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
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