It is a performances centric movie

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The movie begins with Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin (Emraan Hashmi) scoring a century in his 99th test match, but he soon faces allegations of match-fixing as his name has been linked with a London based bookie. The India cricket board slaps a life-ban on him. Azhar decides to challenge the ban in court with the help of his lawyer friend Reddy (Kunaal Roy Kapoor).The story shifts to 1963, when Azhar was born to a middle-class family in Hyderabad. His grandfather (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) dreamed of Azhar playing 100 tests for Team India, and motivates a soft-spoken Azhar to answer his rivals with his batting skills. Young Azhar goes for an Indian team selection match to Mumbai, where on match day he receives news of his grandfather's death. Nonetheless, he participates in the match, in accordance with his grandfather's last wish. Azhar impresses the selectors, sealing his place in Team India, and he soon becomes national hero by scoring 3 consecutive centuries in his first 3 test innings. Azhar soon marries Naureen (Prachi Desai) and they both begin a happy married life. After a loss against Pakistan in 1991, the president of cricket broad calls Azhar for a one-on-one meeting. Azhar initially fears getting dropped from the team, but is surprised when he is offered the position of team captain. Some senior players,like Manoj, Ravi and Navjot, resent Azhar's appointment, not wishing to take orders from a younger player. But Kapil (Varun Badola) supports and encourages him to focus on his duty. While playing in an India–Pakistan match, Javed taunts Azhar, telling Azhar his Muslim heritage would be a better fit for the Pakistan team. Azhar leads his team to victory, and soon becomes a successful captain. At peak of his career, Azhar's personal life takes a twist when he meets a former Miss India, Bollywood actress Sangeeta (Nargis Fakhri) during an ad film shoot and falls in love with her. They both begin dating but kept their relationship hidden, until it is exposed by a gossip magazine. Azhar then publicly announces his affair with Sangeeta. Heartbroken, Naureen asks him for a divorce, and soon Azhar leaves her to marry Sangeeta. During a cricket match against the West Indies, Azhar gets in a spat with Manoj for a slow run rate in order to complete his century, letting the team lose. Manoj is dropped from the next match and Azhar leads the team to victory. Manoj is humiliated and vows to take revenge. In later years of his career, Azhar famous for his expensive lifestyle, comes into the eyes of match-fixers. He is soon been approached by a London-based bookie disguised as a diamond merchant, who later offers him 1 crore rupees to under play in a match against Sri Lanka, which Azhar hesitantly accepts.In a parallel story, after the match-fixing scandal, Azhar is now facing nationwide criticism and a London-based prosecutor, Meera (Lara Dutta), is building up a strong case against him on the basis of sting operations done by Manoj on Ravi, Navjot and several other cricketers. She also uses the report of the inquiry commission set up by the cricket board and secretly meets bookie M. K. Sherma to gather more evidence. Meera also approaches Naureen, asking her to serve as a witness, but she refuses. Meanwhile, Azhar and his lawyer Reddy are struggling to find any proof of innocence as none of his fellow cricketers are ready to help him out. Azhar attends a gym-opening ceremony to gain back his old fame in public, but is left insulted by the owner himself. After a long, eight-year legal fight, Reddy finally makes a breakthrough by proving in court that the inquiry commission report is biased, as they were paid by cricket board itself. Reddy even challenges the authenticity of sting operation tapes as none of the witness was under oath and can not be treated as truth. Later, Azhar also revels that he took 1 crore rupees from the bookie to keep him away from other team members but later scored a match winning innings and returne

Finally up for my first review. Just watched Azhar. I have to say it is a rather disappointing movie. This movie is mainly spoiled by the director and the research team. One of the unintelligent moments of the movie were in the first half, he is said to be living in Hyderabad and has to go to Mumbai for a match, basically it's a long train journey and he is shown to leave in his whites(Tes cricket Uniform). It has a lot of stupid moments. Lack of character development. Lack of story development. Good performance by emraan, good job done by prachi desai, horrible job by nargis fakhri. The makers had a strong content which they have done a terrific job to spoil. 4/10.

