The Tokyo Olympics has finally begun & Mirabai Chanu ensured that all of us had a wide smile on our faces as she claimed silver in the 49 kg weightlifting event. Hopefully our athletes will bring in more laurels in the days to come with the boxing team led by Mary Kom & Amit Panghal expected to reach the podium. Hence when Amazon Prime released Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra "Toofaan" last week, it created a sense of excitement among the audience primarily coz of Farhan's impressive make over for the character. So will the movie strike gold at the box office???
Ajju Bhai/Aziz Ali (Farhan Akhtar) was the premier henchmen of the extortionist Jaffar Bhai (Vijay Raaz) who made a living bashing up people who defaulted in their payments. As a result of which getting injured was a pretty routine affair & one such visit to the hospital got him acquainted with Dr. Ananya (Mrunal Thakur), who detested his so called "profession". At her insistence, he decides to lead a life of honour & boxing seemed to be the answer to that. However, it was easier said than done.
Well Rakeysh is a director who needs no introduction especially when you have illustrious movies like "Rang De Basanti" & "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" in your resume. But to be frank, his latest venture doesn't come close to that league coz of an uninspiring script penned by Vijay Maurya & Anjum Rajabali. It's no secret that crafting a thrilling sports drama is no mean task due to the inevitable predictability that creeps in most instances. So it's imperative that the screenplay is engaging & that doesn't quite play out in this flick despite the earnest performances. In effect, it fails to connect with the audience be it the emotional track or the manner in which the protagonist pursues his ambition felt a tad too convenient. On the technical side, Jay Oza's visuals were fine while the music by a host of individuals including Shankar Ehsaan Loy didnt quite have the magic expected.
Just like how Farhan aced his part as Milkha Singh, he has done utmost justice to his character as the boxer. Apart from chiseling his torso to perfection, he has portrayed the role of Aziz reasonably well. Mrunal Thakur lightened up the screen while Paresh Rawal was spot on as the Muslim bigot & the no nonsense coach, Nana Prabhu. As for the rest of the cast, Hussain Dalal was fine while it felt odd that talented artists like Supriya Pathak & Vijay Raaz were wasted in inconsequential roles.
Verdict: There is no doubt that the movie was a disappointment considering that there were some celebrated names both in the cast & crew. But to be fair, it is still a decent watch though one cant help thinking about the lack of a compelling screenplay!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Regards...Ben
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