There are the rich and the poor, and a cycle of abuse never stops. Farrey is the story of a state topper wasting her talent to help rich brats out of her desperate need for money. When one innocent lie turns into a habit, Niyati finds herself in an ugly spot. The dilemma between what’s right and what’s beneficial often ends up with people not choosing to do the right thing. The word ‘Farrey’ is a Hindi slang for little notes kids use to cheat in exams. This movie dives deep into how helping people cheat can be a career death, even for the most elite students.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Movie?
Niyati, a teenager from Ishrat Kada Girls Orphanage, tops the 10th board exams all over India. Shailesh and Zoya, the couple who run the orphanage, treat Niyati like their own daughter, and Shailesh always goes out of his way to make sure Niyati is happy. Winston International, one of the best schools in India, offers admission to Niyati and a fellow topper, Akash. Shailesh’s fear of the world of Winston being different from what theirs is comes true when Niyati gets close with the rich kids of the school. Chavi, the daughter of an industrialist, befriends Niyati when Niyati helps her pass the exams. The new circle Niyati finds herself in soon turns into a heist group, finding different ways of cheating in exams.
How Does Niyati Fall For Chavi’s Schemes?
Despite being brought up by everything Shailesh and Zoya can offer, Niyati is a teenager who wants to have the luxuries she can’t afford. Chavi takes her home, and Niyati’s jaw touches the floor (along with mine). It’s almost like the fantastical world of Richie Rich, and it’s hard not to be in awe. Chavi’s first bribe to Niyati is an iPhone, which Chavi claims will rot if not used. Chavi’s billionaire father is proud of her when she shows him the first-term report card. Her insecurities about being a dumb kid truly show, especially because her brother studies at Stanford. Addicted to the validation of Daddy, Chavi and her group of friends approach Niyati to help them cheat in exams in exchange for money. Niyati has a good heart underneath the greed, and she asks them to donate the money to the orphanage she lives in. Niyati comes up with different signals to indicate the options for the answers, and the mass cheating begins.
Why Does Niyati’s Oxford Dream Fall Through?
In the final term of their year, the teachers introduce different sets of question papers for different students. Chavi and Prateek get desperate for the answers, and Niyati swaps the question papers to help them. Akash notices Prateek peeking at Niyati’s answer sheet and reports it to the principal. The principal has been very kind to Niyati ever since she offered admission to her. A few months ago, she offered Niyati and Akash to appear for a test that could earn them full rides to Oxford University. She catches Niyati red-handed with a different set of questions, and the punishment for it costs Niyati the opportunity to sit for the test. All the other kids suffer no consequence for this, but Niyati distances herself from the circle. Meanwhile, Akash finds himself lying in the dirt after getting badly beaten up by people unknown to him, and he misses the test.
What’s The STIC?
Chavi and Prateek pick Niyati back up, only to use her for their own good. The STIC is an international test for university admissions, and they offer Niyati 5 lacs each in exchange for helping 20 students. The people with merit in this country often find themselves in situations like this. The famous Munnabhai MBBS scene where Munna sends a doctor to give the entrance exam on his behalf is glorified to this date. Niyati’s need for money was bigger than anything she could think of, and her foresight was still that of a teenager. Since the exams are held in different centers for different students, the group brainstormed to think of a way they could clear them. Niyati figures out that the papers for the test are all the same, and Sydney’s time zone is 5 hours ahead of India. She’d have to go to Sydney and then message the answers back to India. Niyati alone isn’t enough to do the job, and she approaches Akash to get in on the plan. Akash has been sticking to his morals up until now and has been critical of Niyati for helping the rich. But his life is nothing more than that of a food delivery guy who goes to school, and he could actually use the money for himself and his family. In order to sneak the answers into the center, Niyati suggests printing pencil barcodes according to four different options. They even practice their monologue in case one of them is caught, and Prateek slips up and tells where Akash was found on the day of his scholarship test. Akash lashes out and storms out of the house, but given his financial situation, he chooses to go to Sydney.
What Happens In Australia?
Akash and Niyati appear for the exam, and after each set, they start to send the answers back to India. Both of them have hidden phones in the toilet tank, and everything is going according to plan. Before the third set of papers, Akash gets greedy and asks for more money, wasting time in the process. The police officers guarding the campus get suspicious, and they catch Akash on the phone. Akash gets slapped and pushed for a confession by the officials. Niyati is also under suspicion, and they make her strip for a thorough check. She managed to hide the phone earlier, and she completed the test even after what happened to her. When she calls Chavi after Akash gets caught, Chavi threatens to leave her there if she refuses to finish the test. Niyati comes back to India without Akash, and a warm Shailesh informs her that she can sit for the scholarship test again.
Can Niyati Go To Oxford?
Niyati’s guilt has stolen the smile from her face. She cuts all ties with Chavi when she and Prateek don’t seem to care about what happened to Akash. Niyati finally realizes how easy it is for them to use her and how disposable she is to them. She tells Chavi to find a new Niyati at Stanford when exams come calling. Niyati manages to clear the scholarship test, and her wise principal tells her that one shouldn’t cheat when they can earn it. The kids with parents who fund the school could never make the principal proud, but Niyati certainly did. Akash appears just days before Niyati is about to leave for Oxford, to offer her more opportunities like this. The moralistic Akash has turned into the epitome of greed, and kudos to the makers of the film for this. Society often crushes people with morals, and Akash is no different. All his opportunities were snatched from him by the rich, and now he can’t think of anything else but how to earn more money. When Niyati refuses, Akash tries to blackmail Niyati to get her into the racket again. Niyati has had enough, and she can’t go through what she did in the washroom of the center in Australia. She slaps Akash and tells him if he wishes to expose her, so be it, but she won’t fall into this again.
Before leaving India, Niyati comes clean to Shailesh. The father figure who has given everything to her is just happy by the fact that she’s realized her wrongs. Niyati leaves for Oxford with a big smile on her face, and now she knows it’s never too late to step on the right path. Teenagers make mistakes and often lose their way, but when the shot at redemption comes, one must grab it with both hands.
