Azaad

I had low hopes for this movie since it flopped in cinemas and the reviews aren't great but I was pleasantly surprised!

I like the fact the movie was about the horse "Azaad" it feels like a fresh storyline. I think movie was good, didn't feel like it was unnecessarily dragged anywhere.

Now coming to the acting I was honestly impressed by Amaan Devgan's performance considering it's his debut and I had no expectations from him since he seemed rather expressionless in the "Uyi Amma" song. He gave a solid performance whereas Rasha Thadani seemed like she really tried bless her but her crying scenes were a bit forced. Overall acting was good from both debutants.

I'll give it 8/10, good watch. :)

While Azaad stems from an interesting idea, it falters in its execution. A gripping script is the backbone of any engaging film, and unfortunately, this one misses the mark. The narrative lacks consistency, with a sluggish first half and half-baked characters failing to build a strong emotional connection. Despite the slow pacing, the finale is impactful and provides a brief glimpse of what the film could have achieved with better writing.

Director #AbhishekKapoor, known for his storytelling finesse, does his best with the material at hand.

Standout moments include #AjayDevgn's intensity, #AamanDevgan's sincere performance, #RashaThadani's confident debut, and the bonding between #Azaad and the horse. However, the dull screenwriting, underwhelming music (except for #UyiAmma), and lack of a strong romantic track weigh the film down.

Overview: This movie was entertaining enough, with an interesting and novel storyline. However, it was just too long, cutting 30 minutes of the movie would have served it well to make the story more compact and engaging. Let's be clear the purpose of this movie was to launch two new actors Aaman Devgan and Rasha Thadani and with that in mind it did give the two young actors plenty of screentime to showcase their acting chops.

The movie was clearly an opportunity to launch 2 "star kids" but was done with a unique storyline which I did appreciate.

Plot: This period piece centers around village boy Govind (Aaman Devgan), and his love for horses. As a peasant he does not have money to access or own a horse of his own. Through a series of events, he ends up joining the gang of freedom fighter Vikram Singh (Ajay Devgn), and later on inherits his legendary horse, Azaad. The rest of the movie is about him bonding with this impressive horse as well as helping his village folk out of their debt struggles. This is interlaced with a love story with daughter of the landlord, Janaki (Rasha Thadani).

Acting: I was really impressed by Aaman Devgan as an actor. In the role of Govind, he put in a solid showing with what was potentially a challenging role. Excited to see more of him as he clearly has acting talent and is a good dancer as well. Rasha Thadani on the other hand was more of a disappointment, her accent was not great for the role she was playing, she was not able to get rid of that South Bombay accent. Also, there was some really unbelievable fake crying from her. That being said her portrayal was not terrible and it is her first movie, we could see improvement from her yet. All other performances are decent with nothing exceptional, and Ajay Devgn makes a brief appearance mostly to support his nephew.

Music: Music is generally good and adds to what is going on onscreen.

Conclusion: Worth a watch, it is entertaining, but it isn't going to blow you away. You will also probably find it repetitive and draggy in the middle.

6/10.

I recently watched the movie on OTT and honestly it's not half bad. I enjoyed the performances and the movie overall, it was a nice one time watch.

Enjoyed Aaman Devgan's performance, he had a good screen presence or maybe the other debuts have been so bad that he seemed fine in comparison. It felt very sincere but other characters didnt have much weight and felt gimmicky.

Liked that the movie was animal centric and didn't over indulge in unnecessary love stories.

Overall a good watch on OTT, maybe in the theatre this might have been disappointing.

I'm honestly looking forward to Aaman's next performances.

Tone, Script & Story: The story is set in 90's India. It's a story of a horse named Azaad. He belongs to Baaghi played by Ajay. Anyone who sees this horse falls in love with him at first instance and wants to own him. Guy played by Aman is no different. Further it's the story if Aman will win.

Being an animal lover I liked the concept where the story revolved around horse, but the problem is it fails to connect emotionally

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: The mukhiyas, the angrej, the caretaker of horses, their families, the Baaghis, etc have been captured well. Despite that, who is to blame for no connection with audience? Music is below average. Acting is justified.

Final Verdict: You will like it if you are animal lover, else it's an outdated drama.