Oops, sorry, this ain’t no bio-pic, ‘coz, look momma, it names no names. The film remains strangely ambivalent about its hero while mouthing ‘seeti-maar’ dialogue about ‘desh’ and ‘qaum’: to have made the point the way it needed to be made, the film needed to have been braver and sharper. You can also see that it’s been made to clear the real player’s name: a court did over-turn the ban but the whole process took so long that it became besides the point. (Also read: Azhar impresses viewers on Day One of release) ‘Azhar’ was presumably made because it had such a controversial figure at its centre, arising out of the fixing-maches-for-money controversy itself, which had such a deep-seated impact on the game not just nationally but internationally. Such is the extent of craven-ness on display that one of the most gripping cricketing stories of our time, featuring one of the most colourful captains of the Indian cricket team, is turned into a dull, dispirited tale.
Sadly, it's just not good enough.Using only first names as a dissembling tactic while referring to actual events and dates and places and times, is silly enough. It's the oldest trick in the book to gain sympathy. In a classic example of bad taste, the film also casts moral aspersions on other cricketers but projects Azhar as a righteous hero. In stead of presenting Mohammed Azharuddin as a man of many contradictions and supreme talent, it portrays him as a victim and stoic person. Lara Dutta and Kunal Roy Kapur feature as lawyers and both their performances are good, but not major contributors to the story.ĭirector Tony D'Souza's Azhar is a vanilla look at a story that could've been both riveting and hard hitting. Similar story for Nargis Fakhri's portrayal of Sangeeta Bijlani, where the morals and perfection seem too staged and don't let you get close to the character at all. She's just the wife who was wronged and her strongest reaction is a breakdown scene. Prachi Desai, playing Azharuddin's first wife Naureen looks resplendent, but her role isn't fleshed out at all. Hashmi plays the shots with authenticity but the matches are nothing but flashes of memory, there's no real cinematic or entertainment value to them. The on-field action though does not impress. The slight bobble of the head and the confident body language of Azhar have been copied to great effect by Hashmi. The Sangeeta Bijlani affair has been tackled carefully, but even then the sense of timelines is grossly ambiguous.Įmraan Hashmi's performance as Azhar is the strongest and only commendable part of the film. Despite, its sitting-the-fence nature, the film's dynamic between the characters are interesting and entertaining. Apart from Kapil Dev, the movie only employs first names like Manoj, Ravi, Ajay and Sachin while addressing those sharing the locker room with Azhar. The good parts about the movie are its personal recollections of Azhar's interactions with cricketing heroes of the time.
The movie tries to paint a picture that's too perfect and if you are moderately aware of the facts of Azhar's life, it becomes very difficult to believe in a movie that's not even skimming the surface. One of its most glaring omissions is Mohammed Azharuddin's stint as a Congress MP beginning in 2009, a good three years before the court verdict absolved him of his ban. The problem with Azhar the film is that it twists too many facts to present its version of the truth. The focus of the narrative is dedicated to showing Azhar as an honest person who was just a victim of a controversy. Apart from that, you don't really get anything personal from the movie. The only big takeaway from Azhar's back story is that he was driven by his maternal grandfather's wish of seeing Azharuddin play 100 tests for India. But those references are fleeting in nature and never really draw out any serious personality trait. The story does include his growing up years, his courtship with first wife Naureen and his breakthrough in the cricket scene. The movie tells the story of Mohammed Azharuddin from the viewpoint of his involvement in the match fixing allegations. In the end it turns out more like a PR account of the incident, rather than an intimate reflection on a personality.
Apart from that politically motivated stance, the film does little to reflect upon Azhar the sportsman or Azhar the individual. The only thing the film serves up us that India's erstwhile Captain was a true patriot.
A major part of the Azharuddin match fixing saga unfolded in the courts, but when you're watching a film called Azhar, you want to know everything about a person. Mohammed Azharuddin's much anticipated biopic is an underwhelming, face-saving exercise where one of the hottest sporting stories is relegated to formulaic heroism and courtroom antics. Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri
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