There are not too many war movies in Hindi, and the number is smaller of good movies on war. Farhan Aktar's 'Lakshya' is quite a different one. Any viewer looking for a good Hindi movie would not feel cheated of his money spent on buying a ticket for watching it. The battle scenes in the movie are the best of all enacted so far. This film holds good even for those who don't like war movies, as it's not a war film. However, it's about the maturing of an aimless upper-middle-class youth against the backdrop of a war. It's a normal drama though. This is Farhans second film, the first being 'Dil Chahta Hai'.
Farhan's second does give us everything a moviegoer looks for, besides technical ingredients like editing, choreography etc. In this movie, he touches upon aspects of the existence and desires of youths. Javed Akhtar, the scriptwriter and father deals with the 'growing up' of a confused son of a rich family who desires to drift along. However, he lands up in a career, not chosen by him.
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The movie's hero, Hrithik Roshan, sports a hairstyle reminiscent of his father Rakesh Roshan. Hrithik plays a drifter named Karan Shergill who finds his goal in the armed forces. Hrithik's performance as the happy-go-lucky youth who is transformed into a soldier is one of the movie's highlights. Preity Zinta plays Karan's love interest. She is a TV journalist Romila Dutta, who is modeled on Barkha Dutt of the NDTV. This is to recall that Barkha Dutt has been on the front of Kargil for reporting events for her channel.
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Zinta has quite a good role and a good deal of footage too. She does a decent job. Let's talk about the supporting cast. Amitabh Bachchan is on top besides Om Puri and Amrish Puri, the latter in a special appearance. Among others, Sharad Kapoor, Boman Irani (Karan's father), Raj Zutshi, Sushant Singh and Nawab Shah do provide fine performances. Amitabh Bachchan is misfit as a colonel on the frontline in view of his age; nevertheless his performance is superb.
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'Lakshya' does drag at times. This is evident from its length, but the writer and the director both have successfully built up to the climax. The script is definitely strong, and so are other technical areas. 'Lakshya' has been mainly shot in the most beautiful and scenic locales of the Ladakh region. The action scenes are realistic because of the presence of army consultants during the shooting. The sequence in which Lt Shergill and his band scale a sheer cliff to surprise the Pakistani intruders on a peak in Kargil is worth more than the price paid to watch the movie.
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The music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is decent. The songs are not exactly super hit, but some like Agar Main Kahoon or Main Aisa Kyon Hoon are different and fit the situation very well. It is towards the climax that the director, the story and the music seem to rouse. The background score for the sequences leading to the climax is fantastic.
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The dialogues written by Javed Akhtar are good and speak for themselves. They convey at times good humor and even bring a smile on your face. Regarding jokes, the lesser said is better. Though they tend to grate by their nature, but lack subtlety. On the whole, it seems that Farhan has hit his lakshay.
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