Azhar (2016)

Interesting facts

Azhar is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical sports drama film directed by Anthony D'Souza, inspired by the life of Indian cricketer and former national team captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The film is produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor for Sony Pictures Networks and features Emraan Hashmi in the title role, with Lara Dutta, Nargis Fakhri, Prachi Desai, and Kunaal Roy Kapur in supporting roles. The film was released worldwide on 13 May 2016 and performed moderately at the box-office.

Production

In June 2013, producer Ekta Kapoor had revealed her plans to make a film based on the life of cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin. Saif Ali Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh were considered to play the role. Azharuddin was skeptical about the film until after he had read a copy of the script presented to him by director Anthony D'Souza.

Filming began in May 2015. Various scenes for the film were shot at cricket grounds including Lord's, The Oval, Edgbaston, St Lawrence Ground and County Ground, Derby, as well as other places in the United Kingdom including Harleyford Manor, Virginia Water, Mayfield Lavender Farm, and Windsor.

The first schedule of the film was completed in October 2015 in London and the second schedule was also completed in Hyderabad.

The film has generated controversy prior to its release over a storyline that absolves the protagonist Mohammad Azharuddin from charges of fixing matches in return of money. M. A. Ganapathy the former Superintendent of Police in CBI who was the chief investigating officer in the match-fixing case has refuted the movie's clean chit to Azharuddin claiming that his confession is on tape with the CBI.

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