
Stories set in pre-independence times come coded with an added advantage of easily identifying the right and wrong. There are helpless, simple and humbly clothed villagers facing the unreasonable wrath of white men in uniforms, donning an accent which in itself sounds like the evil’s sermon. There is seldom a restrained portrayal, an absence of greyness in the characters. So, is the case with Abhishek Kapoor’s Azaad, which is set in the world of entitled zamindars making deals with arrogant British officials, turning the life of commoners into hell. Until. A tapping sound is heard in the distance. Dust spreads over. A shiny black figure in the desert heat. Enter the horse.
Its name is Azaad, the faithful ride of Vikram Singh (Ajay Devgn). People call Vikram a dacoit but he has a nuance. “Dakait nahi Baaghi (I am a rebel not a dacoit)”, he maintains. Yet his rebellion is not as strong as Irrfan Khan’s protagonist in Paan Singh Tomar (2012). His words feel hollow for they are not backed with a powerful backdrop. He was a farmer who turned into a rebel because his house was burnt and the love of his life was taken away from him. It feels more of a personal angst than a rage directed towards a system. Still, it’s enough to please Govind (Aaman Devgan), a youngster who dreams of having his own horse similar to the warrior Maharana Pratap’s mythologized stallion Chetak. He joins the rebels in order to hide from the Zamindar’s daughter, Janki (Rasha Thadani), on whom he had splashed colors during Holi.
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Aaman Devgan, Rasha Thadani, Diana Penty, Piyush Mishra, Mohit Malik
Directed by: Abhishek Kapoor
The film takes long to set things up, longer even than half of its runtime. The first half feels more of a flashback that merely serves as a drive to what’s going to follow next. There is an undivided attention given to Vikram’s backstory just to establish his relationship with Azaad, but the writing doesn’t really have a firm grip on the visuals. Characters who were introduced in the first twenty minutes disappear for the next sixty minutes. Even the mid-point comes at an abrupt place in the middle of an awkward fight sequence. When the second half begins again, it feels that the narrative restarts. Then comes the inciting incident, the conflict and everything follows.
The story really begins to take shape in the second half. The portions where Govind tries to win the friendship of Azaad are cheerful even when they unfold a bit too quickly. For a short time, the visuals carry a sense of poetry, looking at the gleamy skin of the stallion, its innocent eyes and playful antics. Aaman’s presence with the horse is filled with a certain comfort and ease. He touches him with emotion, without a sense of awkwardness. He makes the love which the character feels towards the horse instantly believable. It is a fairly promising debut. Rasha carries an innocence in her appeal as well, however, doesn’t showcase anything more than the obvious façade. Ajay’s performance stays sincere even when the character is written a bit half-heartedly and creates a distraction in the narrative. Diana Penty playing Vikram’s ex-lover manages to pull on the heartstrings in a small, familiar role. Even the songs by the hit duo Amit Trivedi and Amitabh Bhattacharya feel a tad too generic; of tunes we have heard before, of words that don’t leave a resounding impact.
The film moves into the last act with a renowned sense of purpose. It is finally time for pay-off. The final twenty minutes carry a sense of thrill and adventure which would have helped elevate the experience had it been placed more consistently throughout. It has all the signs of an epic tale of anti-colonialism with the climax carrying an almost Lagaan-like energy. What it lacks is the musicality, the steady flow, the seamless release.