I watched Farhan Akhtar’s Toofan & being the fan of ‘Hindi सनीमा’ as we all are, nowadays I CRAVE for such character detailed life-journey films. The content around us had become so edgy & fast-paced that I’m suddenly missing the times when the movie took their fair share of time to tell the story.
Not saying Toofan is all fun & games, it gets tiring, but it’s majorly the experience I’m highlighting. It comes with flaws, but what grasped my attention was the things happening with Farhan Akhtar’s Aziz Ali AKA Toofan off the boxing ring.
Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (ROM) has always been a master at executing emotions & Toofan stands out at that front. Be it the Farhan-Mrunal Thakur (plays the role of Ananya, Aziz’s love interest) track or Mrunal-Paresh Rawal (plays the role of Aziz’s coach & Ananya’s father Nana Prabhu), ROM holds the power of developing a connection with his characters even if they’re living a ‘template’ life in his films.
Farhan Akhtar’s efforts are visible physically & mentally ( *SPOILER*: His act in the scene in which he rubs the number off Mrunal’s head is heart-aching) as well. He holds the charm of someone like Abhay Deol but has the advantage of shaping himself physically as per the role.
Mrunal as well is SO SO GOOD! The way she made Ananya so lively needs to be talked about as much as if not more than how Farhan achieved his physical transformation. Ananya’s character also backs ROM’s understanding of emotions in his films. He follows the classic trope of building a deep connection with the character & ending up giving a shock to the viewers.
Paresh’s character could be questioned for the religious thoughts he had (SPOILER: and a pre-climax twist between him & Darshan you could see coming from miles away) despite being the great coach he is. His hatred towards Muslims came across as a gimmick. Writers should’ve worked there.
*SPOILER* The one angle which I feel Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra should have spoonfed us was how Aziz, Nana’s characters, had lost their loved ones in a disaster. Nana losing her wife in a terrorist attack & Aziz Ali, too, losing her wife but in a tragedy that wasn’t specifically linked to any particular religion. ROM should’ve milked this angle to strengthen the core between Aziz & Nana in the second half.
Overall, my love for the film lies in how Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra handles the ‘Toofan’, which is within Aziz Ali. Clocking at 163 minutes, I didn’t bother much to check how much the film is pending yet & it makes me miss the theatres even more.
