Farrey movie review: Salman Khan’s niece Alizeh Agnihotri makes a confident debut in an impressive thriller

Filmmaker Soumendra Padhi has made a new film that’s titled Farrey. His other two works are Budhia Singh: Born To Run and Jamtara, both are about dreams and aspirations but the approach to the narrative is poles apart. Farrey belongs more to the mood of the latter. In fact, the R in both the names have the new rupee sign. The similarity is a giveaway of what to expect- one plan, one execution, and the one inevitable mess up.

Farrey marks the acting debut of Salman Khan’s niece Alizeh Agnihotri, who plays Niyati. Just like any small-town girl, she too brims with confidence but also reeks of precociousness. She’s clear she wants to clear the IIT and make lots of money, and her father (Ronit Roy) wants her to be grounded. He’s the kind of righteous father we often expectedly encounter in films about grime and greed. Alizeh has a confident sense of approach towards her character who makes no bones about her ambitions. She takes the wrong path, unaware it can never lead to the right destination.

The word Farrey is used in the film by her and her classmates are perplexed as to what it means. She may be desi at language but not as naive as one would perceive her to be. The film does echo the sentiment of the Thai thriller Bad Genius (it’s not clear whether this is the official remake or not) and Emraan Hashmi’s Why Cheat India, it possesses a stamp of its own. The screenplay and writing don’t allow us to predict how the chaos will culminate and if there’s any room for redemption for the central character.

The other actor who leaves a lasting impression is Sahil Mehta of Tabbar fame. He looks the part and performs with ease. That’s the thing with Soumendra Padhi, he has the knack for throwing both (mostly) unknown and unique faces on us and make us notice their talent and tenacity. There are little touches of one’s ordinary school life that walk the tightrope of being nostalgic and nauseating. There are fleeting moments of bullying, mirth, selfishness, and many other emotions clubbed together.

Farrey does get predictable in between, when the bubble is busted and it’s time for Niyati to face the world. The alteration with parents, monologues on misery and money are something Emraan Hashmi mastered way back in 2008 with Jannat. But even in 2023, the idea feels interesting and the credit for that goes to Abhishek Yadav and Soumendra Padhi. Salman Khan is the co-producer of Farrey, and it shows he can genuinely surprise us with his choices of films, even if it comes sans acting in them.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Farrey is playing in cinemas near you

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