RSVP and Guy In The Sky Pictures’ Azaad (UA) is the story of a young man and his obsession for horses. It is set in pre-Independence India.
Govind (Aaman Devgan) loves horses but he is not allowed to ride a horse because of his low caste although he cleans and bathes them. He loves a rich girl, Janaki (Rasha Thadani). Obviously, the elders in Janaki’s family are against the liaison. Janaki’s brother, Tej Bahadur (Mohit Malik), challenges Govind to defeat him in the annual horse race. Having trained under Vikram (Ajay Devgan), who fights for the poor and downtrodden when they are exploited by the Britishers, Govind accepts the challenge. If Govind loses, his entire village will be sent as slaves to Africa. Hence the challenge is very intimidating for Govind as the future of the entire village depends upon his victory/defeat. Does Govind win the race? And does he win Janaki’s love?
Ritesh Shah, Suresh Nair and Abhishek Kapoor have written a routine story which offers absolutely no novelty whatsoever. There are several tracks but none of them engages the viewers. The track of Tej Bahadur’s wife, Kesar (Diana Penty), being in love outside her marriage does not appeal even one bit. Ritesh Shah and Suresh Nair’s screenplay, with additional screenplay by Chandan Arora, is dull. Scenes come one after the other but leave the viewers unaffected because nothing at all ever stands out. The first half simply doesn’t move and although the post-interval portion is more fast-paced, it fails to involve the audience. Although it is a love story, the viewers don’t ever feel like rooting for Govind and Janaki. They are also not particularly invested in what Vikram does for the security of the villagers if only because his track is sketchy and hence unimpactful. If the romance is weak, the drama is drab. The climax is about the only exciting part of the screenplay but that’s because there is a horse race in the climax and, by its very nature, a race tends to start an adrenaline rush in the viewer. However, by the time the climax begins, the audience have been so put off by the routineness of the script that even the climax cannot salvage the drama. Ritesh Shah’s dialogues, with additional dialogues by Chandan Arora, are good at several places.
Ajay Devgan does an ordinary job as Vikram in a role which is so lacklustre that one wonders what prompted him to accept it. It also makes the viewer wonder why an actor and a star like Ajay Devgan was wasted in such a role. Aaman Devgan makes an ordinary debut as Govind. He looks so-so but dances well. Rasha Thadani hardly gets scope to showcase her talent. Although she has spunk and looks quite beautiful, her debut performance is average. Diana Penty gets limited scope as Kesar. More than with her acting, she makes a mark with her beauty. Mohit Malik hardly impresses as Tej Bahadur. Piyush Mishra lends ordinary support as Rai Bahadur. Natasha Rastogi, Sandeep Shikhar (as Braj), Jiya Amin (as Daani), Mukund Pal (as Rajab), Gaurav Yavanika (as Jai Singh), Andrew Crouch (as James Cummings), Dylan Jones (as Lord Cummings), Rakesh Sharma (as Jamal), Akshay Anand (as Biru), Arvind Bilgaiyan (as Munimji), Ramshankar (as Pandit), Alisha Behura (as the main dancer in the Uyi amma song) and the others provide fair support.
Abhishek Kapoor’s direction leaves something to be desired. Like the dull script, even his narration lacks fire. Amit Trivedi’s music is the best thing in the film. The songs are of the popular variety. Uyi amma is the best number. Amitabh Bhattacharya and Swanand Kirkire’s lyrics are appropriate. Song picturisations (by Bosco Leslie Martis and Caesar Gonsalves) are quite nice. Hitesh Sonik’s background music is fair. Setu’s cinematography is excellent. Action and stunt scenes, choreographed by Ian Van Temperley and Aejaz Gulab, afford thrill. Sani S. Johray’s production designing, and Nilesh Choudhari’s art direction are alright. Chandan Arora’s editing ought to have been sharper.
On the whole, Azaad is a flop show with almost nothing to excite the public.
Released on 17-1-’25 at Inox (daily 5 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: fair. opening: dull (in spite of low admission rates today). …….Also released all over. Opening was weak at most of the places.