It is probably a pity of good directors (Farhan Akhtar can be called up after only one movie) that they are judged not on the basis of what is right but on what is wrong in the movie. If this review takes such a turn, it is no one’s fault.
Lakshya is a single line story about how one aimlessly drifting rich kid – Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) – gets a sense of purpose into his life, discovers himself and realizes his own true feelings by joining the army and facing the horrors of war. Karan turns into someone is willing to take on responsibilities for himself and of others and become a “man” in the process.
The movie is set against the backdrop of the Kargil war. Romila Dutta (Preity Zinta) is Karan’s love interest. After a falling out, the love is rekindled between the two when Romila, who is an intrepid TV reporter covering the war, and Karan meet each other in the war torn land.
The last Hindi movie I saw was Farhan’s Dil Chahta Hai. DCH and Lakshya have some common threads. Hrithik Roshan’s character in the movie is just a reprisal and expanded version of Aamir’s character in DCH. Both are growing up movies – in DCH the hero finds “himself” in love while in Lakshya the hero finds “himself” in war. You can see several inspirations for this movie (whether intended or unintended) – like Govind
Nihalani’s brilliant Vijeta in the early 80s and An Officer and a Gentleman.
By the time the movie reaches the interval, you reach the premature conclusion “Yes, he has done it again”. However, the second half does not do justice to the expectations raised in the first half of the movie. The war scenes are shot badly, the Paki characters unidimensional and the war never too horrifying or realistic. Too much soft focus, slow motion and too little blood and gore. The microcosm of the movie is in the main peak climbing sequence – the buildup is done for a long time but the actual ascent to the peak is not shown. It is like watching a 4 hours tennis match and not seeing the match point.
The screenplay by Javed Akhtar is good in parts. However many of the dialogues and characterisation look like something out of the 70s movies which he was adept at scripting. This is the major drawback of the movie. Om Puri has four lines of dialogues in the entire movie while Amitabh spends most of his time drinking coffee and pointing at a mock-up hill with a stick. Most of the other characters too are not developed well. Satyajit Ray once said, the key to successful filmmaking lies in the emotional integrity of the relationships which it portrays. When this does not happen, the audience is bound to react “Now, how can he fall in love with her” or “What the heck is he crying for now”; which is what the audience is likely to feel. There is very little bonding between the soldiers and when these guys lose their lives in the war, you do not feel too much pity and share in the agony of Karan.
Coming to the actors, Om Puri is wasted in a two bit role and Amitabh in a four bit role. Amitabh is really a sore point in the movie and his performance is very dispassionate. I guess he has shown more passion in shooting for Parker pens. Amitabh hardly got a few claps when he first appeared on screen while even Boman Irani and Amrish Puri (still) got a full round of applause. Times they are a changin’. It is time Amitabh took a serious look at the sheer quantity and quality of work he is churning out lest he becomes a parody which former greats like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor et al became in their latter years. Preity Zinta looks bubbly as usual, but the bubbles appear misplaced in this movie. She looks more like someone covering a college youth festival.
Has it ever occurred to Indian writers and directors that not everyone in a war is brave and itching to come back in a coffin and not all Pakistani soldiers are evil personified. The possibilities of subtle nuances and shades in characterisation are ignored and the second half looks like a J.P. Dutta movie with fewer characters.
Technically too the movie is a surprisingly weak. The music is bland and Shankar- Ehsaan – Loy have not been able to recreate the magic of DCH. Much was made of the foreign cinematographer – Christopher Popp. Ironically, Popp is still a rookie with very little experience to show. The photography is a disappointment and you really miss someone like Ravi K. Chandran who did some brilliant camerawork in DCH. Some reviews have been raving about the photography. These reviewers fall into the common trap of confusing good locales for good photography. It is the beauty of Ladakh which makes the shots look good. It is surprising that even talented directors look at foreign talent when Indian cinematographers would have done a great job. The editing is also very uninspiring and contributes to unnecessary length and tepidity of the second half. Here too you miss the scissors of Sreekar Prasad.
The feeling once the movie ends is one of lost opportunities. Though is must be said to the credit of Farhan Akhtar that he will not lose much of his sheen. He can atleast be credited with taking on a subject different (though not vastly) from DCH and showing that he can handle a larger canvas. The movie is not just about the growing up of Karan but also about the growing up of Farhan. If there is one standout element in the movie, it is Hrithik Roshan who is subtle in the light hearted scenes and shows sensitivity in the emotional scenes. Inspite of its flaws, Lakshya is entertaining and can be seen if not for anything then for Ladakh.
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