Azhar

"As a work of fan-fiction, Azhar is a mostly watchable film with a solid lead, but falls far short of being either entertaining, insightful, or worthy of recommendation. Hashmi and D'Souza try hard, and their effort shows. I just wish I could have said the boys played well."

"This could have been a great cautionary tale about a great sport at a time when it was just becoming the arena it has grown into—full of big money and glamour, bigger endorsements and never-ending temptations : it is, instead, an inept 'tamasha', not very different from the stuff Bollywood churns out, the cricket just the superstructure for tired song-and-dance and melodrama, in living rooms and court-rooms. Nope, this 'Azhar' doesn't hit it out of the stadium."

"AZHAR is a highly engaging piece of cinema that grips you completely and keeps you guessing. The story telling is objective as it shows both sides of the coin. You are simultaneously treated to the arguments for and against the verdict on Azhar's personal and public upheavals. You are also made to come across a fiercely hungry actor in Emraan Hashmi who simply grabs you by your eyeballs and compels you to witness his masterful knock! AZHAR is a superlative watching experience. Don't miss it for anything!"

"Whether you're a cricket fan or not, Azhar will keep you glued to the seat. Go for it."

"You stay invested here because the material at hand combines India's two religions-cricket and films. Of course, this generation would rather see biopics on MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli."

"Azhar is not an apologetic bio-pic. It doesn't try too hard to portray the fallen hero as a  victim. The director lets the story tell itself out in the hope that the truth will emerge in the process. It does. To a point."

"Overall, Azhar, despite its flaws and inconsistencies, proves to be an engaging cinematic experience. How it succeeds in weaving together different genres is quite commendable."

"The ghost of match-fixing and the allegations run across the run-time, and what exactly a player goes through if he's innocent is what 'Azhar' summarises. Go, watch it for the love of cricket!"

"The Emraan Hashmi charm mixed with shy Azharuddin mannerism makes it a heady cocktail. You wouldn't want to put it down without giving it a try."

"Like last year's Talwar, the movie should have left the decision for the audiences to make whether Azhar was the wronged one or not. However, the makers lacked the guts to do so, making this a totally one sided match. But kudos to Emraan Hashmi who makes the proceedings believable!"

"In all, this Tony D'Souza film works solely because of Emraan Hashmi. The actor pours in his heart and soul into playing Azhar, being Azhar."

"Emraan Hashmi is Superb in This Well-made Entertainer..."

"'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."

"Director Tony D'Souza chooses to tell the story over different timelines, but the flitting isn't as smooth as it should have been. The film moves on from the match-fixing allegations to the case being fought in court. There is an attempt to showcase the grey shades of the central character, but the film majorly cops-out in the end."

"A problem with this film is that it won't agree well with ardent Azhar fans, given the slips in factual accuracy. And his detractors would argue against his engineered victim image in the film. So the point is, who does that leave Azhar with?"

"Azhar's is an intriguing story, if only the film was as engaging."

"The only interesting part of the film is the songs. Azhar basically is the output of poor screenplay, one sided direction, weak dialogues, and fictionalized reality. It's a mess pot backed by scintillating music."

"The film is all about the controversial life of former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The movie showcases Azharuddin's life, how he grew from a normal man to a famous cricketer by setting back-to-back records in the history of Cricket ever!"

"This is one of those films you can watch because your wife wants a tub of popcorn and you want an outing to shush a domestic crisis. But for Azhar's lovers or even film buffs, the film is an opportunity lost. It is watchable, despite the corny, over-the-top dialogues, but never becomes a fitting tribute to a fallen hero. At no point will you feel Azhar's hurt or frustration. Yes, the one thing it will surely make you do is rewatch his old matches. In there lies a better story than the one Emraan plays out on screen."

"Azhar is a complete misfiled. It neither captures the spirit of the game nor the personality."

"Too late even for a late night show, this one should have hit the theatres a decade ago. It would have made sense then. Now, it will drown in the next trending troll on Twitter. Even on Facebook. Like cricket, fixing has now become an art. Planners book five-star hotels to cast their net, divide matches as if they are planning high-sea fishing (each must have his own zone of catch). You have to be bloody realistic — like Blood Diamond — to make something like this going."

"Azhar could have been bad-ass, controversial, exciting, masaledaar… alas the simplistic safe treatment leaves it pretty bland."

"If you are expecting Hashmi to deliver a captain's innings here, then you are looking up the wrong film. However, if you are in the mood for a salacious potboiler that buries the real problem then Azhar may work for you."

"This Emraan Hashmi starrer will please Mohammad Azharuddin but may disappoint Chetan Bhagat!"

"This one is strictly for die-hard Azharuddin fans, or those looking for some '90s cricket nostalgia."