Azhar Movie Review: Emraan Hashmi fails to make the fallen hero shine again...

In one of the interviews before the film released, former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was asked if this movie is a PR exercise to cleanse his image and erase the blemishes of his past. With his distinct swag, Azhar had tersely said 'No'. Now when we watch the film, there is so little of the real Azhar in it. He is reduced to a caricature, his story is half-baked, lacking any authenticity. What director Tony D’Souza has to offer is available in public records and for his fans, information etched in their memories. Why would anyone want to pay the price of a ticket to watch Emraan Hashmi struggle with the colourful life and being of Azharuddin, when his cockiness can easily be made available on prime time! The disclaimer that screeches about the story being partly fictional makes no sense. Are we to believe that Azhar has consented for his story to be sensationalized? Or that Tony has his own share of doubts about the factual correctness of data given by Azhar? In any case, the film is hardly worth that kind of pondering or debate. Contrary to the man it pays tribute to, the film lacks his spirit, vigour and valour. 

The glitter and the shimmer of Bollywood's song-and-dance routine wear the plot thin. There are ample lip locks and needless sleaze sandwiched between sparse heart-wrenching moments. In places, it came off as a vanity project for Emraan, whose last few films haven’t fared well at the box office. The actor does his best to sink his teeth into the layered titular character but the writing is weak. The writers played safe, showing everyone as goody-two shoes...even Azhar. The home wreckers are dolls of righteousness. Are we saying that the characters of this film are flat and henceforth, dull? Yes, that would be the correct way to put it.

When the film was announced, the audience was excited to find out more about the cricketing scandal that brought down the numero uno of the cricketing world. In India, cricket is a religion and back then, Azhar had become a traitor. His success as a captain and a batsman who performed phenomenally well for 99 tests changed overnight after match-fixing charges were slapped on him. Does the film dig deeper into what happens? No. Or at least it shows Azhar’s side of the story, the version of a fallen hero? No. Much like in any Bollywood potboiler, Azhar is a lover-boy, a philandering man whose glorious career falls like a house of cards overnight. Tony never makes you feel the pinch of it or the pain he undergoes. The blame in this case, lies entirely with the director. Emraan, even with his fake moustache, manages to bring on screen the demeanor and swagger of Azhar. He manages to get the right touch of irreverence to the character.

The problem here is that you can’t make something like a biopic. It is either a biopic or not. What Omung Kumar did to Mary Kom, Tony does to Azhar. Mary Kom shone at awards season solely because of Priyanka Chopra’s powerful portrayal of the boxing champion. But the story was superficial. Even in this case, the plot never shows the real side of Azhar and Emraan in unable to rise above the material at hand and pack a punch.

The director doesn’t tackle the story well. Losing himself between the tumultuous personal saga and the long drawn court battle, he fails to keep the drama uniform. The fact that there are jaded, clunky, overdramatic dialogues spoils the case even further. Somewhere between Lara Dutta and Kunaal Roy Kapur’s ridiculous arguments and counter arguments, you lose interest. After all, aren’t we all well aware that Azhar was far too dynamic a man to settle for being an underdog!

Azhar’s wives played by Nargis Fakhri and Prachi Desai were both reduced to sniffling people. Naureen has been kept safely guarded from the public eye but anyone who even remotely knew Sangeeta, can see the disparities between her and the screen character. Nargis does her best to make Sangeeta feisty but is pulled down by the frail plot. Even the sidekicks played by Gautam Gulati and Manjot Singh who are otherwise able actors weren’t justified. They worship, resent, ridicule Azhar but to no effect on us.

This is one of those films you can watch because your wife wants a tub of popcorn and you want an outing to shush a domestic crisis. But for Azhar’s lovers or even film buffs, the film is an opportunity lost. It is watchable, despite the corny, over-the-top dialogues, but never becomes a fitting tribute to a fallen hero. At no point will you feel Azhar’s hurt or frustration. Yes, the one thing it will surely make you do is rewatch his old matches. In there lies a better story than the one Emraan plays out on screen.

We rate Azhar a 40% on the Pinkvilla Movie Meter.