Movie Review: Ferrari Ki Sawaari is a two and a half men show

Two and a half men, one red Ferrari, a whole lot of Mumbai-isms, high morals and an ode to the living legend Sachin Tendulkar and his cricket genius make Ferrari Ki Sawaari. Of course the men, Behram Deboo (Boman Irani), Rustom Deboo (Sharman Joshi) and the little guy, Kayoze Deboo (Ritwik Sahore) are in no way to be confused with Charlie and Alan Harper and Jake from the hit show, Two And A Half Men or Charlie Sheen’s replacement, Ashton Kutcher for that matter. It’s just that three generations of a Parsi family — father, son and grandson living under the same roof  that compels the comparison to the television show’s title and also, because the film primarily rests on the trio’s supreme acting skills. Behram is a disgruntled old geezer who whiles away his time watching television all day, and his genteel and very honest son, Rustom, a head clerk at the Worli RTO, looks after him. He shows no interest in his grandson, Kayo, a boy wonder in the cricket world and a big fan of the greatest cricketer that the world has seen, Sachin Tendulkar. [caption id=“attachment_345010” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Ritwik Sahore’s portrayal of Kayo is marvelous and Sharman Joshi in his first sole lead in Ferrari Ki Sawaari is flawless as Rustom. cnn ibn”] [/caption] Rustom’s a widower and he is a single parent to Kayo.The family lives a spartan life with just about enough money for food, shelter and clothing, leaving no room for contingent expenses. And that’s exactly when one such expense arises — the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Ground (MCG) comes down to Mumbai scouting for young talent to play at Lords for the summer and Kayo is a front runner, but the cost of the camp is Rs 1,50,000. How Rustom tries to organize the money to send Kayo to London is what the film’s story is about inspired by the imagery of a purring Ferrari with its 560 HP engine and flashy, red body, enticing good ‘ole Rustom to take a chance in order to enable better opportunities for his young son. The scene where he requests a bank manager to give him a loan, even though his salary doesn’t quite make him eligible for one, is heartwrenching. “Jiske father ki low salary ho kya uska beta life main high nahin jaa sakta hai? Jiski salary high hogi woh loan lene kyun aayega?” pleads a hapless Rustom to the manager. The dialogues and emotional threads in the story bear a distinct Raju Hirani stamp, possibly because debutant director, Rajesh Mapuskar, worked as an assistant to Hirani before he turned independent with this film. Also, Hirani has written the dialogues of the film. The circumstances in the film, whether it’s a parking ticket or just the way things play out are entirely believable and real, not filmy at all. Even though the film is engaging, it feels a bit stretched, somewhat like a stretch limo? The funniest bits in the film are when Sachin’s domestic help, Mohan and security guard interact - every scene in which the two are on, is pure fun! The scene in which they meet up with a garage owner Shamshu bhai is just hilarious. The Worli corporator, Tatiya and his grandiose plans for his good for nothing son’s wedding, Pakiya, which is planned by a loud-mouthed wedding planner, Babbu Chanchal is interesting and extremely funny in the beginning, but gets tedious after a while. A crisper edit on this track in the film would have helped keep the main story in focus rather than the back and forth on the two very different tracks, interlinked only by the Ferrari of course. Other than the main story about the Deboo family, the rest of the film’s plot line jumps about unnecessarily into characters that could have been given a miss. That’s the only flaw in this otherwise entertaining film. The politics of sport, especially cricket, which Ferrari Ki Sawaari, touches upon but does not go into the details of, is an idea director Madhur Bhandarkar should think of exploring on celluloid. It should make for exciting viewing - combining two of India’s biggest passions - cricket and film together. Vidya Balan’s special appearance in the song, Mala Jau De is “dirty” Dancing, replete with booty moves et al and she pulls it off with aplomb. Ritwik Sahore’s portrayal of Kayo is marvelous - terrific little performer. Sharman Joshi in his first sole lead in Ferrari Ki Sawaari is flawless as Rustom. He becomes him, down to the minutest of details in the physical as well as emotional persona. Boman Irani, an exceptionally talented actor, brings so much depth to his role as Behram - every grunt, snarl and twitch adds to his performance. Ferrari Ki Sawaari is really a two and half men show, as far as performances go. All three make the film a special one and you’re willing to take the length and meandering bits of the film because of their marvelous performances. Rating: **