After Dhamaka (directed by Ram Madhvani), we can see Kartik Aaryan giving his most exceptional performance in and as “Freddy.” As a psychological crime thriller, Freddy’s plot is not so unusual.
Freddy Ginwala(played by Kartik Aaryan) is a shy, socially awkward and lonely man with a traumatic past. Though being a successful dentist, he is a loser in his personal life, especially in his love life. He goes on a date with women through a matrimonial site, but sometimes, women don’t show up, or he gets pranked. He gets mocked and humiliated by many and has empathy from some people around him.
What stays permanent in his life is his tortoise named- ‘Hardy,’ and his favourite falooda, which is the fixed order he has on his date. At a wedding, his eyes fall on Kainaaz Irani(played by Alaya F) just to get punched by her husband, Rustom. Freddy gets feelings for Kainaaz, precisely like love at first sight. Later, the twists and turns his life takes after Kainaaz enters his life is what makes the film a dark psychological thriller.Â
The screenplay written by Parveez Shaikh(whose previous work includes Darlings, Bellbottom, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Blackmail and Queen) consists of a lot of things to deal with. There is a story about love, cheating, revenge, murder, and misuse of emotions. All these are well carried by the actor (Kartik) but not very well in writing. The plot starts well, and both the characters (Freddy and Kainaaz) are written well. The reason that brings them together is shown as the similarity in their lives.
Even though Kainaaz is married, her husband is abusive. The twists and turns are too many to be carried in the narrative, and these are positioned only within a small time limit of the film, which can be expected to be smartly used in the plot. The rest of the scenes in this two-hour and three minutes film are stretched out. Dialogues written by Aseem Arora would drive you nuts sometimes. In a scene, Freddy cracks a joke to cheer up Kainaaz, which goes as – “Ek Ladka Bola- Hey Bhagwan! Toh Bhagwan Kya Bole? Hey!”
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Director Shashank Ghosh creates a relatable world of Parsi Mumbaikers exquisitely. The home interiors, the clothes they wear, and the way they talk will nowhere make you feel like something is lacking or make it stereotypical.
With their stunning performances, Kartik Aaryan and Alaya F make perfect pairs on screen. Alaya’s facial expressions and look reminded me of Ileana D’cruz in the movie Rustom. What is similar between them is their character as a Parsi married woman in Bombay and the type of life they live, with the only difference being that Rustom had a story based in the 1950s, while Freddy is based in today’s time.
Songs composed by Pritam blend into the plot tenaciously. ‘Kaala Jaadu’ sung by Arijit Singh and Nikhita Gandhi, is highly related to what happens with Freddy.Â
The film’s subject includes issues related to mental health, childhood trauma and how a person deals with all these. The film lacks to cover all these things which need more profound understanding. What makes a worth watching experience is Kartik Aryan’s and Alaya F’s performances.Â
Watch Freddy to witness Kartik Aaryan in a never-seen-before avatar. The actor is getting better with each project and outdoing himself. With Freddy, he has taken a definite risk by trying something new and difficult where lay a vast scope and danger of faltering with every scene. He has put in his dedication and hard work into playing Dr. Freddy and it shows. One extra star just for Kartik for choosing a role out of his comfort zone and doing complete justice to it.
You can watch Freddy on Disney Plus Hotstar.
