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Azaad Movie Review

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Diana Penty, Rasha Thadani, Aman Devgan, Piyush Mishra, Mohit Malik.

Direction: Abhishik Kapoor

Pick a bit of Lagaan, Mujhe Jeene Do, Betaab, Sholay, Dacait, and the resultant ineffective amalgam runs all of 147 minutes, telling you of the slave trade, suggestive patriotism, adolescent romance denominated by the rich-poor divide. This is a clear case of biting more than the chewing capacity.

From drawing up a fanciful international, arbitrary, indiscreet case of global human trafficking from colonial India to South Africa, to a feudal set-up of obnoxious characters bereft of a single human bone, Azaad specialises in getting everything wrong. All these predictable positions not only make the narrative a “time warp” but a product woefully beyond its expiry date and shelf-life. It is a race that is akin to the final session of a cricket Test match, where the looming draw robs the action film of all interest.

Govind (Aman Devgan) lives in the mindset of his poverty-stricken citizens in Bhusar. The local feudal landlord Bahadur Shatru Singh (Piyush Mishra) and his son Tej Singh (Mohit Malik), run amok, their word is the law. There is also a political intervention by the ‘Angrez ki Sarkar’. There is a local mutiny of which we have heard little. Whatsapp, What’s up? How is it we have lost an opportunity to criticise the education system for not talking about this? However, after a Holi celebration, Govind, who crosses the Lakshman Rekha with Thakur's daughter Janki (Rasha Thadani), first by intent and then by sympathy. The boy on the run is adopted by the man on the run, Thakur Vikram Singh (Ajay Devgn). Lest he be accused of being a congenital dacoit, he too has a past. The good man pays the price for falling in love with Kesar (Diana Penty), who is now married to Tej Singh. Therefore Vikram Singh (Ajay Devgn) and his magical horse ‘Azaad’ live in an isolated camp of unkempt guys, galloping galore in the equine space that Abhishek Kapoor gives, leaving everyone dumbfounded and sometimes a little dim-witted. There is a scene where Vikram Singh and Govind are confronted by wild animals which, apart from being illogical, contrived and inelegantly positioned, shows very poor graphics. The usual effort made by an amateur to train an unruly horse is dreary. Watching the process is as tiring as the training itself. Musical interludes in the poor-chemistry love story between Govind and Janaki or Vikram and Kesar are aborted by poor structure and poorer conviction. The film also wastes time on horse-mare romance.

There is then the finale where the future of the village is involved in a cross-country horse marathon with Tej Singh and Govind being the claimants. No marks for guessing who the winner is. By now the audience simply don’t care.

Coming from Abhishek Kapoor, the man who made Kai Po Che! and Rock On, this is a lacklustre outing. The locales are a poor repeat of the Dacait minus Rajan Kothali's brilliant cinematography; also, Kapoor fails to give the feel and look of the film the Rahul Rawail film and surely the punch. Even the rich girl-poor boy episode is a poor copy of Rawail's Betaab. The ‘Ui maa’ song borrows heavily from ‘Mehbooba’ of Sholay and ‘Mehboob mere’ of Fiza. The ‘Ajeeb-o-Gareeb’ duet is inspired by O.P. Nayyar. To give it a period environment, Kapoor makes Diana Penty wear saris with crochet borders, and Janki wears some definition-defining costumes, ditto Govind.

While Piyush Mishra looks like a caricature, Diana leaves no impression whatsoever. Rasha Thadani (daughter of Raveena Tandon) is no patch on Mom. The national award-winning Raveena did not get her due. Rasha puts up a premature display of talent. Aman Devgan dances beautifully and has a good sense of timing; however, when it comes to emotive requirements, he is a work in progress. Ajay Devgn turns out to be looking like a studio dacoit.

Abhishek Kapoor must stop horsing around if he can't canter properly. This is one film you must strut away from at the earliest opportunity.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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