Lakshya

Plot synopsis:
Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) is a young man from Delhi who has no goal or for his future. His father (Boman Irani) is a businessman and his brother is a successful individual living in America. His girlfriend, Romila Dutta/Romi (Preity Zinta), a student activist and reporter who espouses fashionable causes out of well-meaning sincerity, tells him he needs to find a goal in life. When a friend announces he is going to join the Indian Army, Karan applies to the Indian Military Academy (IMA) as well, despite dissent from his parents.
Karan gets selected into the IMA, although his friend backs out. However, he is undisciplined and unused to life there. He keeps receiving punishments from the training team. Upset, he runs away from the academy, which causes Romi to break up with him. Karan finally comes to terms with his situation and makes his decision. He returns to the IMA, takes his punishment, becomes a focused, disciplined officer cadet and eventually commissions into the Indian Army. Karan is posted to the 3rd battalion of the Punjab Regiment, commanded by Col. Sunil Damle (Amitabh Bachchan). The battalion is stationed in Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir. Karan comes home on leave and finds out that Romi is getting engaged, but is recalled to his battalion due to an outbreak of hostilities in Kargil, and his leave is cut short.
He reports back to his battalion, where he is promoted to the rank of acting Captain. His battalion CO briefs the officers on the latest situation. He reveals that a number of infiltrators have crossed the Line of Control from Pakistan and currently occupy a series of mountain peaks on the Indian side of the border. The battalion has been assigned to secure Point 5179, a crucial vantage point dominating the army's main supply line, the National Highway 1D. The northern side of the mountain is on the Pakistani side of the LoC, the western side has a 1000-foot vertical rock cliff and the southern side has 3 km of empty ground with no cover. Therefore, the battalion decides to attack from the eastern side of the mountain. The first part of the assault is successful. The battalion destroys the enemy's screening units with Karan cited for his bravery in saving another officer's life. Meanwhile, Romi gets stationed to Kargil as a war correspondent, where she meets a changed Karan.
Romi breaks off her engagement and tries to renew her relationship with Karan amidst the war. In the second phase of the assault, the battalion attacks the peak of the mountain but fails to capture it due to the strategic advantage and heavy weaponry the Pakistanis have. The unit suffers heavy casualties. Brigadier Puri (Amrish Puri) summons Col. Damle and gives him 48 hours to capture the peak – after that time period, responsibility for Point 5179 will be given to another battalion. Col. Damle then orders a group of 12 officers and soldiers (including Karan) to scale the 1000-foot rock cliff on the western side of the mountain and flank the enemy stronghold. They will be provided with artillery support from the eastern side. Karan realises that he has finally found his goal in the form of capturing the peak.
The unit sets off on their mission and while moving through a grass field toward the rock cliff, they come under fire. The unit discovers a Pakistani mortar unit in the field and destroys it, but loses their commanding officer and a number of other soldiers. The team's radios are also destroyed, so they cannot communicate with battalion HQ. Out of the initial 12, only 6 remain. They decide to continue with the mission. They successfully scale the cliff and attack the Pakistani position during the night. Their assault is successful although Karan is wounded, and the team loses 3 more men. The next morning, Karan limps to the peak, where he plants the Indian flag and fires a flare, signalling to Col. Damle that they captured the peak.
The film ends with Karan leaving a military hospital and reuniting with his parents and Romi.

