My son wanted to buy me an Audi for Father's Day. His exact words to my wife when she asked him what he wanted to gift me for father's day were, "Papa ki car bahut purani ho gayi, unko Audi le dete hai". Although this has nothing to do with the movie "Ferrari ki Sawaari", I mention this incident because father-son bonding (on which the movie is based) is always an exciting and emotional topic, a topic close to the heart & filled with anecdotes like the one above.
"Ferrari ki Sawaari" starts of exactly like a Ferrari with great momentum, promising to be an interesting ride with the father-son duo as the main characters. But, somewhere down the line, the movie fails to keep up the initial momentum and though a great topic it lacks the quick wit and punch-lines which is a signature of Vidhu Vinod Chopra production (Munnabhai series & 3 Idiots).
There are some great moments in the movie, like the one where Sharman Joshi's character goes to a traffic constable to pay a fine for jumping a signal which no one saw, just to show the value of honesty to his son. Or, when he breaks a piggy bank to buy a cricket bat for his son and deliver it in the middle of a match. The movie revolves around this father son (& grandfather) relationship, with central theme of cricket. In India cricket and movies always generate a larger than life response and their combination is sure to win hearts of millions of Indians. "Ferrari ki Sawaari" also exploits this formula well, added to it the emotional connect between father and son, which deliver some tear jerking moments too.
Sharman Joshi is brilliant as a middle class hardworking, sometimes helpless, father and most fathers will connect with him at some level. Ritwik as Kayo and his son delivers an impactful and subtle performance. Boman Irani as usual is in his element as a grandfather (and an ex- Ranji cricketer) who feels he has been short-changed in life.
But for me something was amiss in this whole movie which failed to make an impact and leave me with an after-taste. The plot moves a little slowly, seems dull & going around in circles at some point. Besides the 3 main characters, other characters fail to support them effectively and appear patchy at places. The much talked about Vidya Balan's item number lacks the thrust and fails to deliver.
I enjoyed the movie at places but was not able to take it back home with me.
