Farrey Movie Review
Niyati (Alizeh Agnihotri) has been lovingly brought up in an orphanage by a kind warden (Ronit Roy) and his caring wife (Juhi Babbar Soni). She has been a top student throughout her life and passes her 10th exams with flying colours, prompting the topmost school in India to offer her a full scholarship for the next two years. She becomes the top student there too, her only competition being another student from the underprivileged class, Aakash (Sahil Mehta), who too has been granted the self-same scholarship. Their joy is complete when the principal of the school (Shilpa Shukla), informs them that the school has chosen them to sit in the prestigious Oxford University entrance test, which will help them gain a full scholarship if selected.
Niyati makes friends with Chhavi (Prasanna Bisht), who is super rich but weak in studies. Chhavi asks her to help out during the exams, and Niyati at first does it out of friendship and later starts doing it for the money. But the money isn’t for herself, rather it’s sent as donations for her orphanage. There’s a worldwide entrance exam, the basis of which students can gain admission into a top college abroad. The rich kids pay an obnoxious amount of money to both Niyati and Aakash to help them crack it. And the two brilliant students utilise their genius to come up with the perfect plan to achieve that goal. Both are in danger of losing their innocence, however. Whether they stay true to the right path or lose themselves in the blind pursuit of lucre forms the crux of the film.
The first half of the film, which shows a wide-eyed Niyati’s introduction to the world of rich kids, flows smoothly. She’s like Alice lost in Wonderland. She can’t believe Chhavi lives in such a huge house, has a number of gadgets at her disposal and even has a chef catering to all her wishes. Her hunger for such a lifestyle is almost palpable. The second half is devoted to the scam, where the drama gets more heightened. The film then segues into being a morality play, with the director showing us all the reasons about Niyati and Aakash’s decision to take to crime, as also their individual struggles with it. We are drawn into their world and want them to do the right thing, no matter the cost.
Prassana Bisht, who plays Chavi, has acted well and so has Zeyn Shaw, who plays the other rich kid, Prateek. They both take their privilege for granted and come out as fickle friends. Sahil Mehta, who plays Aakash is a natural in front of the camera and is someone to watch out for. The film belongs to Alizeh Agnihotri, who makes the viewers root for her character throughout. She makes a super confident debut and comes across as a complete product.
Trailer : Farrey
Dhaval Roy, November 21, 2023, 1:31 PM IST
Story: An orphaned 10th board exam topper from Delhi, who earns a spot at a prestigious school in the city, is pulled into a cheating racket by her rich classmates. As the stakes and rewards get higher, she risks losing far more than she stands to gain. What will be the result of this shindig?
Review: A school drama with fresh faces is mostly about love and romance, peer pressure, or the clash between the haves and the have-nots. Or is it? Not for director Soumendra Padhi, who delivers an extremely refreshing and thrilling movie. The set-up isn’t novel — two gifted board toppers from a humble background, Niyati (Alizeh Agnihotri) and Akash (Sahil Mehta), attending an elite school in Delhi on a scholarship programme. But what ensues during their stint is nothing like one has seen on screen before.
The USP of writers Soumendra and Abhishek Yadav’s narrative lies in avoiding the tropes of school drama and the thrill it serves. The contrasting worlds of the rich and the poor kids are presented well. While the former has the opportunities but not the fire to study, it’s the other way around for the latter. Interestingly, albeit dissimilar, parents’ expectations are a common factor. Chhavi’s father (Arbaaz Khan) wants her to give up her dreams of becoming an interior designer and study at Stanford to carry his business forward, and Akash’s mother wants him to let go of the full scholarship at Oxford to handle their humble laundry work. The movie’s music is another strong point. Sachin-Jigar give a club banger with Ghar Pe Party Hai, which is a chic portrayal of how the youth lets its hair down, a desi dance number with Macha De Tabahi, and MC Stan’s hip-hop title track. The splendidly-scored background music perfectly complements the drama.
Although Soumendra (renowned for Jamtara: Sabka Number Ayega) presents a well-crafted outing overall, the sequences of cheating in the exams tend to overstretch, including the final exam track that would have benefitted from being shorter. The thrill reaches a crescendo but plateaus towards the end, with a portion of the main conflict left unexplained, which makes the resolution pale in comparison. As the focus is on the main protagonist, what happens to the other characters is left unanswered.
Alizeh Agnihotri makes a strong debut as a spunky topper. She’s convincing in her role as a bright, cheeky, yet reckless girl. Sahil Mehta effortlessly pulls off his complicated character arc. Prasanna Bisht and Zeyn Shaw stand their might as manipulative teenagers. Ronit Bose Roy and Juhi Babbar as the orphanage’s wardens and loving parent figures shine in their roles.
Despite some loose ends, Farrey is a compelling watch that will keep you entertained throughout. As it resonates with energetic performances, with her impressive debut, Alizeh Agnihotri is someone to watch out for!
