Popular cricketer Manoj Prabhakar, the key witness in Azharuddin’s match-fixing scandal, is also planning to take legal action against the makers of “Azhar” as he feels that Azharuddin might be shown as a victim instead of a culprit in the match fixing.
Advertisement
Directed by Tony D’Souza, “Azhar”, which also stars Nargis Fakhri and Lara Dutta, is slated to release on May 13. We can’t escape cricket.
Prachi agrees that she is the victim of her own image but says that she has no contribution to it. “It’s not like I want to be like this but it’s the kind of roles I keep getting over and over again”. But to play cricket with the technical finesse of Azharuddin? “I was actually very excited to play him”. But that excitement quickly turned into nervousness. His style is completely non-textbook.
Azharduddin, who was controversially involved in several match-fixing allegations, was deemed guilty and served a life ban from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC). “I got sick of it myself – of doing a genre which I didn’t know”.
“I took a lot of convincing”. When he won the court case, it was vindication enough for all the premature judgments being passed around. The first ever controversy of this magnitude, witnessed by the country, cuts short his career bringing him much shame and ignominy. Luckily, Azhar bhai got down to train me in that part, and he was right there to teach me the nuances of the game. Sometimes, as an actor you burden a film and stifle its potential by putting a price tag from a film that is a commercial Box Office Hit on to a project that needs exposure but can’t afford the an actor’s price tag.
It has been a tough journey. Let’s see if the footage makes it to the big screen.
How tough is it to portray a real-life character?
Azharuddin is not the first real-life character that you’ve played? People know Azharuddin and love him, and they are going to gauge my performance here in a different way. Things like his walk, the way he eats, the way he speaks.
There is huge element of the relationships there, too.
What will spell success for you when this film comes out?
Advertisement
The excitement towards the film is building day by day and we can’t wait to see Emraan and Nargis re-create the romantic tale of Azhar and Sangeeta onscreen!
