Issue 667 (15)
17 May - 23 May 2016
Emraan strikes a six, gives real Azhar an image scrub Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri, Kunal Roy Kapur, Lara Dutta, Rajesh Sharma, Gautam Gulati Direction: Tony D’Souza Ratings: 3 Stars Tony D’Souza’s Azhar is a dream biopic for the person whose biopic this is. Mohammad Azharuddin has had a life like no other Indian cricketer. Most of
taint the name of this Hyderabad boy in 2000, Azhar sees a fall from the public eye so hard that he doesn’t know how to win back the respect of his country. The cricketer is banned from playing for India. Aided by his childhood friend and lawyer Reddy (Kunal Roy Kapur), Azhar leaves his mansion to enter courtrooms to clear his name. On the other side of
his life has been in the public eye, which makes the film Azhar a tough one to digest. However, despite its many issues, Azhar is a story well-told. Only if it is seen as a story, that is. Emraan Hashmi plays the shy Mohammad Azharuddin, the cricketer who is fascinated by fast money and the glittery world of cricket. He lives a lavish lifestyle, dressed to please; all his Rolexes and Bentleys in place. So when allegations of match-fixing
the battle is the feisty fighter Meera (Lara Dutta), Azhar’s biggest fanturned-prosecution lawyer. His two wives Naureen (Prachi Desai) and Sangeeta (Nargis Fakhri) form the other part of his flamboyant life. The story goes on to show how Azhar became what he was, his fall from grace, and the rising from ashes. Emraan Hashmi delivers a solid century, a la Azharuddin. The actor metamorphoses into Azhar
Directed by Jodie Foster Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West Rating: 2.5 stars This film about a gyrating TV show anchor advising people on money matters, wearing a shiny wizard hat and a dollar-shaped necklace, has its heart in the right place. Its mind though is all muddled. All the cliches are played out, and to slick perfection, by Clooney as aforesaid anchor Lee Gates (ostensibly modelled on Jim Cramer of CNBC’s Mad Money) — down to the overt sexism and the unbidden sexuality. When an investor who has lost all his savings acting upon advice given by
on screen, living every bit of his life. The film works for most parts due to Emraan’s brilliant performance. Be it while locking lips with his two heroines or hitting the balls out of the stadium, Hashmi performs everything with elan. Prachi Desai slips into the character of Azharuddin’s first wife Naureen with ease, making the viewer feel the pain of rejection. Nargis Fakhri doesn’t have much to do in the film, but she tries her best to be Sangeeta Bijlani. Among the supporting cast, Lara Dutta is fabulous as the ferocious Meera. The ever-dependable Kunal Roy Kapur doesn’t disappoint either. He is largely responsible for the film’s several moments of comic relief. Gautam Gulati’s Ravi Shastri and Manjot Singh’s Navjot Singh Sidhu are both affable and pleasing to watch. Tony D’Souza’s fictionalisation of Azharuddin’s life works in most parts, but comes out as a deeply eulogising exercise. The film doesn’t address the greyer issues of Azhar’s career, even when most of it is on the matchfixing allegations that the
Money Monster
Gates, Kyle (O’Connell), barges into the TV set while Gates is on air with a gun and a bomb, those cliches get further underlined. Gates is polished and smug, Kyle desperate and workman-like. There is nothing Gates does that seems genuine, Kyle’s half-explained story is seen to be entirely believable. Still, this part of the film, establishing the dynamics between Gates, Kyle and the director of the show, Patty (Roberts), who is on constant touch with Gates through an earpiece, is unsettled enough to keep the audience on the edge. Roberts is especially
good as her role almost entirely involves emoting through her voice, but even Clooney nicely moderates his charisma to appear desperate and downright unlikable in parts. In a nice touch, Kyle gets distracted by the thought of how he is looking and sounding on air. However, Money Monster eventually doesn’t turn out to be about the bad capitalists after all, even though Occupy Wall Street too gets thrown at Gates. Somewhere in the middle, it makes a halfhearted attempt at being a thriller, with Gates and Patty lining themselves up with the small investor and
cricketer had to deal with. For one, Azhar’s equation with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly is just glossed over. Choosing the parts to play out on film might have been a conscious decision by both the filmmaker and the cricketer, but it does appear a name-clearing job by Azhar. In addition to the problems in the story,
committing time, efforts, manpower and, hilariously, some hackers to look for the CEO (West) whose company Ibis lost Kyle his money, in an unexplained $800 million crash. The eventual explanation sinks whatever hopes vested in the film. If the Money Monster has its moments, it is the two times it breaks away from expected lines — when Gates appeals to people’s “better selves” to invest a little money in Ibis to lift its stocks (as half-brained an idea as any, but this is live TV after all), and when police put Kyle’s girlfriend on screen to appeal to him. In one dazzling outburst, she puts him in his place like the film could have.
Azhar also staggers in its editing. For a 130-minute film, Azhar feels strangely stretched. There are moments in the film that force you to stifle those yawns. Mohammad Tariq and Pritam’s music is praiseworthy. Bol Do Na Zara stays on in the mind long after Azhar is done with. In all, this Tony D’Souza film works solely because
of Emraan Hashmi. The actor pours in his heart and soul into playing Azhar, being Azhar. The film ends with Emraan saying today is ‘Judgement Day’ for Azharuddin. That to believe his story or not - the choice rests with the audience. Most people will believe Azharuddin’s story. For Emraan Hashmi.