Farzi on Prime Video: Real is rare; fake is everywhere
I’ve been a fan of Raj and DK’s work from Family Man. Soon after watching Family Man, I watched all of their films except their debut, Flavours. They both collaborate and write content with grey characters, an unpredictable and riveting screenplay, and laugh-out-loud moments.
Once this project was announced, I was waiting to see Vijay Sethupathi’s performance in Raj and DK’s direction. Moreover, as a fan of VJS’s work, I was eager to see him in a non-restrained role without censors chopping down the scenes.
I followed the recently-imbibed tradition of not watching trailers for this series too! I saw Kay Kay Menon in one of the posters and was even more excited.
I was in Jodhpur, and with a scenic view of Mehrangarh Fort among the blue-painted houses, I started watching Farzi and completed it in a single stretch. Since I didn’t watch the trailer, I wasn’t aware of the plot or the characters. So, with each episode, my interest in the series grew, and I slept around 2 am with the satisfaction of watching a good series.
Raj and DK are known to get inspired from real-life incidents and news articles and spin out a fictional story with high-tensed scenes with comments on the status quo of our country. This time, they took the underdog middle-class youth as their protagonists (yes, I consider both Sunny and Feroz as protagonists here).
The filmmaker-duo’s choice of scenes to introduce the characters is also interesting. We see Micheal (VJS) in action from the get-go and his face-off with Mansoor (Kay Kay). With Sunny and Feroz, we see their upbringing, backstory, and everyday life and gradually see how they evolve as they reap the fruits of their talent (illegal work).
While we get to see the personal life of VJS as the series progresses, we observe the involvement and greediness of Sunny and Feroz to the darker side.
The filmmaker duo is also known for writing high-tensed, edge-of-the-seat scenes with the ending going weird, failing the efforts of the lead characters in the beginning while giving them a second chance to succeed.
In this series, we see Sunny, and Feroz’s failed attempt to use the fake note to purchase liquor, leading them to discover the fault in their effort.
This is also seen at the paper factory when they try to bring the security personnel under control to loot the papers. It reflects their amateur skills before accomplishing their task and their lack of confidence.
Coming to Micheal, he tries to nab Mansoor but fails miserably while losing his colleagues in a shootout, leading him to reconsider his efforts and make a case to have a team that can plan better and attack.
The series explores typical human nature — we aren’t black and white. The lines are blurred for us. We cross the moral path many times but are good hypocrites. Almost every lead character in this series depicts the basic human tendency of being greedy, doing things in haste, and saying, “Screw it, I’m doing it anyway!”
While writing this, I realised I could write a blog about my understanding of Raj n DK’s works. Without delving into more details, I’d like to share my thoughts on the characters.
Micheal and Minister
Their chemistry cracked me up in every single scene. The writing and their subtle expressions with *good Hindi words* had me laughing.
Particularly the scene after Micheal almost uses expletives at the Minister and blackmails him with his pictures and the scene where the Minster translates Hindi for Micheal, with a line mentioning, “There are more words in Hindi beyond expletives!”
The chemistry of Micheal with Arjun (see the series to find out who Arjun is) is similar to Srikant Tiwari’s chemistry with Arvind in Family Man.
It’s so sweet to see VJS talking in four languages effortlessly in this series. His Telugu is adorable ❤
Sunny and Feroz
Apart from all the reasons to be a fan of Raj and DK, their way of not making the friend character inferior to the protagonist is highly admirable. I’ve been watching this pattern from 99 movie. They write the characters with equal powers and vulnerabilities, and the friendship is organic. We don’t see Feroz as a devotee to Sunny nor elevate Sunny but instead call out the mistakes Sunny makes without hesitation.
If I recall correctly, this is the only work of Shahid I watched after the much-intense performance in Haider, and he has given to be Sunny. He’s subtle without being loud and pulled it off well.
Coming to another interesting character, I liked Anees, played by Saqid Ayub. He has an attitude, and it’s refreshing to see a character creating impact with limited screen time. I felt like watching Siddhant Chaturvedi in Gully Boy.
Mansoor by Kay Kay Menon
He’s captivating again! I think he’s one of the best actors who can bring justice to the character. His vulnerabilities, insecurity, and notorious behaviour towards the betrayed are too good. I enjoyed watching a couple of scenes — one where Micheal teases his English, one where he vents out his frustration towards his employees when Kubbra Sait visits him, the one where the media calls him “Darpok,” and the final one where he sheds his tears after seeing the cash burning. Brilliant actor 🔥
Talking about Kubbra Sait, is she the adjudicator? (like the one in John Wick). She portrayed it well.
Megha by Raashi Khanna
I think this is the role after her debut Oohalu Gusagusalade where she got a good part to perform. Her scenes with her superior in RBI, Shinde sir, and Micheal came out well.
If Amit Mistry ji was alive, we could’ve seen him in this series for sure. Such a fantastic actor with a unique sense of humour. Farzi has a small reference to him.
It’s exciting to see the cross-overs of Family Man and Farzi. Let’s hope we witness an operation jointly headed by Srikant and Micheal.
Until next time…
I was thinking about the titles for this blog but went with this without any reasoning. If you infer something, please let me know 🙂
