays Akash, another special student at Winston High School, focuses on portraying the anxiety of a depressed person. Zane Shaw (The Class) essays a harmless youthful charm, having to try hard to come across as a high schooler, but without the annoying sense of sex appeal that the actor sometimes exudes. In fact, it’s this lack of reliance on romantic tension that keeps Farley so refreshingly frugal.

Despite some lag towards the conclusion and the need for an odd suspension of disbelief during a high-stakes heist moment, the film probably succeeded in achieving what it set out to do. If that inspiration earns her straight A’s, Farley does great.