Lamhaa: The Untold Story of Kashmir

Lamhaa is a sincere attempt, sadly ruined by the not-so engaging screenplay. Once we are into the movie, we see each and every 'Lamhaa' is lagging, :( Rahul Dholakia, the national award for his work 'Parzania' has doubtlessly done so much of research for the movie, he deserves appreciation for that, but the way he moulded his research and fiction has terribly gone wrong, resulting what 'Lamhaa' is now.

Lamhaa, as mentioned in the tagline, is obviously the 'Untold story of Kashmir', for it doesn't go much into the natural beauty of Kashmir, which is, otherwise portrayed in every movie based on Kashmir, regardless of whether it is a terrorist story, or whatever. The dialogues are written brilliantly, some one-line dialogues make strong impact in the minds. But the movie as a whole, is a boring affair. Only grace is the climax, the last 10 minutes. The OST was excellently composed by Mithoon, but all of them are not used well in the movie. Salaam Zindagi track is picturised beautifully.

The actors do their part well, all were good in their roles.

On the whole, i can give Lamhaa a 6/10, out of which 4 is for the movie, and an extra 2 for Rahul Dholakia's effort to make the movie.

This movie has zero entertainment value. The cinematography is beautiful, but the rest of the movie falls short.

The editing and the story telling fall short and it is tough to decide if the movie was a documentary or a commercial movie.

Best to avoid, unless you're an ardent Sanjay Dutt fan!

Everyone, says someone important in this searing document of our times, is playing politics in the Kashmir Valley. In a milieu of all-pervasive politics, thank the Lord for a creative voice that can look into the burning Valley with dispassionate compassion.

Lamhaa is one of those docu-dramas that could have easily toppled into the territory of over-statement and over-simplified politics. And boy, haven't we seen that happen in very successful political cinema in recent times?! Rahul Dholakia who earlier made the gently persuasive Parzania on the aftermath of the Gujarat riots, doesn't lose his storytelling equilibrium even when the sitiuations of crises described by the skilfully-written plot scream for attention.

Restraint and honesty go hand-in-hand in Dholakia's Kashmir, which we'd like to believe, is the real Kashmir, unalloyed, non-magnified, intense and utterly devoid of artifice.

The camera moves restlessly through the dangerous crowded main roads and tense bylanes of Kashmir where anything can happen.

The cinematographer James Fowlds seems to know the Valley of the damned with the transparent scrupulousness of an insider who can place himself outside the explosive bustle of a portion of earth that's rapidly slipped into the stratosphere of anarchy and mayhem.

The high-octane screenplay has no space or time to shed tears for the innocent and the dead. Miraculously liberated of overt sentimentality Lamhaa moves with candour and confidence through a world whose politics has become progressively impossible for the outsider to comprehend. Dholakia's narrative moves through a labyrinth of pain and violence without trying to make common sense of them.

Lamhaa is not an easy film to watch. It comes to no decisive end. It takes into consideration the entire politics of Kashmir without careening towards excessive drama.This is that rare political drama where every component in the jigsaw of politics and terrorism is put on screen with a sensitivity and precision that repudiate melodramatic excesses.

A word of special praise for Mithoon's songs. The lyrically lush tunes break into the deafening sound of bomb blasts and roaring guns to remind us that once the best poets of Kashmir wrote poetry on the beauty of the Valley.

A nice and sincere attempt to open open our eyes. Hats off to the maker who had the guts to show the truth on screen. It is a fast movie because of the large content to be covered. Very gripping and touching. Respect to initiative and contribution.

Honestly, this is one of Dutt's best works in terms of script, execution and performance.

Dutt not only looks great but also gives a measured performance.

Rahul Dholakia's direction is first rate, as is his research. But their is also a nehative side to this. The problem is, because the director did such extensive research, he tries to cover too many topics in one film. This could have been avoided to make the film more pertinent and compact.

Besides, there are casting issues. Bipasha Basu is completely miscast. Either Kangana Ranaut or Preity Zinta would have been more convincing as Aziza (the female protagonist).

Kunal Kapoor's weak voice undermines his effort. Anupam Kher, Murali Sharma, Vipin Sharma and Yashpal Sharma are good in their respective roles.

The music by Mithoon is first rate, as are the technical aspects like cinematography, sound and background score.

Unfortunately few people saw Lamhaa. For an audience that loves, and is fed, masala movies this was probably a tad too serious topic to see, let alone understand. The makers were guilty of not promoting the movie well, or taking it to the festival circuit at the least to grab more eyeballs.

It's poor box office performance and consequence lack of adulation notwithstanding, Lamhaa will always remain one of Sanjay Dutt's best films.

P. S. Like he has done throughout his career Salman copied Dutt's look in Lamhaa for Ek Tha Tiger.