Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 2 -|Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 3 -|Review Score – 4/5
Episode 4 -|Review Score – 3/5
Episode 5 -|Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 6 -|Review Score – 4/5
Episode 7 -|Review Score – 3/5
Episode 8 -|Review Score – 3/5
If you’re after a solid crime thriller this weekend, Farzi may just be the show you’re looking for. Split across 8 episodes, this Indian series does a lot right, although it does lose its grip late on with a couple of wobbly episodes to close the series out. However, the ride to get there is soaked with tension and drama, coupled with great acting and some nice little twists along the way.
Farzi follows an artist called Sunny, who finds himself thrown into the murky criminal world when he decides to forge bank notes with his brother-in-crime Firoz. Together, the pair try to evade the authorities, run by a hot-headed task force officer called Michael and his spunky associate Megha, who will stop at nothing to root out corruption.
To complicate matters further, the biggest counterfeiter in India, Mansoor Dalal, starts to take an interest in Sunny’s work, setting up a fascinating and deadly game of cat and mouse.
The acting across the board is pretty good, with Shahid Kapoor stealing the show for his multifaceted performance as Sunny. The way his character shifts across the series is great to see and what begins as a journey with good intentions, soon turns deadly. If there’s one gripe that comes from this character arc though, it comes from a forced romance with a certain character we meet early on (no spoilers here!) and to be honest, it feels crowbarred into the story, like it was a checkbox that needed to be ticked off.
Given how much emphasis is put on the cat and mouse chase at the heart of this series, there are several detours that hold this back from firing on all cylinders. Michael’s subplot involving his family tends to slow the pace down considerably while Megha’s personal life is explored but then hastily dropped in favour of returning to the main plot line.
There’s one reveal midway through the show that works really well to highlight Michael’s motivations and how that’s stemmed from his family life, but then the entire drama is dragged out pointlessly with a choreographed divorce challenge and court scenes that go on far longer than they should.
The main plot line though is great to watch and there are elements of El Chapo and Catch Me If You Can interwoven around a simple but effective tale about a con artist and his family. When the story sticks to basics, it does incredibly well to keep the momentum going, with a couple of these episodes boasting some genuinely suspenseful scenes.
Unfortunately, this is undone somewhat by the final two episodes. The finale in particular devolves into simple action thriller territory, which sorta betrays what the narrative was actually about prior to this. The baited cliffhanger, teasing a possible second season, is simply the cherry on the cake.
Despite a few wobbles, Farzi is an enjoyable watch. The acting is decent, the story is easy to follow and filled with exciting set pieces while the characters themselves are empathetic and well realized. Although the plot does take a few questionable turns, there’s enough in the tank here to make for a wholly enjoyable series worth checking out.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10