Tony D’Souza: “I Haven’t Made A Faithful Bio-Pic On Azhar”

Director Tony D’Souza frankly and very clearly admits he has not made a faithful bio-pic on the life of cricketing phenomenon  Mohammad Azharuddin.

“I was very clear on this. I needed to tell a story that would connect with the maximum number of people in the audience. So without tampering with facts or twisting accuracy we’ve tried to tell a dramatic story with plenty of twists and turns,” says Tony.

Remarkably, Azharuddin has agreed to participate in the prolonged publicity of the film right to its release.

Tony can’t stop admiring the cricketer. “Azhar has been an amazing support. He has been with us from the start. He allowed Emraan to observe him and his cricketing moves. Now when the film is about to be released Azhar is ready to walk that extra mile with us, hold our hand and take us to the release.This, in spite of the fact that we haven’t done a faithful rendering of his life story. Who does that?”

Indeed most bio-pics in  Bollywood from Bandit Queen to Bajirao Mastani  have had to struggle with doubters sceptics and protesters. This is the first one where the real-life character is all there with the film.

“I guess we’re blessed,” sighs Tony.