If you go by the initial disclaimers( yes, there are several, filling the entire screen) you will know that what you are about to watch is a ‘kaalpanik chitra’( imaginary film) which is based on the ‘vibhinna ghatnaon’( many episodes) of the life of a disgraced captain of the Indian cricket team; that any resemblance to any real event is ‘matra ek sanyog’( a mere coincidence), and that it doesn’t intend to ‘hurt’ any ‘sanstha’( organization) or ‘corporate’.
Phew.
Why bother calling it ‘Azhar’ then? Why not Sachin or Ajay or Manoj or Ravi, or any of the other ‘imaginary’ players of the Indian cricket team, who were compatriots of the cricketer who faced a `life-time ban’ on the charges of match-fixing?