22 days ago
308 Views
Azaad is the 2025 Bollywood film to be directed by Abhishek Kapoor. For the first time, he collaborates with nephew Ajay Devgn's Aaman Devgan, and daughter of Raveena Tandon, Rasha Thadani. It narrates a romantic story about patriotism, loyalty, love, and rebellion against strong forces during India's pre-independence period. The exciting narrative reveals the emotional connection between a stable boy and his horse with a powerful star cast featuring Ajay Devgan, Diana Penty, Mohit Malik, and Piyush Mishra. All over, this film is creating a buzz.
The Narrative:
The story revolves around Govind(Aaman Devgan), a young stable boy who gets close to a magnificent black horse named Azaad, owned by the dacoit Vikram Singh(Ajay Devgan). He falls in love with Janaki(Rasha Thadani), the daughter of a wealthy landlord(Piyush Mishra). We get to see the struggles of a classic love story complicated by class differences and family expectations. Apart from the central love story, the movie focuses on rebellion against oppression and the freedom struggle, with the horse Azaad symbolizing loyalty. As the movie progressed, I loved to see the relationship between Govind and Vikram, and how they move towards a common cause while dealing with their own problems.
The Insights:
Azaad attempts to blend various genres: it is part historical drama, part romantic tale, and part action film. The emotional connection between Govind and Azaad is portrayed nicely and makes you emotional at points. Aaman Devgan has a strong screen presence and confidence in action sequences. Rasha Thadani's charm shines through, particularly in dance numbers where she evokes nostalgia reminiscent of her mother’s performances. Even in his limited appearances, Ajay Devgan proves a guide for Govind, which complements the rest of the plot. It's a movie carrying multiple emotional as well as nationalistic journeys in its fold. The only catch is that slow narration at several places makes the movie boring and rather predictable. Loads of times I did get lost, but towards the climax, everything makes perfect sense again.
Winning Elements:
Despite the pacing and narrative shortcomings, the film has several standout elements. I loved how the director focused on the emotional core of Azaad and Govind, while not distracting from the main purpose of freedom struggle. The visuals are stunning and the horseriding scenes look great! A cherry on the top was Amit Trivedi’s tracks in the background which feel comforting amidst all the action and the drama. Even the love story between Janki and Govind feels nice and the on-screen chemistry is amazing.
Final Thoughts:
While Azaad tries to pack too many genres into one film, it still manages to weave in a very beautiful and endearing story. I loved how every character got proper screen time and that I could relate to every one of them. Although I wished Ajay Devgn had been given more time, his acting was brilliant, and the editing is tighter. It is definitely off track at some points, but the performances make it very hard to notice. All in all, I would say the film resonated with me and that I would highly recommend watching it in the theatres for the best experience.