It’s a huge responsibility to play Azhar: Emraan Hashmi

The teaser that released last year got Emraan much praise for adopting the gait and body language of the cricketer-turned-politician.

For someone who knew about cricket as much as an average Indian would, actor Emraan Hashmi has been making news for his close resemblance to former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The teaser that released last year got Emraan much praise for adopting the gait and body language of the cricketer-turned-politician.

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

Emraan Hashmi’s look in Azhar.

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And now when the first look of the film sees him sitting on a bench, with a bag of money at his feet, a metaphor for the match-fixing scandal. Talking about it, Emraan says, “When my friends and family saw this picture, they were shocked. This will shock a lot of people as the story is controversial. Right from the beginning, people have been following Azhar’s life – from the 80s and 90s, when he was on the top of his game to the match-fixing controversy that shook the nation.”

Interestingly, it was Azhar himself who helped Emraan prepare. And the actor says that if it weren’t for Azharuddin’s help,he wouldn’t have trained so well in just the two months that they had before shooting the film. “He was there throughout to help me learn the finer nuances of the game. And now that it’s completed, it is for Azhar to gauge how well I have played him on screen. It is a huge responsibility to play Azhar, especially since he is going to be watching the film,” he says.

Watch: Azhar trains Emraan Hashmi