You can see Salman Khan’s influence in the trailer of his next production Freaky Ali. Within the first 30 seconds, you already start to see Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a star; the bright spark of the film (he’s always been that in his own way): slo-mo shots, freeze-frames, best dialogues, emotional transformation; it’s all there.
What makes it seem like Nawazuddin fits right into the premise of Freaky Ali, is his perennially brilliant performance as the underdog.
In Freaky Ali, he plays a local gangster who has some mean cricket skills. Turns out, it makes him an ace golfer as well. ‘Golfer by chance’ reads the super.
What is, however, most refreshing in the film is how Arbaaz Khan seems to be playing Nawaz’s sidekick. This is such a heart-warming thing to see, because even up until Talaash, Nawaz seemed to be the pioneer of sidekicks.
And here he is, riding a film on his shoulders, like he was always meant to. You can’t help by feel internally happy for him. Even though the trailer seems to be somewhat “inspired” by Happy Gilmore.
“Tu golf ka Sachin bann sakta hai” with those words starts his journey as a golfer, and it’s a hilarious yet inspiring one, filled with dialogues like “Hum gareeb log ya to jeethte hai ya to seekhte hai, haarte nahi” (we poor folk either win, or learn, never lose).
Make no mistake, this is a Salman Khan production so the goofy moments are replete. There’s the vintage golf club between the legs move as well.
But it’s easy to ignore these by focusing just on Nawaz’s performance. And isn’t that the true test of an actor? Well, Nawaz certainly seems to have passed with flying colours.
Watch the trailer here:
