Azhar **

Dir:  Tony D’Souza

Starring: Emraan Hashmi, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri, Lara Dutta,
Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajesh Sharma

The life of former Indian cricket captain, Mohammad Azharuddin and his exploits on and off the field can probably provide enough material for a long television serial let alone a single movie. However, there are so many disclaimers at the beginning of this movie that you may as well not call the movie Azhar. Pluck any name randomly out of thin air and you’ll probably end up with a more fascinating and satisfying film as then you would be free to explore the darker shades of the characters involved and their moral ambiguities. You would probably also be able to do a much better job of diving into the murky world of match-fixing and coming out with something approaching substance.

But Azhar is so concerned about not getting sued or hurting the sensibilities of the people involved that the finished product is mere fluff - a half-baked, half-hearted attempt at clearing the former cricket captain’s name in the public eye. This is certainly not a clear-eyed, hard look at a fascinating person and character or a dark, dangerous subject matter.

Emraan Hashmi does what he can with what he’s given, capturing Azharuddin’s unmistakeable gait and batting style (with the help of some clever editing) but not his mumbling ineloquence. Prachi Desai is okay as well as the demure, suffering wife (a role she’s patented by now) and the scenes between the two are amongst the best in the movie. Nargis Fakhri is vapid as Sangeeta (Bijlani) - Azhar’s second, movie-star wife - and really needs to take it easy with the lip fillers which leave her with a permanent and distracting pout. She’s attractive enough as it is - she really doesn’t need any help from such (ultimately unflattering) cosmetic aids. And it’s always nice to see Lara Dutta but she gets a thankless – and nonsensical – part as the lawyer prosecuting the case against Azhar.

Cut to chase: A wasted opportunity to explore a fascinating character.

 

Criminal ** 1/2

Dir:  Ariel Vromen

Starring: Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot, Alice Eve,
Ryan Reynolds

A jailed psychopath, Jerico (Kevin Costner) is implanted with the memories and brain patterns of a dead CIA operative (Ryan Reynolds in an uncredited cameo) in order to prevent a madman from getting his hands on a dangerous computer program and stave off Armageddon.  Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned as despite his new memories and impulses, Jerico still has a mind of his own.

The plot is actually quite preposterous but director Ariel Vromen (The Iceman) and writers Douglas Cook and David Weisberg (The Rock) feed it with enough propulsive energy that you can strap yourself in for a decent ride if you don’t think about the screenplay’s absurdities too much. Kevin Costner provides a surprisingly effective performance as a grunting, blunt instrument of violence confused not only by his new false memories but also by feelings that are alien to him yet keep popping up at inconvenient times. Gal Gadot (the new Wonder Woman) also shows that she’s got the necessary star power in her mostly reactive role as the widow of the dead CIA agent. Tommy Lee Jones, though, is mostly wasted as the scientist behind the mind switch and Gary Oldman completely overplays his hand as the CIA London chief who has totally lost his cool.

The movie ends on as absurd a note as the rest of the movie but you kind of accept it as being par for the course for an offering which appears derived from those old science-fiction/pulp magazines.

Cut to chase: Costner holds the screen in pulpy actioner.

Kmumtaz1@hotmail.com; Twitter: @KhusroMumtaz

 

* Not on your life ** Hardly worth the bother **  ½ Okay for a slow afternoon only *** Good enough for a look see ***½  Recommended viewing **** Don’t miss it **** ½ Almost perfect ***** Perfection