Lakshya

Farhan Akthar has to live upto his debut 'Dil Chahta Hain' - a feat which will be difficult to match. FA will carry the DCH label forever, much like Ramesh Sippy was labeled with the Sholay tag. Comparing Lakshya with DCH is inevitable. And FA does score in many places. The story is quite simple. The setting is in late 1990s - just prior to the infamous Kargil. Roshan is Karan Shergill, the younger sibling in a well to do Delhi business family. Karan is a happy-go-lucky naive kid who has nothing to worry about in his life. His lady love, Romila Gutta aka Romy (Zinta), on the other hand, is a career minded young lady who has a clear idea what to do with her life. When placed at crossroads when all his friends are deciding about their future career prospects, Karan is influenced by one of his friends' decision and plans to join the Army. And to his own surprise finds himself in the Army training school. However, this sudden transition from his Bohemian lifestyle to army life proves to be more than he can handle and he quits the course. However, Karan realises that things will never be the same again with Romy, who clearly sees him as a quitter, a loser with no ambitions, no goals(That's Lakshya in Hindi) in life. Hurt and dejected, Karan joins the Army training again and comes out as a hard-boiled Lieutenent.

Karan is posted in the volatile Dras sector, Kashmir. Here meets the stiff, focused Col. Damle (Mr. Bachchan) and his troops who make Karan realize that his Lakshya is to serve the country. Before long, there is a war brewing in the mountains, with Pakistani insurgents blocking out the supplies to various army bases high up in the mountains. Karan suddenly finds himself responsible for his country's safety and plays a key role in winning the battle against the intruders. His Lakshya is met. Technically, the film is brilliant. One of the first army movies made in Bollywood without an overdose of jingoism. German cinematographer Christopher Popp captures the night war sequences beautifully. The natural beauty of the rugged Ladakh has been brought to the screen in its whole. FA is a fine eye for the minor details, e.g., the name plates on the vehicles are in white letters written on black boards, like they were prior to 2001-2. The tense screens between Roshan and his father (played by the inimitable Boman Irani) are excellent. The film was conceived very very well. However, since nothing is perfect, no review is complete without some criticism. Lakshya has its faults - and most of these are because we had expected otherwise from the director of DCH. For one, there is not much of a script, so people watching for killing time will be bored. Unlike most war/army movies, this is more of a drama. Unlike DCH, we hardly have a light-hearted moment in the movie. Javed Akthar has returned to script writing after a long gap BUT I had expected more. Second, there are too many characters. Many actors in "special appearances" prove to be more distractions than integral elements of the story. Amitabh has his moments, but Om Puri, Lillette Dubey and Shushant have been wasted. At points, we feel that FA had a hard time to decide whether to keep pop-patriotism away from the movie. Songs distract and do not fit in the script, unlike DCH. My rating - 6.5/10 - for the sincerity with which the movie was made, for FA's dedication to his work, and for Hritik Roshan's performance.

Farhan Akhtar has shown it once again! This man is amazingly creative and magical. His style is great and his efforts of making a movie which has something to be learnt from is fantastic. His movies are not just for entertainment, but also for inspiration. Lakshya is story of a boy who hasn't an aim, a LAKSHya in his life. He doesn't know what he wants to be or what he is good at. Karan Shergill played by Hrithik Roshan (a very sincere actor) is like any other person who wants to know what he wants to be. Inspired by his friend he applies for military school and joins it and then his journey of becoming a MAN from a BOY starts...

Performances:

Hrithik Roshan: Great performance, just awesome. This actor is the brightest actor in Bollywood today. His performance in KMG was highly appreciated and this performance is on par with his KMG act.

Om Puri: great actor.. some of the really great dialogs were given to him.. He is a living legend.

Amitabh Bachchan: Great performance, His eyes and silence in the movie say a lot more than words.

Preity Zinta: good performance, the character wasn't well-sketched but still good efforts from her side in some of the scenes.

Sushant Singh: This actor is superb, one more under-rated great performance of him after his awesome acting in TLOBS.

Boman Irani: This man is good in everything. His telephone scene with Hrithik Roshan was great. One of the best scenes in the movie.

Overall: A very well-made movie. Great acting by almost everyone in the cast. Great choreography, great cinematography and fantastic direction. Keep it up Hrithik, Farhan and Ritesh (the young producer)

9.5/10 Almost perfect

Enjoyable, good story, well told. Farhan Akhtar has done it again, after his first movie Dil Chahta Hai.

Hrithik Roshan's character grows up from being a confused young lad to a man with a mission. Shades of An Officer and a Gentleman, Guns of Navarone, and a little of Saving Private Ryan.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have created more of their world music, and it rocks. The first two songs were fabulous; the other songs should be skipped, I thought.

As in Dil Chahta Hai, the parents are all ultra-supportive. They also dress and decorate in expensive nouveau handlooms, rattan furniture, slip covers, etc. Boston Brahmin did a good review.

Very nice and straightforward; none of the Hindu Family Values reactionary material that Bollywood routinely churns out.

I found Lakshya to be a refreshing step up in the quality of Indian films. It depicted courage, loyalty and other exemplary values in an interesting storyline. The musical song-dance numbers were well done, and the background musical scores were also emotive. I found the cinematography really stood out in this movie as above par, showing off the scenic landscape of the mountainous Kargil region.

Regarding krishnam's commentary, I really have to disagree. Firstly, it's silly and petulant to single out this movie for such criticisms while ignoring the glaring errors and inaccuracies typical of most other Indian movies. I feel it should be judged relative to Indian cinema in general, although it could even compare favorably with various Hollywood hits.

I thought the director, composers and cast did a very good job, and hope this film becomes a benchmark for future Bollywood creations to be measured against.

Finally Bollywood came up with a nice war movie, featuring then ever charming big Bacchan and the heartthrob Hritik. The movie makers surely consulted some service personnel before getting into production. And that was well seen. The tracer bullets, the accuracy of the weapons,uniforms,officer to me relation and other such things were absolutely realistic and stunning. The insurgent chase in the grasses, the rock climbing, the final battle and most important the IMA training were absolutely 9.9 / 10 . Way to go Farhan and his team. this movie is definitely a hit, at least in my home. The support actors were great in their job, specially Sushant and Om Puriji. Bachan sahib doing that 'we've done it' was exhilarating after they won back Peak 5179. The portrayal of the soldiers couldn't have been better. Shankar Ehsan and Loy,what else can i say other than you are great? Awesome movie.

PS. Preity Zinta was not actually required so much, it looked quiet unnecessary.