Sarfira movie review: Akshay Kumar redeems himself in a convincing biopic hit by mid-air turbulence

Sarfira is a remake of Sudha Kongara’s Tamil film Sorarai Potrru (2020) starring Suriya which itself is an adaptation of GR Gopinath’s memoir ‘Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey’.

Utho Anarkali. Akshay Kumar mission pe hai. Akshay is back with a film where he plays a saviour. Yes, he is an underdog. Yes, he is fighting an enemy more powerful than him. Are the odds in his favour? No. Will he win (and also save the day)? Yes. Protagonists played by Akshay Kumar always win. With Sarfira, we have a feel-good, inspirational biopic where, you guessed it right, Akshay wins. Haven’t we seen this template before, in at least the last 10 of the actor’s films?

For once, the critic in me wants to see an anti-biopic. One where the protagonist loses it all and continues living his life as usual. Failures are a part of our life, isn’t it? And when we fail, we pick ourselves up and continue living. Before we see that day, films like Sarfira (though formulaic and repetitive) do leave their impact, even if it rests on thin ice.

Sarfira is a remake of Sudha Kongara’s Tamil film Sorarai Potrru (2020) starring Suriya which itself is an adaptation of GR Gopinath’s memoir ‘Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey’. Obviously, Sarfira isn’t the most original film. Despite it all, Sarfira does deliver on some fronts.

Kumar plays Vir Mhatre, a former pilot whose vision to create affordable air travel for Indians keeps him awake at night. He tries to enter the corridors of power by handing over his business card to receptions and passersby on the road. When he fails to sell his pitch, he takes matters into his own hand.

Sarfira is melodramatic. In one scene, Vir runs around helplessly at the airport and begs passengers for money because he cannot afford an air ticket to visit his dying father. It is a tear-jerking incident which, despite being overly sentimental, makes you think about the plight of the poor in the country. Taking long train journeys to visit ill family members during medical emergencies isn’t an option for most.

This incident convinces Vir to work towards his dream of a low-cost airline. He faces many roadblocks on the way. The first test flight of Air Deccan crashes. So do many of Vir’s aspirations. Paresh Rawal plays Paresh Goswami, a rich business tycoon who locks horns with Vir,. he tries to sabotage his dream of an affordable airline.

The scenes where Kumar and Rawal are on-screen will evoke nostalgia—after all, the two have co-starred in several iconic films. Rawal is nearly perfect as the evil, unscrupulous businessman. Kumar, too, embodies Vir’s struggle to near-perfection. Radhika Madan plays Rani, whose crackling chemistry with Vir is one of the highlights of the film.

What I did not like particularly was the lack of nuance in characters. Paresh as an airline operator doesn’t conceal his casteist worldview. He is simply too evil. Where is the room for nuance? Why not show where he gets the worldview from? Paresh simply doesn’t want the fishermen, farmers and “those who clean toilets” to sit next to them on a plane. He makes it obvious, in case we missed it the first ten times. The commentary on casteism is too on-the-face, even simplistic at times.

The discrimination against Dalits often manifests as micro-aggressions, subtle comments targeting one’s identity which are not obvious. We see some of these discriminatory actions in the film but the issue is treated like the fight between good and evil— a rich, evil casteist business tycoon going against a common man with humble beginnings. You know who to root for.

What I also found ironic was Akshay Kumar playing a character who locks horns with corrupt business tycoons and politicians who fight casteism. But even with a predictable, formulaic (sometimes melodramatic) plot, Sarfira does make you root for Vir. It pulls just the right punches and plot lines that keeps you invested. A cameo by Suriya only adds to the fun.

At 2 hours 37 minutes, Sarfira is 30 minutes too long. The songs slow down the momentum a bit. As do the unnecessarily emotional sequences. The maa angle in the film works well. Seema Biswas as Vir’s mother will make you want to root for his success. If you are in for a feel-good, optimistic biopic that is repetitive for an entertaining watch still, Sarfira is just the film for you.