Azhar quick take: More masala than biopic, still makes for a good watch

Emraan Hashmi nails cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin’s body language but Azhar, the film, fails him. More melodrama than cricket, this one shows a lopsided version of match-fixing scandal that ended Azhar’s career.

Emraan Hashmi’s bipic on former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin has been touted as a biopic. Here’s the news: It is not a biography. Instead, it is a masala potboiler that still makes for a good watch.

Emraan Hashmi as Mohammad Azharuddin. The biopic focuses on the cricketer’s personal life as well as the allegations of match fixing, which ended his career. (Twitter)

Emraan Hashmi plays Azharuddin while Prachi Desai is the cricketer’s first wife, Naureen. Nargis Fakhri plays film actor Sangeeta Bijlani, Azhar’s second wife. The couple separated after a marriage of 14 years.

Read: Emraan Hashmi romances Nargis

Actors Nargis Fakhri, Emraan Hashmi and Prachi Desai during the poster photo shoot of film Azhar in Mumbai on Thursday. (PTI)

Not just his personal life, the film focuses on accusations of match-fixing that were levelled against the cricketer and ended his career. It was said that he received money from the underworld.

Read: Emraan Hashmi was the best person to do Azhar, says the cricketer

The cinematic version of the match-fixing scandal appears lopsided, but that was only to be expected – given how Azharuddin was actively involved in the film’s promotion. And although Hashmi has nailed Azharuddin’s body language, director Tony D’Souza seems to have focused more on melodrama than documenting the cricketer’s life story in a realistic manner.

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