When
Ajay
Devgn
and
the
horse
are
off
the
screen,
Azaad
loses
the
little
spark
it
has,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
The
problem
with
making
a
film
to
launch
industry
kids
is
that
more
often
than
not,
the
plot
is
designed
to
give
them
as
much
of
an
opportunity
as
possible
to
show
their
talent
(or
expose
the
lack
of
it),
rather
than
give
them
a
chance
to
fit
the
parts
chosen
for
them.
Abhishek
Kapoor’s
Azaad
stars
Ajay
Devgn’s
nephew
Aaman
Devgan
and
Raveena
Tandon’s
daughter
Rasha
Thadani
and
both
might
have
been
more
comfortable
in
a
contemporary
setting,
rather
than
a
period
film,
in
which
they
are
upstaged
by
an
ill-tempered
horse!
The
time
is
1920,
and
the
British
rulers
are
living
it
up
in
this
arid
part
of
Central
India.
The
local
zamindar
Raj
Bahadur
(Piyush
Mishra)
is
toadying
up
to
a
Lord
Cummings
(Dylan
Jones)
and
his
weird
son
James
(Andrew
Crouch).
The
zamindar’s
son
Raj
Bahadur
(Mohit
Malik)
behaves
like
an
evil
slave-owner,
who
whips
anyone
who
displeases
him
or
drags
them
behind
his
horse.
The
Bahadurs
are
in
business
with
the
Cummingses,
for
supplying
cheap
labour
to
the
colonies,
which
is
a
human
trafficking
story
worth
delving
into,
but
after
a
cursory
mention,
everybody
gets
focused
on
this
handsome
horse
called
Azaad,
owned
by
an
outlaw,
Vikram
Singh
(Ajav
Devgn).
The
women
in
the
feudal
household
include
Raj
Bahadur’s
rebellious
wife
Kesar
(Diana
Penty)
and
his
haughty
sister,
Janki
(Rasha
Thadani).
A
village
lad
Govind
(Aaman
Devgan)
is
passionate
about
horses
but
when
he
accidentally
gets
on
to
a
horse
from
the
landlord’s
stables,
he
gets
whipped
for
his
insolence.
He
follows
a
black
horse
into
the
ravines
and
joins
Vikram
Singh’s
gang,
for
want
of
anything
better
to
do.
The
script,
probably
exhausted
by
the
subplots
that
are
likely
to
go
nowhere,
decides
to
concentrate
on
getting
Govind
friendly
with
the
booze-loving
horse,
more
than
wooing
Janki,
who
offers
active
romantic
hints,
which
the
young
man
ignores.
After
Govind
has
been
thrown
off
by
Azaad
multiple
times
(no
bones
broken),
he
is
able
to
tame
it,
and
then,
where
else
could
this
poor
man’s
Lagaan
go
but
an
all-or-nothing
horse-racing
challenge?
When
Ajay
Devgn
and
the
horse
are
off
the
screen
(the
latter
has
a
bigger
part
than
all
the
actors
put
together),
the
film
loses
the
little
spark
it
has.
The
young
leading
pair
have
zero
chemistry,
poor
styling
and
a
still
underdeveloped
screen
presence.
They
also
have
roles
they
could
not
possibly
relate
to,
with
not
even
a
foot-tapping
song-and-dance
number
to
help
them
along.
It’s
too
propitious
a
debut
for
either
of
them
though
Aaman
Devgan
has
a
coltish
energy
that
simply
does
not
find
an
outlet
in
this
film.
Both
will
have
to
start
with
a
fresh
slate
on
their
next
film.
As
for
the
horse
with
almost
human
emotions
and
a
killer
kick,
he’s
undoubtedly
a
star,
who
deserves
a
film
like
Black
Beauty.
Azaad
Review
Rediff
Rating:
