Azhar
is a 2016 Indian sports drama film directed by Tony D'Souza. The story is
written by Rajat Arora and is inspired from the life of Indian cricketer and
former national team captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The film is produced by
Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor for Sony Pictures Networks, and features Emraan
Hashmi in the titular role. Nargis Fakhri, Prachi Desai and Lara Dutta play
crucial supporting roles. The sports action was done by Rob Miller of
ReelSports. The film released worldwide on 13 May 2016.
Movie Casting:
Emraan Hashmi as Mohammad Azharuddin
Nargis Fakhri as Sangeeta Bijlani, the second
wife of Azharuddin
Prachi Desai as Naureen, the first wife of
Azharuddin
Lara Dutta as Meera
Kunaal Roy Kapur as Reddy
Gautam Gulati as Ravi
Manjot Singh as Navjot
Karanvir Sharma as Manoj
Rajesh Sharma as M. K. Sharma
Hemant Choudhary as Samar (Ad Film Director)
Varun Badola as Kapil
Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Azhar's Nanu
Jameel Khan as Jay Shweta Kawatra as Magazine Writer
Plot
The movie begins with Indian cricketer
Mohammad Azharuddin (Emraan Hashmi) scoring a century in his 99th test match,
but he soon faces allegations of match-fixing; his name has been linked with a
London based bookie. The India cricket board issues a him a life-ban. Azhar
decides to challenge the ban in court with the help of his lawyer friend Reddy
(Kunaal Roy Kapoor).
The story shifts to 1963, when Azhar was born
to a middle-class family in Hyderabad. His grandfather dreamed of Azhar playing
100 tests for Team India, and motivates a soft-spoken Azhar to answer his
rivals with his batting skills. Young Azhar goes for an Indian team selection
match to Mumbai, where on match day he receives news of his grandfather's
death. Nonetheless, he participates in the match, in accordance with his
grandfather's last wish. Azhar impresses the selectors, sealing his place in
Team India, and he soon becomes national hero by scoring 3 consecutive
centuries in his first 3 test innings. Azhar soon marries Naureen (Prachi
Desai) and they both begin a happy married life. After a loss against Pakistan
in 1991, the president of cricket broad calls Azhar for a one-on-one meeting.
Azhar initially fears getting dropped from the team, but is surprised when he
is offered the position of team captain. Some senior players,like Manoj, Ravi
and Navjot, resent Azhar's appointment, not wishing to take orders from a
younger player. But Kapil (Varun Badola) supports and encourages him to focus
on his duty. While playing in an India–Pakistan match, Javed taunts Azhar,
telling Azhar his Muslim heritage would be a better fit for the Pakistan team.
Azhar leads his team to victory, and soon becomes a successful captain. At peak
of his career, Azhar's personal life takes a twist when he meets a former Miss
India, Bollywood actress Sangeeta (Nargis Fakhri) during an ad film shoot and
falls in love with her. They both begin dating but keep their relationship
hidden, until it is exposed by a gossip magazine. Azhar then publicly announces
his affair with Sangeeta. Heartbroken, Naureen asks him for a divorce, and soon
Azhar leaves her to marry Sangeeta. During a cricket match against the West
Indies, Azhar gets in a spat with Manoj for a slow run rate in order to
complete his century, letting the team lose. Manoj is dropped from the next
match and Azhar leads the team to victory. Manoj is humiliated and vows to take
revenge. In later years of his career, Azhar famous for his expensive
lifestyle, comes into contact with match-fixers. He is soon been approached by
a London-based bookie disguised as a diamond merchant, who later offers him 1
crore rupees to under play in a match against Sri Lanka, which Azhar hesitantly
accepts. In a parallel story, after the match-fixing scandal, Azhar is now
facing nationwide criticism and a London-based prosecutor, Meera (Lara Dutta),
is building up a strong case against him on the basis of sting operations done
by Manoj on Ravi, Navjot and several other cricketers.
She also uses the report
of the inquiry commission set up by the cricket board and secretly meets bookie
M. K. Sherma to gather more evidence. Meera also approaches Naureen, asking her
to serve as a witness, but she refuses. Meanwhile, Azhar and his lawyer Reddy
are struggling to find any proof of innocence as none of his fellow cricketers
are ready to help him out. Azhar attends a gym-opening ceremony to gain back
his old fame in public, but is left insulted by the owner himself. After a
long, eight-year legal fight, Reddy finally makes a breakthrough by proving in
court that the inquiry commission report is biased, as they were been paid by
cricket board itself. Reddy even challenges the authenticity of sting operation
tapes as none of the witness was under oath and can not be treated as truth.
Later, Azhar also revels that he took 1 crore rupees from the bookie to keep
him away from other team members but later scored a match winning innings and
returned all the money.
On the final day of judgment both Naureen and
Sangeeta attend the court hearing, showing their support for Azhar. Kapil also
states in a television interview that he believes Azhar is innocent. In its
final verdict, the court declares Azhar innocent and free from all match-fixing
allegations due to lack of evidence. Azhar once again proudly walks out of the
court with his head high and name cleared from all scandals.
Controversy
The film has generated controversy prior to
its release over a storyline that absolves the protagonist Mohammad Azharuddin
from charges of fixing matches in return of money. M A Ganapathy the former
Superintendent of Police in CBI who was the chief investigating officer in the
match-fixing case has refuted the movie's clean chit to Azharuddin claiming
that his confession is on tape with the CBI. Azharuddin's involvement in match
fixing was also accepted by Rakesh Maria, the former head of the Crime Branch
and Commissioner of Mumbai Police. In a conversation recorded by the news
magazine Tehelka, Maria claims that Azhar had "a criminal bent of
mind".
0 comments: