‘Sarfira’ a one man show-stopper; Akshay hogs every frame as a dreamer – IANS Rating: **1/2

Mumbai, July 12 (IANS) There’s nothing new about the fight between the haves and have-nots. And so, it’s not surprising how the middle-class dreams and aspirations get crushed. It’s only a few diehard romantics who dare to build castles in the air, and what’s more, despite facing opposition from devious competition, one not only survives but comes up trumps too.

Akshay Kumar is back in Sarfira, a remake of Kongara’s Tamil film ‘Soorarai Pottru’ that released in 2020, which itself was an adaptation of G. R. Gopinath’s memoir ‘Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey’. The 155-minute film follows a man who sets out to make affordable airlines for low-income people, even as several enemies try to impede.

The film moves sequentially to outline Vir Mhatre’s (Akshay Kumar) life. He is a former Indian Air Force pilot and dreams of starting a low-cost carrier airline. He idolises Paresh Goswami (Paresh Rawal), the owner of Jaz Airlines. He is past marriageable age.

Once a much younger Rani (Radhika Madan) and her family visit their home to negotiate a marriage proposal, though Vir had rejected their offer a number of times earlier. A fiery Rani who wants to open her bakery leaves an impression on him and motivates him to set a goal for himself if he is serious about getting into the aviation business. The two chat and Vir shares his life’s woes with her. Rani is fascinated by Vir, and the two decide to tie the knot.

Egged on by Rani, Vir gets even more determined and applies for the ex-serviceman loan from his Commanding Officer Naidu (R. Sarathkumar) to start his airline but is denied. He grew up as a rebellious boy and had a difficult and contentious relationship with his father. He is often reprimanded by Naidu too.

Once on the same flight as Paresh, he attempts to have a conversation with him and proposes that they work together to start a low-cost carrier. Paresh, however, believes the poor should not travel with the rich and humiliates him. Prakash Babu (Prakash Belawadi), the head of a venture capital firm overhears Vir’s conversation with Paresh and the two discuss his business plan. Meanwhile, Vir plans to lease Boeing aircraft at low prices.

After his funds get sanctioned, Vir tries to meet with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials to acquire the licence but is not given a chance to meet him. Helpless and heartbroken Vir meets the President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and requests his help in getting the licence, and succeeds.

When his father is on his deathbed, and he tries to book a flight home, he does not have enough money to buy a business class ticket and delays his departure to reach home but his father dies. This tragic incident sparks his ambition to start a low-cost carrier airline.

There are several obstacles that block Vir from achieving his goal. Each time he fails, he loses his cool but rises to fight again.

Like the character he plays, Akshay Kumar, it seems is also determined to not let umpteen flops kill his never-say-die spirit and gets all the more resolute with a dogged perseverance to carry on. Here, he ticks all the boxes to guarantee a box office success with as many ingredients into the narrative as one can possibly include: he is smart, defiant against wrongdoing, has a personal goal, and never bends his principles to compromise. On top of that, he can do an impromptu jig at the drop of a hat, and fight off the might of any corrupt or unfair authority. That he looks older when romancing a much spirited and younger Radhika is well established as a person who has rejected marriage over his ambition.

He hogs every frame and runs the show as a one-man Army. In many scenes, he sheds copious tears and looks more laughable as his full-blown mug flashes on the screen. In all her earlier films, Madan seldom gets into the skin of her character like a professional actor, though to be fair to her, she as Rani, does leave a mark.

As the scheming businessman, Rawal is a good watch. He has played such evil-minded roles many times earlier. Even getting into a much familiar territory, he has a commanding presence and walks away with creating an impact.

The film is too long with sentimentality running all through, and makes you wonder if subtlety could have saved us the torture of enduring the high-decibel attack. There are melodramatic scenes that add little value to the dramatic effect they set out to achieve. The cinematography by Niketh Bommireddy is fine.

A special appearance by Surya who played the lead in the original is an added treat to his fans.

There are songs set to music by G. V. Prakash Kumar, Tanishk Bagchi, Suhit Abhyankar but the overall background score by G. V. Prakash Kumar is too loud and mars the effect of any scene.

Director: Sudha Kongara

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal, Seema, Biswas, Saurabh Goyal.

Cinematography: Niketh Bommireddy

Duration: 155 minutes

Music: G. V. Prakash Kumar

IANS Rating: **1/2

–IANS

arnab/kvd