Azhar : Butter Fingered

#Azhar: There can’t be a better story than the life of a fallen superstar to be adapted into a bollywood entertainer. And if the protagonist happens to be a sporting icon, whose debut was sensational, rise was meteoric, life was flamboyant, full of rumor and glamour and fall from grace was catastrophic then the story is going to get groovier. But then every story needs a story teller with a soul and a purpose. Unfortunately all Tony , Sony & Balaji wanted was to use the title “ Azhar” to bring crowd to the theater. Don’t go by what the tagline says “Love him, Hate Him, Judge Him” the moment you purchase the ticket and go inside you will be greeted with a full page disclaimer (they are in fashion now).

                     

From there on it’s about wasted opportunities, watching it is as exasperating as watching butter fingered fielders dropping catches by dozens. Every complex human emotion, be it greed, love, passion, or relationship between players, the inquiry process which could have been explored has been treated with  as much disdain as Ricky Pointing has treated Indian Bowlers on that fateful 2003 world cup final. The story fails to hold the attention for too long. Emran Hasmi tries hard to get into the groove but all he ends up doing was meekly imitating a shoulder drooping Azhar and his lazy elegance while walking to the field.  Nargis Fakri looks old and her glycerine laden acting is so terrible that they could well have taken the real Sangeeta Bijlani instead. Prachi Desai has noting much to do and she doesn’t even try to go beyond playing the Balaji Bahu ! Lara Dutta as the lawyer behaves exactly like a cat on hot tin roof. Kunal Roy Kapoor as the defence lawyer gives a good performance.

For me the only high points in the film are those silken wristy flicks and that one handed catch. I will go out with 1.5 out of 5 for this Bajali Masala Curry served as Biopic. Watch it, if you must only for nostalgia’s sake! Some people learn from their first mistake, some from their second and some other make Blue and Boss and still remain Tony!