Plot:

India’s one of the most successful captains Mohd. Azharuddin is accused of match fixing in three matches (against South Africa, Sri Lanka & Pakistan) and subsequently a lifetime ban has been imposed on him. His team mates, friends and others refuse to come to his support and his family is broken. On one hand defence lawyer Meera Verma (Lara Dutta) tries to prove Azhar guilty, his old friend Reddy (Kunal Roy Kapur) finally agrees to take up his case with a fat chance. When the entire world is against him, how did Azhar fight an 8yr long battle and emerge triumphant with a clean chit forms the rest of the plot.

Performances:

Emran Hashmi: The Kissing star has once again proved that he is a good actor given a character with meat. Especially, he got the body language and mannerism of Azhar and still remain himself is exceptional.

Kunal Roy Kapur: He is once again at his supporting best in the film.

Lara Dutta: She proves her acting prowess as a shrewd lawyer in this film.

Well Hashmji strikes a sparkling chemistry with Prachi Desai & Nargis Fakhri.

Analysis:

We have seen many biopics of sportspersons. Every biopic has an appealing story with an intense conflict and Azhar isn’t an exception. The film predominantly deals with the most controversial lifetime ban upon Azhar and its subsequent suspension by the AP High Court. As a part of it, the narrative has been given a rather touch and go treatment leaving many doubts here and there. The director couldn’t deal with the match fixing episode (Hansie Cronje’s accusations) and Azhar’s connection with it in detail. Looks like every measure has been taken to play safe and hence the movie was all about Azhar, his positive intentions, his love interest (film actress – role played by Nargis Fakhri) and the BCCI ban that was proved “baseless”.

The biopic rather looked half-hearted with mere recreation of a part of Azhar’s life. The director failed to translate Azhar’s fighting spirit, sportsmanship, the magnitude of conflict he went through and his triumphant journey onto the silver screen.

In spite of it, if you could handle the film the credit goes to the lead cast’s performances and the love for Azhar.

Merits:
Lead Cast performances
Story
Cinematography

De-merits:
Screenplay
Lackadaisical Narration

Music:

There isn’t enough ground for songs but music by Armaan Malik was decent enough. However background score failed to create any significant impact.

Others:

Nothing to mention.

Verdict:

Azhar is a decent biopic that tries to engage you with minimal drama. You can watch it once for Emraan or for the Hyderabad ki Shaan – Azharuddin!