A senior journalist of leading news channel Niharika Bose was waiting at the cafeteria of a five star hotel in anticipation of the big breaking news. She has harboured long her dreams to create a meaningful impact against the proceedings of the current government and regain the control over Lutyen's Delhi.
Exactly nine past ten, walked in Bitchwanti, in her signature noodle strap blouse, draped in Rina Dhaka saree. Bitchwanti was a socialist cum PETA activist, who was a regular in the not so cattle class of political, fashion and Bollywood circle.
This is a guest post by Sushant Shetty ( BFF- A Banker who loves his good and Movies. His BFF is his sense of humour). You can check out Sushant's profile at https://www.facebook.com/sushant.shetty.752?fref=ts or catch him on twitter @sushantshetty
Azhar: Cricket Ke Naam Pe………
So this week saw the much awaited trailer
release of the movie Azhar.
What’s it about: A sports biopic based on the life of
ex-cricketer and Indian Captain Mohammad Azharuddin
Production House: Balaji Motion Pictures
Star Cast: Emran Hashmi, Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri and Lara Dutta
Director: Tony DSOUZA
Music: Pritam Chakraborty
Release Date: May 13, 2016
Backdrop
Talk about miss-timed shot to get off the
mark, the trailer of the movie just that to get released a day after the exit
of Indian team from cricket T20 World cup. Not sure if the makers planned it in
this way as this did not come out of the middle of the bat.
It is not a surprise then that Azhar is produced by Balaji Motion pictures, which seems to clearly believe
that a budgeted movie, that will make good content and commercial, needs to
have a big controversy as the heart of the story.
So here we are here with a story based on the biggest
scandal that hit the cricketing world in the 90’s and bought to end one of India’s
most successful captain’s career – the end of Mohammad Azharuddin.
With Emran Hashmi, at the helm of affairs
playing the title role of Azharuddin is in the same boat like Shikhar Dhawan,
who has hit a rough patch but just doesn’t know how to come out of it. We trust
there is talent but the current form (a string of flops) is surely making us
lose patience.
Another selector’s (Read Ekta Kapoor)
favorite, Prachi Desai who last memorable innings has not registered in the
memory yet. Followed by Nargis Fakhri who is like Stuart Binny is still trying
to prove that there is something about her we can’t seem to see or figures out
so far in all her movie outings – “Acting”. Clearly she should restrict her
acting skills (pout) to Instagram – we are clearly content.
And then like our Indian captain, the captain
of the film (Tony DSOUZA) too has her favorite Lara Dutta. So like Ravindra
Jadeja, she can be a match winner on her day and just another player in another
day.
Trailer Review (no Spoiler Alert –
There is anything clearly to spoil)
The trailer begins with Emran Hashmi trying
hard to emulate the swagger of Azhar with Rishi Kapoor’s voiceover. Flashes of
all the controversy already known to public, cover the large part of this 2 min
13 seconds trailer. The rest of the trailer covers from his colorful personal
life from his love for expensive stuff to stunning affair with model cum
actress Sangeetha Bijlani to shaming the nation, sports and trust of billion
Indians including his first wife.
So does the trailer work for me?
The trouble….
The trouble lies in the fact that it tries
hard to mimic the player than focus on the larger issue/subject – the sport. There
have been umpteen attempts made to make a good movie on cricket and cash in on
this cricket crazy nation but seldom has it transformed the magic on screen
with only exception of Lagaan.
Apart from a weak star-cast, the captain of
ship (Tony D’souza) himself does not have an impressive report card Blue and Boss, two equally forgettable films
to his credit.
Déjà vu moments
This trailer reminds me of multiple Madhur
Bhandarkar movies which similar content, style and production values. And most
importantly it reminds of Jannat, which had same hero in the lead with similar
theme around betting and match fixing. Clear attempt of a hit wicket there with
no novelty factor going for the film.
What works in
parts?
The trailer is decently edited, with background
score as thumbs up, specially the entry of Nargis Fakhri which looks the only
wow moment in the whole trailer. The writer of the film Rajat Arora can
potentially be the only saving grace, who may just pull off a decent film. Music
by Pritam may just hit the right notes.
Final View
Given the budget and that the movie is banking
too much on the cricket, the fate of the movie may also be determined by the
last line with which the trailer ” Cricket Ke Naam Pe……”
Did not
enjoy the Trailer click on the link below and I hope you enjoy the song
Photograph by Ed Sheeran(Justin Mcguire Mix)
