Watching this movie is like wasting your time. Review on Azhar

Azhar is clearly made as an attempt at redemption for the tainted cricketer and India's ex-captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Unfortunately, you walk out of the theatre with no emotions, no sympathy, except for remorse at having wasted another two hours of your life on a strictly mediocre film.

As most of us in this cricket loving nation would know, Azharuddin was a revered cricketer and the captain of Indian team, before he was banned from playing after he was accused of being part of a match fixing scandal in 2000. The film mainly focuses on his journey and struggle after the ban till eight years later he was given the clean chit, due to lack of evidence. If his alleged involvement in the scandal hugely disappointed his fans, this movie is only going to disappoint them further. Narrating a tale of this kind of a upheaval in a cricketing genius' life requires a lot of research, thought and of course, a clear vision. Lacking in all three, the direction, the script and even the dialogues just about skim the surface, refusing to take pains to go any deeper or even invest any time and energy in showing some real on ground cricket.

The courtroom drama in the second half is almost unbearable with Lara Dutta as a prosecutor lawyer screeching her way till the end with Rajat Arora's bordering on nonsense rhyming dialogues and, of course, a feeble attempt at trying to attribute Azhar's deed(or misdeed?) to patriotism.