With his latest Amazon Prime Toofan, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra enters the sports scene for the second time. While Farhan Akhtar starred as the legendary Olympic runner in his 2013 film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, the director’s Toofan takes to the boxing ring. Nana Prabhu (Paresh Rawal), the master teacher, tells Aziz Ali (a man with tremendous energy and extraordinary speed but abysmally poor in technique) that he must treat the ring as his home in an early scene. Read more to know what’s our take on the Toofaan review.
Ali (Akhtar) is a gangster from the Mumbai suburb of Dongri. He specialises in extortion and loan collection, often through violent means. Moreover, he believes that boxing can help him become a more powerful thug in an unusual turn of events. However, he travels to Prabhu, who is initially hesitant to coach Ali, owing to the fact that he is a Dongri Muslim. However, the coach eventually gives in.
Prabhu’s hatred for the group derives from the killing of his young wife in a terrorist strike. After which his little daughter Ananya was left. Despite his close drinking companion Vinay (Mohan Agashe) emphasising time and time again that this cannot be true, he stubbornly assumes that all Muslims are terrorists.
Toofan is frequently inane and formulaic
It is predictable with Ali winning boxing bout after boxing fight and eventually capturing Ananya’s sight and heart. Although a second completely unexpected tragedy appears unnecessary and purports to produce solely to harden Prabhu’s adamant behaviour. Moreover, it does not require a Sherlock Holmes to predict where the plot would end up.
The primary premise weakens by a love tale between Ali and Ananya, a father-daughter relationship. Additionally, there were numerous tear-jerkers, and various songs, and the boxing arena begins to seem murky.
This is where films like Chak De India and Dhangal excelled because they were focused. Whereas Toofan veers away from the essential and frequently relies on the emotional card to keep us engaged.
Read: A tribute to Surekha Sikri
However, the exceptional star cast will mesmerise you. Rawal and Agashe play their parts with admirable conviction. Moreover, Thakur is pleasant as a bubbly girl spreading her infectious smile and joyful radiance.
Hope you liked our toofaan review, watch this space for more articles!
