Azhar Movie Review: All Gimmicks, No Guts

Biopics based on sports personalities make for an interesting watch- be it Mary Kom or Paan Singh Tomar and when the sportsman in question is a controversial figure, a film on that personality is sure to grab everyone's attention.

So, when it was announced that Balaji was making a biopic on the life of controversial cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin, there was curiosity galore about how the makers of the film would handle the subject and whether they will offer a glimpse into the dark phases of his life. However, unfortunately, the film does nothing at all beyond trying to eulogize Azhar.

Starring Emraan Hashmi in the lead role, Azhar traces the journey of Mohammad Azharuddin, a boy who honed his cricketing skills in the streets of Hyderabad and went on to become the captain of the Indian cricket team and his subsequent rise and fall and his love life- his attraction for an actress, which drove a wedge between Azhar and his first wife.

When Azhar is accused of indulging in match-fixing in three matches and banned by the Cricket Association, Azhar turns to his childhood friend Reddy (Kunaal Roy Kapur) to challenge the ban imposed on him. How Azhar faces the challenges in his life, forms the rest of the plot.

First things first- Emraan doesn't look like Azhar at all, with or without the moustache and so, it becomes tough for us to take the film seriously at the very outset. Though Hashmi has tried to ape some of his mannerisms, the fact remains that there is zero resemblance and his Hyderabadi accent, which appears and disappears suddenly, makes matters worse. Prachi Desai, who plays Azhar's first wife, seems to be playing the same 'coy and weepy' role that she had played in Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, while Nargis Fakhri, who plays Sangeeta (based on Sangeeta Bijlani), looks funny with those swollen lips and cannot emote to save her life. Aditya Roy Kapur, who plays Azhar's lawyer Reddy, is quite impressive in certain scenes though his accent looks quite fake and Lara Dutta seems angry throughout the film for no reason other than the fact that she is a former fan of Azhar.

Like mentioned earlier, had the biopic been faithful to the facts, it would have made for a great watch, but it seems that the makers wanted to please Mohammad Azharuddin by making him look like a wronged hero, who rises from the ashes of his fall like a phoenix. The film has battered other cricketers without mercy-Ravi Shastri is made to look like a womanizer, Manoj Prabhakar is made to look like a back-stabbing weasel and Kapil Dev is shown as someone who doesn't stand by his friends when they need him.

'Love him, hate him, judge him,' says the tagline, but within five minutes of the film, you realise that you are only meant to love Azhar after watching the film. What really gets our goat is that even when Azhar cheats on his wife, he is made to look like a romantic and not a philanderer.

The film's only saving grace is that it has a some good dialogues and some scenes (like Azhar's first meeting with his wife and the awkwardness that arises between the two at the first meet) are quite entertaining.

It is quite unfortunate that the makers of the film lacked the courage to show what actually happened and decided to go ahead with a PR exercise to benefit Mohammad Azharuddin, so if you wanted to watch the film to gain some insight into the life of Azhar, you are advised to avoid this one.