Farrey (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – After gaining admission into an elite school on scholarship, an orphan genius Niyati gets entangled in a cheating racket when some of her rich friends lure her into helping them cheat in exams through elaborate methods.

My Take – Over the years we have seen various Indian films indulging in critical commentary on the education system, however, for his latest director Soumendra Padhi, known for the under-seen Manoj Bajpayee starrer Budhia Singh – Born to Run (2016) and the acclaimed Netflix series Jamtara: Sabka Number Ayega (2020), skims through it all to for a fiction tale, apparently based on true stories, on someone who could be a part of a solver gang. A gang comprising of brilliant students who write exams on forged ids to make quick money.

Adapted from a popular Thai film titled Bad Genius (2017), here, director Padhi and co-writer Abhishek Yadav (Kota Factory), document a new reality of our times regarding academic proficiency. Private schools have begun to look like five-star hotels where bright students with modest means easily fall prey to a new game of haves and have-nots.

Those who have academic brilliance don’t have the money and those who have big bucks to keep such private enterprises running don’t have the brains to pass the competitive tests. Hence, in this ground fertile for corruption, there is ample scope for a morbid give and take. And by blending elements of a thriller with the conventions of a campus drama minus the shoehorned romance, the resulting experience is surprisingly refreshing and thrilling.

Sure, despite initially setting it up, the film only scratches the surface of issues like inequities of the higher secondary education and the widening gap between the moneyed and the marginalized. Yet, hovering around a concept that could easily be a slog once the essence is conveyed, the film never lets you out of the world and instead keeps you hooked on the narrative.

This Salman Khan production also acts as a unique launch pad for his niece Alizeh Agnihotri, daughter of Atul Agnihotri, a popular 90s actor who later turned towards direction (Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa, Hello) and production (Bodyguard, Radhe). And indeed she marks an impressive debut. Easy on the eyes and yet so riveting, she shines bright in some of the most complex scenes, making her probably the best find of 2023.

The story follows Niyati (Alizeh Agnihotri), an academically brilliant 17 year old girl raised lovingly by a couple (Ronit Roy, Juhi Babbar Soni), who run a shelter home for girls under the age of 18. When she scores all India #1 in her tenth board, Niyati finds herself earning a scholarship to study in an elite high school, Winston International. Once there, her world begins to change when on a whim, she ends up even helping a wealthy classmate, Chavi (Prasanna Bisht), during an exam.

And when Chavi ends up securing top marks, others in her class, including Prateek (Zeyn Shaw), begin turning to her for deliverance. Aware of the fact, the warden and the shelter home are struggling to fend financially, especially with an Oxford scholarship is within striking distance, Niyati begins to accept huge amount of money to help her rich classmates cheat.

But when she is joined by Aakash (Sahil Mehta), a poverty-stricken but equally brilliant classmate who works as a food delivery boy to supplement the family income, the scheming soon becomes scamming on a higher level and the dark side beckons.

The film has several things going on for itself, but the biggest one is the fact that it is truly engaging. There is also, thankfully, no forced love angle or any other gimmick that might be a distraction to what it set out to do. To be centering a film about cheating exams can easily be monotonous and drab after a point of time, but that is never the case here. Each time, the plan is cleverer than the previous one.

The cheating parts in the classrooms are constructed with the right mix of suspense and narrative tension. The writing here is intricate and layered as well, where none of these four young leads have a black or white shade to them – there is grey, but there is empathy and a general sense of understanding towards them.

The screenplay is peppered with stray scenes that show how tough life is for Niyati and Aakash while underscoring the constant pressure that Chavi is also under from her father (Arbaaz Khan) who wants her to make it to Stanford University like her elder brother. There’s a point in the film when things go so wrong, that we immediately expect Niyati to change shades and take revenge. It always happens.

But the second half is surprising for how pragmatic it remains, despite all the narrative drama. There is no space for grand themes like comeuppance, heroism, table-turning and slick downfalls. However, while doing this it also leaves a portion of the main conflict left unexplained, which makes the resolution a little pale in comparison. As the focus is on the main protagonist, what happens to the other characters is left unanswered.

Performances wise, Alizeh Agnihotri makes a strong debut as a spunky topper. She’s convincing in her role as a bright, cheeky, yet reckless girl. Alizeh has a certain raw and authentic feel to her screen presence and dialogue delivery. The no-makeup, de-glam look helps make Niyati feel real. Sahil Mehta too effortlessly pulls off his complicated character arc.

Prasanna Bisht and Zeyn Shaw are both stupendous in their turns. In supporting roles, Ronit Roy, Juhi Babbar Soni, Shilpa Shukla and Arbaaz Khan are first rate. On the whole, ‘Farrey’ is a compelling watch bolstered by the impressive big screen debut of Alizeh Agnihotri.