The film is all about the controversial life of former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The movie showcases Azharuddin's life, how he grew from a normal man to a famous cricketer by setting back-to-back records in the history of Cricket ever!
There isn't any denying that Emraan Hashmi has tried to give his 100 percent in this film and he succeeded too, not as Azhar but as Emraan! Yes, while watching the film, we hardly felt that Emraan resembles Azharuddin except for the fake moustache.
Coming to the direction of the film, we have a long list of complaints to the director Tony D'Souza! With such an explosive content in his hand, how could he end up making such a clichéd typical masala type movie? We wouldn't be wrong if we say that it's a crime to end up making such a lame movie on one of the most popular cricketers!
The editing of the film is yet another let down, which at one point can make you feel irritated to the core! (Especially in the climax of the film.)
Staying true to the disclaimer, Azhar is definitely not a biopic! Less game and more masala, a big let down for all the cricket fans out there!
The story of the film is based on the controversial cricketer – Mohammad Azharuddin who has been the most successful captain of nineties. The roller coaster life of this man and allegation of fixing and getting a life ban for returning on the Cricket Stadium has given the makers enough content to make a spicy film for the B Town industry. The life of this cricketer has been like an open book especially for people who have been following the sports of Cricket since nineties, while for the new generation it still enough stuff to catch the story of this man in the form of a story.
Azhar in person is a complex man to be chosen to play over the silver screen especially if it is being played by a non-cricketer like Emraan Hashmi who has all together a different expertise over silver screen. Though Emraan Hashmi worked hard to resemble like Azhar but in many ways he is different and what we saw Azhar in the media or over the years, while life was on a toss. Emraan failed to portray the way Azhar looked like both in terms of his looks and performance
As the tagline of the movie suggest, love him, hate him, judge him, however, if you look at the movie it simply gives the signal that the director only loves Emraan. Well, no one can judge anyone, yet the way the film is made is not par with the expectation of anyone who knows Azhar very well apart from knowing the makers of the movie. The music can be impressive with a couple of cool numbers in it, but overall the film has very less to deliver to its audience. Thus the film doesn’t really deserve a higher rating.
Azhar is clearly made as an attempt at redemption for the tainted cricketer and India's ex-captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Unfortunately, you walk out of the theatre with no emotions, no sympathy, except for remorse at having wasted another two hours of your life on a strictly mediocre film.
Emraan Hashmi as Azharuddin has a tough task at hand, as his body type is entirely different from the real character that he's playing. However, Emraan plays it with so much sincerity that at times he is the only one who seems to make any sense in this forgettable movie. Full points to him for admirably aping the stylish gait that Azhar was popular for.
Then there is Prachi Desai playing Azhar's jilted first wife Naureen. She looks beautiful and vulnerable as her character is expected to be. Nargis Fakhri, who plays Azhar's second wife actress Sangeeta Bijlani, makes no attempt at acting or whatsoever and walks through her part in a daze.