Sarfira Movie Review: Sir, phir se

A still from Sarfira

Sarfira
U: Biography, drama
Dir: Sudha Kongara
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan
Rating: 2/5

There's a fair argument to be made about how a grain of truth truly elevates fiction. Picking my favourite moment from this movie, then.

Which is the bit when the hero, in this case, an Air Force trainee, must fly soonest to meet his father in his village, who's likely on death-bed.

The hero is at the ticket counter. There are no economy seats left in the airline. The next flight is only a couple of days ahead. He must buy a business class ticket, then - to hop on to the only hope he has, to see his dad, the soonest.

He begs others in the line to borrow some money for a business class ticket. This is the trigger, apparently, for why the protagonist in this picture, subsequently, aspires to build an airline that India's poorest can afford!

Only, that there is absolutely no grain of truth to the anecdote above - inspired by the life of ex-Army man, later serial entrepreneur, Captain GR Gopinath.

As it is, Sarfira is the story of the same Sir, phir se - in the sense, that for all intents and purposes, a nearly scene-for-scene remake of Soorarai Pottru (2020), in Tamil, by the repeated director, Sudha Kongara.

Here - the Hindi fictional avatar, Vir Jagannath Mhatre (Akshay Kumar), is from the interiors of Maharashtra. There - as Nedumaaran Rajangam (Suriya), he belonged to Tamil Nadu.

Capt Gopinath is originally from Karnataka. I'm unsure why, then, is the low-cost airline he starts, on screen, still Air Deccan!

The one actor, therefore the character, common between two versions of the same film is Paresh Rawal - as Paresh Goswami, owner of an airline named Jaz.

Which is, of course, direct allusion, without any subtleties whatsoever, to Naresh Goyal. Until merely a decade and half ago, Goyal was one of the richest Indians, formerly boss of the upscale and much-loved Jet Airways.

He's the vilest villain you'll meet in a movie - a shamelessly condescending, capitalist don, government's crony, willing to risk human lives, in order to kill competition!

I wonder what Goyal might think of his onscreen self. But then again, surely, Goyal has more worrying things to think about - he's been ailing in jail, as we speak, under trial for a money-laundering case, worth over Rs 500 crore.

Frankly, I find the story of the flight and fall of Goyal himself - who rose from a minor travel agency, into the poster boy of Indian aviation - quite intriguing. Which could make for parallel episodes, if this biopic was a series.

But this isn't actually so much a biopic as a heroic hagiography, on a breathless/hyperventilating mode, that Capt Gopinath himself described (for Soorarai Pottru) as "fictionalised for cinematic effect, but beneath the ‘masala', there is good meat!" Of course, he should be mighty pleased with this movie, that makes him look so good.

More so literally, as the meaty/brawny, Akshay Kumar - racing down a flying plane on his motorbike; giving it off to government officials; warming up to the woman of his life (Radhika Madan); dancing like the whole world is watching; gently emoting with his family and loved ones from the underclasses; swiftly switching between callow youth, and rugged, early middle-age…

As a genre, this picture is closer to, say, how Mani Ratnam would deal with complex issues in the mainstream space - like, riots (Bombay), terrorism (Roja, Dil Se) etc. Over here, it's the hardship of doing business in India, especially dealing with untested ideas.

Even as I'm not convinced if low-cost airlines were a novelty for the world. Many had existed before Deccan. Also, there is barely any surviving legacy for Deccan itself. No such thing as a proper low-cost airline in India anymore. They all cost the same, which is a bomb.

You watch a Vijay Mallya type figure getting lampooned in this film. Nowhere in the epilogue is it even mentioned that less than half a decade of operating, Deccan itself sold out to Mallya's Kingfisher!

Just as you never quite question if Deccan's maiden flight did get sabotaged the same way as in the movie - wherein Deccan Air equalled death in air.

As the lead character, however, relentlessly overcoming multiple such obstacles - with all the masala, deliberately mixed with the meat - I think Akshay aces it, in his own athletic way. I guess it's just easier for me to connect with Akshay, as a Bollywood audience over almost four decades, than, say, Suriya.

Sure, this is another biopic, and that too a remake - both lowest hanging fruits. To be fair, I would've recommended Sarfira still - if I hadn't already watched Soorarai Pottru (on Amazon Prime Video).

That's progressively going to become the case, with audiences thoroughly engaged with content on OTT, already. Wish this movie better luck with the others then.