बॉलीवुड में इंसान और जानवरों के प्यार, दोस्ती और वफादारी पर ‘हाथी मेरे साथी’ और ‘तेरी मेहरबानियां’ जैसी यादगार फिल्में बनी हैं। हालांकि, वक्त के साथ इन बेजुबानों के साथ इंसानी रिश्तों की कहानियां कम होती गईं, पर अब डायरेक्टर अभिषेक कपूर इस कड़ी को आगे बढ़ाते हुए फिल्म ‘आजाद’ लेकर आए हैं, जिसका केंद्र एक घोड़ा है। अपनी फिल्मों से फरहान अख्तर, सुशांत सिंह राजपूत और सारा अली खान को बॉलीवुड में लॉन्च करने वाले अभिषेक कपूर इस फिल्म से भी दो नए चेहरों, अजय देवगन के भांजे अमन देवगन और रवीना टंडन की बेटी राशा थडानी को पर्दे पर उतार रहे हैं। फिल्म में इन दोनों नए एक्टर्स, खासकर अमन ने आत्मविश्वास भरी अदाकारी से खुद को लंबी रेस का घोड़ा साबित करने की बढ़िया कोशिश की है।

Azaad is fit, handsome, muscular and agile. His flowy hair is the talk of the town. He plays hard to get. He looks away and sighs if he isn’t interested. He loves his whisky neat — and straight from the bottle. He sits on a bed when he’s tired. He loses his appetite when he’s sad; he eats only if his food is spiked with alcohol. He has expensive taste. He farts in a closed room. He isn’t afraid to defy outdated perceptions of masculinity: his eyes go glassy when he gets a whiff of his late companion’s scent from a turban. He remembers the day they met and necked. He remembers their adolescent-love song together: “Ab jeene ki koi wajah toh hai” (I now have a reason to live). He isn’t ashamed of weeping. He likes dancing. He loves racing, too. Azaad is an expressive action hero; this film is his big-budget launch vehicle. There’s only one problem though: Azaad is a horse.

At the end of nearly two-and-a-half hours, you want to ask director Abhishek Kapoor and his writing team that includes Ritesh Shah and Suresh Nair, just one question. What was the story you ventured to tell? Was it about a magnificent, Chetak-like horse that could give its life to his master? If yes, then the most-loved animal film remains Rajesh Khanna and Chinnappa Devar’s Haathi Mere Saathi (1971) where entire families had a jumbo-size crush on Ramu, the hero’s pet elephant. But Abhishek and company treat Azaad like a backdrop, never letting the viewer warm up to the animal who is shown throwing off, neighing noisily and kicking the hero, most of the time. Oh, yes, he also likes liquor and breaks wind loudly (humour alert).