Skip to main content

Toofaan(2021)- Review

Toofaan(2021)- Review


Toofaan is a 2021 Hindi sports drama. The film takes us through the ride of Aziz “Toofaan” Ali aka Ajju Bhai (Farhan Akhtar), a local goon. Aziz is an orphan and was taken under the wing of a local gangster Jaffar Bhai (Vijay Raaz) at a tender age, since then he has served Jaffar in assisting in his illegal activities. Aziz is very good at fighting however only having done it at ‘street fights’ trying to terrorize the general public. On a fine day, Aziz finds himself at a local boxing ring and puts his unsavory fighting skills acquired doing illicit activities. Instantly he falls in love with the sport and realizes he could be very good if plays his cards right. But for getting to the next level of boxing on a bigger stage he requires a talented coach. He is told that the coach that can propel his fighting career is Coach Narayan “Nana” Prabhu (Paresh Rawal). With initial reluctance, Nana ultimately takes Aziz under his wing, with both aiming for the highest honors. The film is the journey of Aziz from the streets of Dongri to the boxing ring. In this journey, he is accompanied by Ananya (Mrunal Thakur), the female lead.

Firstly, the movie ticks the box of having a great background score and music that one expects from a sporting movie. While the initial plot is a bit cliched, the writing tries to make it unique involving a few attractive sub-plots. It is able to do that to some extent. On the acting front Rawal & Thakur do a great job portraying their characters. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra matches the expectations that one would have from an experienced director like him; leaving very little room for complaint. Lastly, sports movies usually drag the protagonist’s journey at the start, giving less importance to the ultimate ‘finish’ of these sportsmen. I had similar expectations from Toofaan, but it delightfully surprised me on that front. Continuing on being surprised; while the initial plot is cliched the overall storyline is far from it, giving out a unique & unexpected story ultimately.

Having seen Farhan Akhtar in a sports biopic earlier, I had a bit more expectations from him. Not that he does a bad job, but does not really match the standards one might have expected. While I have previously appreciated the movies’ ability of not dragging a sub-plot too much; in some places, it actually is too fast-paced making it a bit redundant. However, there are only a handful of places that this happens. On making the movie realistic, sometimes the scenes are not set the way one might hope for a fighting movie. This might be a little harsh as I had the Rocky movies in mind while comparing.

Overall, the movie is a good effort to bring about an engaging sporting film. At times it may seem like a story you have seen before; you won’t be wrong, but eventually, it will get into its own and try to display a different story. If you like sports movies give it a try, for everyone else you won't be missing too much if you decide not to watch it.

Acting- 7.5

Casting- 8

Cinematography- 7.5

Dialogue- 8

Directing- 8.5

Editing & Effects- 6.5

Sound & Music- 8

Story- 6

Storytelling- 7.5

Rating- 7.5


Available on: Amazon Prime


Also Read On: Medium — Vocal — Substack


Tags:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Special Ops(2020)- Review

Special Ops(2020)- Review Special Ops is a story about Himmat Singh’s(K.K. Menon) quest to find a terrorist who was directly involved with the 2001 Indian Parliamentary attack and at the same time trying to prove his existence to the Indian authorities. With the prologue displayed in the initial scenes, the series kicks off, which is set years after the event in question. In that time Himmat’s hair has turned to grey from sombre and he is now heading the government agency he worked for but he has still not been able to find the terrorist nor has he been able to successfully prove his existence. The story continues with Himmat and his team trying to capture the mystery man, all while still trying to prove the existence of whom. The series follows the now so common sequence of the protagonist reliving his story while retelling it in front of a camera/person. Nonetheless, because of the short amount of information to be shared from the past, the unoriginal storytelling style would no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Moxie(2021)- Review

Moxie(2021)- Review “In some ways, a lot has changed and, in some ways, nothing has changed at all.” Amy Poehler recently used this line while promoting the Netflix movie she has directed and starred in. The above line fits quite perfectly with the premise of the film. There is a high school that acknowledges and is aware of the wider societal issues but nonetheless does not fully understand or execute them. The students are rampant in carrying out activities they deem unharming, with ignorance running wide among teachers and the principal alike. In this backdrop, Vivian (Hadley Robinson) finds herself enraged and wanting to do something about the toxic and dilapidating culture at her school. After getting inspired by her mother, Lisa (Amy Poehler), and her rebellious past, the shy & quiet Vivian takes matters into her own hands initially starting a zine and ultimately driving a school-wide revolution. Surrendering to the sign of the times, with Moxie Netflix hopes to be at the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crazy About Her(2021)- Review

Crazy About Her(2021)- Review Crazy About Her is a Spanish Netflix Romantic Comedy by director Dani de la Orden. The movie is about Adri (Álvaro Cervantes) a successful writer for an entertainment magazine; and a woman he has a one-night rendezvous with Carla (Susana Abaitua). They classically bump into each other and hit it off instantly. But rather than get things complicated and complex, they decide to have one crazy night out with no strings attached and never to see each other again. Come dawn the perfect arrangement ends and the two go their separate ways. But Adri can’t help thinking about her and decides to find her. Sounds like a perfect classic rom-com right; here things start getting interesting. Carla is a patient at a mental hospital. Extremely smitten by Carla, Adri hatches a plan to get into the hospital and get her number. Little did he know Carla has no further interest in him and he is to get stuck in a mental hospital. Netflix often at times does not focus too m...
Post a Comment
Read more