Movie: Azhar
Direction: Tony D’Souza
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri, Lara Dutta
Music: Sandeep Shirodkar
Cinematographer: Rakesh Singh
Editor: Tushar Shivan
Genre: Sport, Biography
Rating: ∗∗½
What is it about: This film poses as the biopic of the legendary Indian cricketer Azharuddin. The film brushes through the pivotal moments of his life during the accusation laid on him for match fixing. The film is directed by Tony D’Souza.
Why it’s disappointing: The title, teaser and the trailer raised quite an expectation for this film. One of the main reason being the story itself. The entire nation loved him, adored him and also hated him. A story of such a legendary cricketer was brushed through commercially and presented in a very “Soap-Opera” kind of treatment.
The film has short run time for a biopic, even if you argue on the fact just one particular episode has been pondered, still it was not enough as the director wasted half the time in non-sense drama, which shows too much of cinematic liberty.
It moves at a snail pace, at one point you kind of lose interest in the film, for which you went in with lot of expectation. The leading ladies hardly had any job in the film and it was one of the best aspect too. I would say Nargis Fakhri’s role was better than Prachi Desai, may be due to personalities played by them.
The films music was quite average nothing to boast of, as Emraan Hashmi’s movies are known for its memorable tracks.
The film loses big on detailing, few tiny aspects were ignored by the makers, which shows the lack of dedication towards the art. That too when a film is based on a real life character and has a period to keep in mind. The VFX was too evident, which at places looked morphed in to the situation.
What to watch out for: One would ask, is there anything good at all in the film? Yes there are quite few factors which makes “Azhar” a one-time watch. First and foremost will be Emraan Hashmi, who tried his best to take this forward, even though at places where he could not match the real-life personality, he tries to manage to get through with his charm and dialogue delivery.
Then comes Kunaal Roy Kapoor, who plays the role Azhar’s best friend and lawyer did a commendable job. Then it was Lara Dutta, she was a decent fit. Once used to be leading lady is turning in to a character artist and will definitely see her in a breakthrough role soon. The rest of the cast did their bit perfectly of what was required.
The film has his moments, there are a few landmark dialogues, which draws in applause and cheers in the cinema hall. The conversation between “Azharuddin” and “Javed Miandad” on the pitch was a great one. The argument between Kunaal and Lara in the court was a commendable one, like these you can find here and there handful dialogues which will lift your grounded spirits while watching “Azhar”.
Verdict: Tony D’Souza literally plays a test match with the audience, he takes his sweet time to engage the audience. By the time he bucks up, the film is at its climax. I wish someone makes a serious and a genuine biopic on “Azharuddin”. This one doesn’t give a feel of a biographical adaptation.
