FREDDY boasts of a great plot and execution with Kartik delivering the best performance of his career.

Freddy Review {4.0/5} & Review Rating

FREDDY is the story of a dentist and how his life changes when he falls in love. Dr. Freddy Ginwala (Kartik Aaryan), based in Mumbai, is a successful dentist. However, he is socially awkward. He cracks bad jokes and is desperate to get married. But due to his nature, girls reject him instantly. At a wedding, he approaches a girl, Kainaaz Irani (Alaya F) at the insistence of his aunt, Persis. The plan goes flop as Kainaaz’s aggressive husband Rustom Irani pushes him away. The next day, Kainaaz comes to Freddy’s clinic to get her wisdom tooth extracted. Both talk and Freddy gets attracted to her. He stalks her by camping outside her house and this is when he realizes that Kainaaz is also a victim of domestic violence. Rustom goes to Pune for a few days and at this point, Freddy and Kainaaz get close to each other. Freddy, unable to bear Kainaaz’s condition, decides to finish off Rustom. He cooks up an elaborate plan and manages to kill Rustom. This is when Freddy gets the biggest shock of his life.

Parveez Shaikh’s story is intriguing and makes for a fine thriller. Parveez Shaikh’s screenplay is topnotch and keeps viewers gripped. Aseem Arora’s dialogues are impactful and situational.

Shashanka Ghosh’s direction is first-rate. He creatively mounts the film, and this is visible in the sets, noir feel and Woody Allen-sque style of filmmaking. His execution is simple and straight forward and hence, it is easy to comprehend the goings-on. Freddy’s character is well presented and in no time, one gets acquainted with his life and lifestyle. The murder angle adds to the thrill and fun.

On the flipside, the film has certain loose ends. The makers fail to establish Rustom’s back story and whether he had any partner in his restaurant business or for that matter, any family member. Similarly, Kainaaz’s background is never talked about; her mother is shown in one scene but then, the makers forget about her. It’s also bewildering how Freddy or Kainaaz didn’t think of complaining to the cops about Rustom before planning to kill him.

FREDDY starts with an interesting scene that neatly explains why the protagonist is single. The scene where Freddy meets Kainaaz in his clinic is where the film picks up. The romantic moments are lovely and Freddy agreeing to kill a person for the sake of love is convincing. The twist at the intermission point comes as a bolt from the blue. Post interval, the scene where Freddy goes to Light of Persia restaurant is a very arresting scene and the same goes for the scene where he starts exacting revenge. The sequence with the police in Freddy’s house and the clinic are also worth watching. The finale could have been better but does shock viewers.

Kartik Aaryan | Freddy | 2nd December | DisneyPlus Hotstar

Speaking of performances, Kartik Aaryan is in terrific form yet again. In fact, this is his most accomplished performance, and one has to see it to believe how he has gotten into the skin of his character. What’s interesting is that his act of a socially awkward man doesn’t look fake. Alaya F also surprises with her performance. She had left a mark even in JAWAANI JAANEMAN (2020) but here, her performance is many notches higher. Sajjad Delafrooz (Rustom) is okay in a small role. Karan A Pandit (Raymond) is quite good. He looks every inch a Parsi guy as he gets the accent right. The actors playing Shireen Mistry, Rustom, the inspector, and Persis aunty are fine.

Pritam’s music is decent. ‘Kaala Jaadu’ is haunting and its tune is also like the theme of the film. ‘Tum Jo Milo’ is well-placed. Clinton Cerejo’s background score enhances the thrill quotient.

Ayananka Bose’s cinematography is spectacular. Adita Bali’s production design is theatrical and thematic and works well for the film. Amritpal Singh’s action is realistic. Aki Narula’s costumes are straight out of life and a bit non-glamorous in the case of Kartik and appealing in the case of Alaya. Redefine’s VFX is poor in the balloon scene but otherwise, it’s fine. Chandan Arora’s editing is sharp.

On the whole, FREDDY boasts of a great plot and first-rate execution with Kartik Aaryan delivering the best performance of his career. Recommended!