What it says is what it does: Lakshya is not a war film. It is a film about how humans change, not only in war but in life too. Indeed, what we are today is, at times, not reflective of what we were in the days gone by.
The film focuses on bringing out the hero who is hidden in that person who wakes up late, misses classes, has no aspirations and probably does not want to be one (a hero).
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The drama that caused the downfall of J P Dutta's LoC is missing in Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya. And rightly so. It is the story of the everyday Joe who is faced with a situation, and how he reacts to it.
Hats off to you, Farhan. Dil Chahta Hai only impressed me a little. Sure, a young man can make a movie on the youth, but how did he get into the life of a Delhi-born soldier in the Indian Army so well? Every character -- be it Amitabh Bachhan, Sharad Kapoor or Om Puri -- is well defined and very normal, bereft of excessive melodrama.
Yes, it is Hrithik Roshan's story, but it is also the story of the characters around him. And in great depth.
Like he did in Dil Chahta Hai, Farhan's depiction of human relationships is real: none have a smooth ride, none is perfect, none is right and none is wrong. The war sequences are well shot. I spoke to a Lieutenant Colonel friend. And, as depicted in the film, in the real world, there is no time for drama in either life or death. That caused the undoing of LoC and that proved the brilliance of Lakshya.
But let us not compare it against a yardstick. Let it speak for itself. The positives -- photography and cinematography by Christopher Popp -- are breathtaking . This film may or may not become commercially successful. I don't know and don't care, but this film will hitherto set the standards for photography [in India]. Take National Geographic and Discovery Chanel and merge it into mainstream Hindi cinema, and the result is Lakshya.
Now, what of the performances (and let's keep Hrithik out for a moment)? Boman Irani (as the Delhiwallah Punjabi), Bachhan as a Maratha Colonel, Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Sharad Kapoor, Sushant Singh, the artistes who play Preity Zinta and Hritik's moms are all depicted with aplomb and a degree of realism.
And Preity. For once I can say she plays today's woman -- minimal drama, maximum impact.
The mom sheds minimal tears; the dad cries. The mom is upset but also proud when her son becomes an army officer. Is that not how it is in real life?
Negatives -- the songs can be improved and a couple of instances of drama are uncalled for.
Hrithik is slowly emerging as a force to reckon with as opposed to a face to paste on the wall.
And, forget piracy, don't even buy the original DVD or VHS. If you do, watch it on a 56" HD TV, because anything else would be akin to watching Jaws, Lord Of The Rings, McKenna's Gold on your handheld device.
The direction and cinematography are two aspects that leave anything else 50,000 miles behind. Farhan is slowly emerging as the Steven Spielberg of India. Even Quentin Tarantino has some consistent themes. But Akhtar is a man for all seasons.
This is not a call to go see the movie. This is a new act unfolding in Indian cinema. As we are taught in scriptwriting class, the point when Act 1 becomes Act 2 should be a point of no return. This one is too.
Vivek Kumar is the co-founder (along with Pooja Bhardwaj) of the South Asian American Films and Arts Association, USA.