Azhar Movie Review: One role that Emraan Hashmi will always be remembered for!

Directed by: Tony D’Souza
Produced by: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sony Pictures
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Nargis Fakhri, Prachi Desai, Lara Dutta
Duration: 2 hours 10 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3/5

It takes a lot of guts to put your entire personal life out there, for everyone to love, hate or judge – that too in the form of mainstream cinema. Kudos to Mohd Azharuddin for allowing this film to be made. The initial disappointment came in the form of a verbose disclaimer that said that the makers of ‘Azhar’ have used material only that is available in the public domain, with cinematic liberties thrown in for effect. The point is that if the makers are showing material that is common knowledge, then why make the film in the first place? By the end of the film, all the questions and concerns were put to rest.

Despite the kisses thrown in (for good or bad), ‘Azhar’ will still be remembered as one of the best performances of Emraan Hashmi, may be the one role that he will always be remembered for. It is laudable how he seems to have internalised the flamboyance, passion and mental trauma that Azharuddin must have gone through in his real life. Emraan lives and breathes his character Azhar, throughout the runtime of the film. He seems to have really enjoyed playing the character, especially when he was having a good run in his cricketing career. Felt like Emraan was actually born to essay this role.

If you are a cricket fan and know the nineties, or were clued in to the gossip of that era, you pretty much know what to expect from director Tony D’Souza’s ‘not a biopic’. That’s where the storytelling kicks in – the way events unfold on screen, you’d be taken off guard. ‘Azhar’ can be safely called the victory of the writer (Rajat S Aroraa), the director, and the editors (Dev Jadhav and Vipul Chouhan). Make no mistake, this is no star vehicle, it is the craft of storytelling that comes up trumps. It might take a while to settle into the life and times of Azhar, but once you have made peace with the loud background music, it’s a joy ride.

If you are totally unaware of the glory and controversies of Mohd Azharuddin’s journey, you might have to strain yourself a bit to keep track of the changing timelines, but yes, the strain will be worth the effort. It begins from what seems like the end of the tunnel for Azhar, and then it just goes back and forth, at times even repeating scenes to help the audience connect the dots. It’s a calculated risk taken by the makers, and it just might help the film get more acceptance from the audience it is targeted at. It will not be wrong to say that ‘Azhar’ is a crowd-pleaser, and it isn’t ashamed of that one bit.

Other than Emraan, there are five prominent characters in the film – Kunal Roy Kapoor as Reddy, Azhar’s lawyer, Rajesh Sharma as MK Sharma, the bookie who gets Azhar into trouble, Prachi Desai as Naureen, Azhar’s wife, Nargis Fakhri as Sangeeta, Azhar’s second wife and the weakest of them all Lara Dutta as Meera, the prosecution lawyer. While Rajesh and Prachi play their roles well, Kunal and Lara are neither convincing, nor do they bring much to the table – actually their hamming pulls the film down whenever they get screen time. None of the actors who play cricketers from Azhar’s time are even worth mentioning. Yes, what’s worth a special mention is the costume design credited to Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma – their attention to detail is worth another separate piece.

The songs slow down the pace of the film, but the makers couldn’t have avoided, given the fact that Emraan’s fans would go home unhappy sans the kisses and the mushy numbers credited to Pritam and Amaal Malik. The songs are good, but they don’t belong in a film like this. Hard-nosed critics and cricket fans might find a lot to nitpick in ‘Azhar,’ but hey, that’s what the disclaimer was for, no? To sum it up, Tony D’Souza’s film might be loved, hated or judged, but it does a sincere attempt in documenting one of the most important chapters of Indian cricket, and does manage to do justice to the subject, and yes, also entertains the audience.

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