Review of Ferrari Ki Sawaari (2012) by Amodini S — 30 Jun 2012

On the face of it, this is the kind of saccharine sweet drama, full of those much vaunted family values, that we desis are so proud of. So yeah, if you take it as it comes, take the emotional drama in your stride, you will not walk out displeased. It is a clean film, cleanly told, and families can watch it en masse (just be a wary of Vidyaâ(TM)s lascivious winks in the âMala zhau deâ? wedding number). The hero of the film Rusy, the sensitive dad of our story, is a good man, trying to live his life as an example to his son. So he insists on paying a traffic fine when he inadvertently runs a red light even though no traffic policeman is around to catch him, he is unflinchingly honest and patient and a good samaritan to boot. The son adores his dad and vice versa.

Of course bad things happen to these very good people, and the contrast is between the oh-so-good-people and oh-so-wicked-world. Rusyâ(TM)s character is overdone â" he is good, so good that essentially he is a misfit in a chalta-hai, corrupt world. When I see the overdone-ness of his character I dismiss any notions of realistic cinema â" we are now in fantasyland. Then when the good, honest person has bad done to him, Iâ(TM)m almost obligated to root for him. I say obligated because this is a fantasy anyway; rooting for this fantastical character does not move me. And thatâ(TM)s my problem with this film â" it does not move me or engage with me. Has Rusy been a believable character I might have been more involved. As it is, I resent the forced mushiness/contrived emotional drama â" why canâ(TM)t film-makers be braver than this ? Why stick to this formulaic, predictable, cliched story-telling ?

All that said, there are a few things that were done well. Rusyâ(TM)s dialog about setting an example for his son touched a chord. The father-son relationship between Rusy and Kayo is hard not to like inspite of melancholic Rusy â" Kayo is a smiley, sunny kid with more gumption than his dad. I must commend Ritwik Sahore on his performance. Seema Bhargava as the wedding planner and Boman Irani as the elder Deboo are superb. Sharman Joshi as Rusy cuts a rather piteous figure; he smiles wide when he is happy and he smiles wide when he is sad â" one heck of a repressed character. There is a more interesting film in here, and it is called âRusy ko gussa kyon aata hai?â? â" Mr. Chopra please make that one, Iâ(TM)ll buy a ticket.