On the poster of movie, under the shadow of movie tittle "AZHAR" it's written that "Love him, Hate him, Judge him, so purely on-wards 13 May it judgment day for Indian. It's a biopic of Mohammad Azharuddin written and directed by Rajat Arora Tony D'Souza respectively. Emraan Hashmi is reel life Mohammad Azharuddin. Lara Dutta,Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Gautam Gulati, Manjot Singh, Karanvir Sharma Rajesh Sharma, Hemant Choudhary, Varun Badola, Kulbhushan Kharbanda are in supporting role. I can't stop myself without praising Nargis Fakhri, she looks dam hot in his role an Lara Dutta hide her age. Coming to Movie, Moving starts with Azhar playing 99th test match, getting ready for next tour as his dream is coming true to play 100 test where BCCI says him that he is suspected linked with bookie and they put LIFE BAN, to which he challenged to court with help of his lawyer friend. A flash bank starts where all his up and down of life are shown like marriage and diverse meeting with his girlfriend, 3 consecutive centuries in his first 3 test innings and many more incident s of his real life. At end Life ban of AZHAR is took back and his record is cleared which leads to happy ending. Overall:- If you are Emraan Hashmi fan you watch because his acting was of dam high class, he brilliantly copied real life Mohammad Azharuddin, walking style, clothing style, everything .Story of movie holds you back to seats and keeps you guessing. Direction of movie is also Good but personally I am not satisfied by VFX effects. Dialogues of movie are superb and many epic reply to one another. Personally speaking AZHAR is a superlative watching experience. You shouldn't miss it for anything!! Rush to near cinema halls….

Before Emraan Hashmi begins to portray Azhar, A Disclaimer shows up, saying: The following film is NOT a Biopic on the sport legend, but a rather adaptation on the much-talked personality. So, 'Azhar' is not a biopic, even though it covers almost all highlights of Azhar.What works, despite that rather underwhelming disclaimer, is the fairly engaging narrative, held nicely by Director Tony D'Souza & Lead-Actor Emraan Hashmi, who bring merit & some sincerity in the goings-on. Though far from perfect, 'Azhar' is a decently made film, that certainly isn't anywhere close to being bad.'Azhar' is Based on the life of Indian cricketer and former national team captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Right from his triumphant success, to his controversial professional & personal life. 'Azhar' is interesting in parts. Watching Azhar romance between his two wives, as well as take on captaincy in the Indian Team, offer some genuinely arresting sequences. His triumph does leave a mark. However, when Azhar is dragged to court for "match-fixing", the courtroom sequences that follow, are plain ordinary. The courtroom sequences lack fire. Had these sequences been better, 'Azhar' would've been a far superior adaptation.Rajat Aroraa's Screenplay is quite decent, but why is the drama in the courtroom so lazily written? The Writing needed to be stronger, no two options on that! Even the dialogue, range from massy to entirely ridiculous. Tony D'Souza's Direction is well-done. He has handled the film competently. Cinematography is good. Editing is mostly crisp, but the second-hour could've been sharper. Music by Various Artists, is excellent. Background Score merits a special mention.Performance-Wise: Emraan Hashmi as Mohammad Azharuddin/Azhar, is at his most sincere. The actor is in form, delivering a credible performance as the legendary sportsman. This is among Hashmi's better works, without doubt! Prachi Desai as Naureen, the first wife of Azharuddin, is excellent. Nargis Fakhri as yesteryear actress Sangeeta Bijlani, the second wife of Azharuddin, looks hot as ever, but falls flat acting wise. Lara Dutta as Meera, who fights against Azhar in court, is strictly okay. Kunaal Roy Kapur as Reddy, who defends Azhar, adapts a south Indian accent so fake, that he turns him into a caricature. Rajesh Sharma as M.K. Sharma, a slimy match fixer, is top-notch, as always. Others lend fair support.On the whole, 'Azhar' isn't power packed, but its certainly watchable & also well-done in parts.