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Last Updated Tuesday November 24 2020 04:00 PM IST

Azhar movie review: Wide ball

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Let's knock off the 'biographical film' tag from the list of things Azhar claims to be, with due permission from the makers themselves. The disclaimer states rather bluntly that even though inspired from former Indian cricket team captain Mohammad Azharuddin's life, Azhar is made for “entertainment” purpose, thereby tells its viewers to cut its makers some slack. So much for Azharuddin's affection for the film that claims to be a heady cocktail of fictitious events.

Azhar is a fast ball off a bat; there's no time for much contemplation, and the movie speeds through its allotted time covering bits and fragments of the cricketer's life. Starting in year 2000, right before the cricketer was hit with the spot-fixing allegations, the film keeps going back in time to recount the events that led to the slander.

Five minutes into the movie, Azhar (Emraan Hashmi), at the peak of his career, is seen facing allegations of match fixing. A loyal friend/lawyer Kunal Roy Kapoor is by his side. Mira (Lara Dutta), the prosecution lawyer makes for a strong contender, and while the court proceedings unfold, we go back and forth the cricketers life, revolving around the question of what exactly happened when a rookie offered Azharuddin a crore to lose a match. And of course, what magnificent turn of events led him to avoid the bouncer at the last minute, even though it cost him his career.

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A screenplay that rushes along the course of the cricketer's life to prove that he's innocent is all there is to it. Between Prachi Desai playing Naureen, Azharuddin's first wife, and the incorrigible acting disaster Nargis Fakri, we'd safely pick the former. The story is so sporadic and scrupulous that even if we were absent for most part of the 90s, we still would think thrice about its veracity. To add to it, the dialogues are handpicked from the category of 'fast depleting and low in demand' one-liners that don't sell.

There are familiar names from the then cricket squad who turn the game around here as well; 'Manoj', the senior player in the team who doesn't take to Azhar, 'Ravi', who is quite a player among the women and Kapil Dev as himself who did not stand up for him when it mattered.

Azharuddin's personal life is much touched upon as well; but Naureen and Sangeeta making an appearance together for the final hearing in the court was an audacious twist of facts as we know it. Emraan Hashmi doesn't quite become Azharuddin. He does manage to keep things subtle, but the persona of the former captain, quiet yet a devastating storm in the field, does not reflect in Hashmi.

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Azhar can neither be called a sports drama, nor a true story, for it's only out to prove Azhar's innocence leaving nothing to the imagination or the intelligence of the audience. A direct hit on the wickets, Azhar might as well make for a quiet exit, with not a chance for an appeal.

Onmanorama rating: 2/5

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