Azaad movie review: Rasha Thadani, Aaman Devgan's debut film is about a horse; but is as slow as a tortoise

Azaad movie review: Rasha Thadani and Aaman Devgan somewhat impress in their debut, but Abhishek Kapoor's film lacks pace and punch.

Azaad movie review: The upper-class girl likes the lower-class boy, sparks fly. An unexpected challenge comes up, and he is required to win. No I am not talking about Lagaan or Dhadak or a random Hindi film in the 1980s and 90s… I am talking about Azaad, a film releasing in 2025, the launch vehicle of Rasha Thadani, daughter of actor Raveena Tandon and Anil Thadani, and Aaman Devgan, Ajay Devgn’s nephew. (

Azaad movie review: Aaman Devgan and Rasha Thadani's debut film is a period drama.

What is Azaad about

It starts off with Govind’s (Aaman) fascination with dacoit Vikram Singh’s (Ajay Devgn) black horse Azaad, who doesn’t care about anything except it’s owner. Govind locks horns with Janaki (Rasha), daughter of landlord Rai Bahadur (Piyush Mishra). A parallel track revolves around Tej Bahadur (Mohit Malik), brother of Janaki, and Kesar (Diana Penty) How all their lives converge forms the rest of the story, set in pre-Independence India.

As you watch Azaad, it feels so self-indulgent- the songs, the pace. It’s like director Abhishek Kapoor (who in the past has given Sara Ali Khan a terrific debut with Kedarnath), started rolling the camera, and forgot to say ‘cut’. This film is just not in a hurry to move the story forward. I aged a bit by the time it ended.

Three people are responsible for the story here- Ritesh Shah, Suresh Nair and Kapoor himself. Three people came up with… this? And Chandan Arora, the editor- what did you edit?

Azaad, the horse, steals the show

In the middle of this saga, the horse himself tugs at your heartstrings. Some pretty good on-screen work has been drawn out of him, and may I dare say he steals the show without a single dialogue. Now that’s a good actor! Kapoor’s film shines in certain sequences involving Azaad, but they are far and few.

Aaman Devgan and Rasha Thadani's debut

On to the debutants’ report card: both are raw, and it shows. There’s a lot of work left, but the two manage to leave a mark. Rasha, all of 19, has good presence on screen but needs to work on her emotional scenes. Aaman too has got the hang of dance and action, but he could do with some acting practice.

Mohit Malik, already known on television, is being introduced with Azaad in films, and he fits the bill. Diana Penty’s track is half-baked. And Ajay Devgn looks like he shot for his portions in SS Rajamouli’s RRR and Azaad at the same time. Hoping this isn’t another film universe in the making.

I had massive expectations for the music because it’s Amit Trivedi. But apart from Uui Amma, which has gone viral and been met with polarising reactions, the music doesn’t work. It falls flat, and that’s sad.

Overall, Azaad has nothing new to offer except two new actors. Apart from the loose, slow screenplay, the story is riddled with cliches. A film on a horse ought to have had speed.