Farzi: Crime pays..... but dearly!

When the system stifles the oppressed, corruption leaks! But when that blends with skill, artists emerge. Fooling the people with their sly craft, they soon become the coveted prizes for the greedy as well the police.

Sunny is a skilled artist, abandoned by his father and raised by his maternal grandfather, his beloved Nanu. Nanu also took under his umbrella, the homeless and family less Firoz, both on their early childhood. Firoz was a street boy, who befriended Sunny at the time his father abandoned him. They grew together as Nanu raised them and bonded as brothers more than as friends. Their Nanu had a small press that published a daily, a dream that Nanu pursued to revolutionise society through his writing. Alas, ideas remain but funds and well wishers dry up. That was what happened to the press and suddenly Nanu was distressed to find the press in financial crisis. Situation worsened as loans piled up while time to repay the debts ran scanty. Desperation ran high while resources were limited. But just as necessity breeds invention, need of money, this time, bred counterfeits. The artist in Sunny designed the notes while the technician in Firoz implemented them. Though the initial batch was a failure bur a quick revision soon brought fruit. Clients were found in the underworld and profit was amassed. The loan was easily repayed and the press saved.

But the tale of the twisted mind was yet to begin as money was raining in quickly. Sunny, tasting blood in the fortune amassed, wanted to continue. Clients were already in the queue, infrastructure was already built, but there was Nanu too! Any inkling of the ill practice and he will be heartbroken! But again fate played a strange twist. Nanu contracted a threatening disease of memory loss and Mansoor appeared with promises of further fortune. Mansoor was a high rolling flamboyant international kingpin of the counterfeit business. So police was obviously on his trail. But the ambitious Sunny seemed least bothered about that. Thus, as stakes ran high, so did the risks. With Firoz trying to bring sense to Sunny, police hot on the trail to trap them and Mansoor rolling the dice of life, it remains to be seen what climax the series presents.

With a slower start at the beginning that gathers pace from episode 5 onwards, the crime drama is a must watch. Not only because the drama is intense but there is a promise for a future that will be top of the class if the tone remains uncompromised in the season that must follow.

Debuting in his OTT appearance, Shahid Kapoor acts but sometimes feels a bit off the mark. Hope he proves convincing throughout in the follow ups. Amol Palekar plays his low profile part to perfection and supports the stage for the young brigade with maturity! But the best three roles are played by Bhuvan Arora, Kay Kay Menon and Vijay Sethupathi, presenting their respective portrayals to perfection. Arora plays the faithful friend with a heart, Menon is the coldly unmerciful criminal while Sethupathi sets his heart as the stubborn law enforcer with his crusade to bring down the racket he is after. But what separates them from the others are the realistic touch sprinkled with natural relief that they infuse in the characters that eases out tensions as they heighten yet keeps the perspective gripping. Raj and D K directs this action packed drama that shares a character with The Familyman, a surprising yet appropriate insert, giving the required touch of gifted espionage while winding up in a cliffhanger that promises at least another session of redemption and revenge in the coming years!

Being The Family Man!

The Family Man is back with a bang and in style. Keeping us unmercifully expectant for so long with growing disappointment for the cliffhanger moment of season#1 that required closure, the sophomore season is much more than a mere compensation that is worth the patience. True, the recapitulations might feel a bit too taxing as the gap seemed indeed large between seasons, if not it is just me with bad memory feeling lost often during episodes, but these won't dampen your enjoyment, I guarantee.

Created and produced by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D K, the theme of the series is thrillingly satisfying. Written by the creators and Suman Kumar, the story revolves around Srikant Tiwari of the fictitious agency, TASC, being delegated to bring down terrorist outfit set to destabilize power and order in the country. As the motherland is set to forge a political alliance, some foreign intelligence join hands with committed rebels to disrupt it. Diplomats take their opportunistic obstinate stance and it remains upon the espionage to make it happen. Whispers in tapped channels spell doom in the form of a dormant cell of elite assassins reuniting with vows to avenge their leader who is killed in Indian soil. Authorities scramble a team led by Tiwari to counter the threat.

But life is not so easy for Tiwari himself. Haunted by his past guilt, he had left TASC to lead a seemingly quality family life. But though his shift to corporate world apparently boosted his finances but his already troubled family life seemed to take a downhill turn. Misunderstanding with Suchi, misbehaving son and teenage daughter turning increasingly unruly being the usual order of life, a chance to reunite with old comrades at TASC seemed all that he could wish for. Little did he know what risks the future had in store for his family with the decision as the villains, this time, had personal agenda too in their platter.

The stage for the thrilling showdown was thus set for the family man Srikant to get things done for the country and the family.

Scripted by Sumit Arora, Suman Kumar and Manoj Kumar and directed by Raj, DK and Suman S Verma, the dialogues are crisp and the pace accelerated. Tamil dialogues form an integral part of the theme with subtitles assisting.

The lion's share of credit for acting goes to Manoj Bajpayee of his rendering of Srikant Tiwari, the no nonsense intelligence agent with a fluent tongue for lying out of any circumstances. But Sharib Hashmi as JK Talpade, the equally witty and warm hearted colleague of Tiwari and his team will take kudos as will Priyamani as the matured and calm Suchi, wife to Tiwari, with her impeccable portraiture of the housewife torn between her responsibility and career. Ravindra Vijay as TASC agent Muthu Pandian gives it the authentic regional touch with him serving as leading liaison with the local establishments. However, surprise awaits with composed steps of Samantha Akkineni as the coldly calculative Raji. Speaking little, her eyes speaks volumes instead. The desperation in her determined looks will instil a rare mix of fear and forgiveness in the heart of the viewers. Courage and confidence brewing in her, she would steal the show as it culminates. But only thing to say against this character is use of tan to condition her complexion that seemed slightly in excess.

The climactic episode closes again in a cliffhanger and a threat but this time the former is forgivingly social while the threat is surprisingly realistic given the condition of the country and the state where a recent happening of apprehending foreign national is coincidentally underway.

Future will have in store evidence to compare whether script matches reality!