REVIEWS

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Recall how counterfeiting used to continue to spring up in Bollywood potboilers? You may not turn into a specialist in spotting counterfeit notes after you're finished watching 'Farzi', created and directed by Raj and DK. The eight-part Amazon series, in which Shahid Kapoor makes his OTT debut, does, however, provide a ready reckoner on topics that the majority of us did not know much about. These topics include the kind of paper that a genuine note uses, the artistry involved in the design, printing, and distribution of the note, and the deadly danger that is present throughout the entire process.

Throughout the long term, Shahid Kapoor succeeds in jobs where the person's confidence is enduring an onslaught. In a role that resembles his real life, he brilliantly combines a melancholy demeanor and impish smile as the antagonist Sunny. Sunny's righteous maternal grandfather, Amol Palekar, brings out a newspaper called Kranti Patrika and paints The Thinker with trembling hands when his father abandoned him as a child. In any case, the youthful craftsman sees his general surroundings and pays more for the fakes than the first work. As he watches the tree slowly die from a loan and widespread corruption. Sunny stops thinking about revolution. However, the artist crosses over and sells his work to the highest bidder in order to save Nanu and his fading ideas. We learn how a man can become consumed by circumstances as Sunny is sucked into a black hole as his ego and ambition take over.

The narrative is full of difficult-to-solve moral quandaries. An uneasy feeling arises from the emotional track in which Sunny is concerned that his Nanu, whose memory is deteriorating by the day, will discover that he has violated his trust. Eyes get watery when Sunny wraps his Nanu around him from behind. Even when the writers lose their way, the pristine presence of Palekar, who carefully selects his project, convinces us that the ideological slugfest is honest.

Farzi more closely resembles the work of a magician who performs the same trick in response to market demand. In this film, the seamless socio-political commentary becomes repetitive and even jarring at times. During the eight episodes of rough and tumble, the screenplay gives the impression of that eye-catching coat with a lining that has not been stitched properly and gives way. There are segments when it appears to be the essayists' exploration notes on fake cash have slipped into the content and that we are watching a guidance manual on the most proficient method to cause counterfeit bills to unfurl on-screen. Curiously, the authors have spent hours explaining the business of counterfeit currency, but they haven't explained how the story works in detail. The backstories are not compelling, some of the twists are too convenient for the majority of readers, and an important character is omitted without due diligence. Farzi feels like Sunny's super note because of this inconsistent approach, a ruse beneath the splendor.

Vijay Sethupathi as the wild official has an origin story of a bombed activity and a stressed marriage entrapped in a war. The main plot is not affected in any way by any of this. In the first season, he doesn't get much to do other than act like a boy. Also, whoever approved that Vijay and Shahid would not have a single scene together in an eight-hour show should think twice before giving life advice. It is a violation that cannot be ignored.

Farzi is a first look at the rise of a villain who also happens to be a hero. This villain could later appear in Raj & D.K.'s illustrious universe. However, it cannot be ignored that it is also following a path that has already been traveled without much originality.