Tags: flashback, cult, historical fiction

Review:
The promos were slick and the music sounded good.But when i read the box-office report on this movie i was surprised at the lukewarm response this movie got because i thought this movie would be a runaway hit.However what can people like us do when such gifted film-makers like Farhan Akhtar are discouraged because their movies don't spoon-feed facts to the audience.But all said and done,This is among my personal favourites and i'm giving it a 10/10.2004 has produced some mature and intelligent movies like Lakshya,Yuva,Hum Tum,Swades etc and i'm happy that film-makers are growing up.This movie inspired me a lot and has played a role in me realising the truth that we should always have an aim in life because a life without an aim is like a body minus the soul.+ points-Acting,Music(Background),Sound,Story,Tight Screenplay,Inspiring,Photography,Cinematography(nicely shot) -points-Length,Slow Pace,2nd half songs..
Karan Shergill played by Hrithik Roshan (a very sincere actor) is like any other person who wants to know what he wants to be.
Garbage like Veer Zaara (Stunning locales, beautiful people, and amazing music, but overall POOR in terms of content) and Kal Ho Na Ho are lapped up by audiences, but Yuva and Lakshya are rejected completely.
It would'nt be inappropriate at all to comment that this film in one way points out at today's indecisive youth who are not clear about what they are going to do of their lives, and change their focus every now and then.The story is about Karan (Hrithik Roshan) who is very talented but utterly confused about his future.
The ending is predictable but yet you would love to watch it.The movie is yet another masterpiece from Farhan Akhtar,the Director after the tremendous success of "Dil Chahta Hai".
Lakshya is a very well made war, coming of age movie, which can compete with anything from the west.I personally, feel it ends two debates, other than the fact that it establishes Hrithik as the ultra star-great actor mould (la Kamal Hassan),a) Farhan Akhtar is the talent to watch for, A Mani Ratnam in the making for Hindi Cinemab) Prabhu Deva can hand over mantel of the best ever dancer on screen to Hrithik Roshan (you have to see to believe what happens on the screen in the song "Main Asia kyun hoon", which Prabhu Deva himself has choreographed).Just go and enjoy, this wonderful clean entertainer, which has great music and cinematography to complement the performances from the actors, and the skillful direction of Farhan AkhtarBadri.
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.
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..
One is Farhan Akthar who can(i hope) rise the film making standards of bollywood to international standardsAnother one is Hrithik Roshan.He is an superb perfect actor in a making He is growing as an actor by every film.
I think he will become my all time fav actor of bollywood after om puri n amir khan.The most difficult thing which was attempted in this movie was shootin war scenes at night n "the scenes were pretty authentic" In technical aspects the movie is benchmark for bollywood i would rate 8.5/10.
When your first film is 'Dil Chahta Hai' a movie that not only clicks with Urban audiences all over India, redefines cool amongst the aspiring yuppie crowd and stylistically influences the Chopras, Johars and other filmmakers in terms of what GenNext wears and does, there are going to be huge expectations from your second effort.Director Farhan Akhtar does not disappoint with Lakshya, the story of an urbanite Delhi slacker named Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) who's just graduated from college and is still not sure what he wants to be when he grows up.
It is at this point that the father-son pair of Javed & Farhan Akhtar make things interesting by weaving the fictional story of Karan together with an actual piece of 20th Century Indian Army history.Fans of 'Dil Chahta Hai' may be surprised at how less light-hearted the tone of the movie is especially in the second half where it strays into the realm of pure action.
Amitabh Bachchan makes a memorable appearance as Karan's superior officer who leads our protagonist to a final, tangible Lakshya (aim/goal/target).
The music by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy suits the tone of the movie, and Farhan wisely limits the number of songs to carefully selected arenas.
He does however recognize that in Hrithik Roshan he has the most gifted dancer in Bollywood and in the song 'Main Aisa Kyon Hoon' he lets his star cut loose in a wonderfully choreographed piece by Prabhu Deva.
Hrithik delivers his best performance to date in Lakshya (I thought he was over the top in Koi...Mil Gaya) and manages to capture the initial confusion and eventual determination of Karan wonderfully.
Finally when Karan reunites with Romi after years of army service and points out to her with sincerity "This is my Lakshya", you believe in the conviction of this young man.
This it truly Hrithik's movie all the way and for once his theatrics outshine his foot skills.Lakshya is mainstream Bollywood cinema with a difference.
The action/drama quotient has been upped in favor of humor which was a smart decision considering how sensitive and serious the final act is.In a final note, some people have commented that the factual incident weaved into the storyline & Javed Akhtar's remarks on the matter means that 'Lakshya' is an Anti-Pakistan film.
it was really a treat to watch Indian moviedom coming out of age with the hands of farhan akhtar.....the total style of the shooting is quite unfamiliar to that of contemporary bollywood.....with a few discrepancies and slack shots the movies altogether fares quite well in a year infested with insipid and redundant flop flicks....the scene where hrihtik calls his dad and bids him goodbye is a real gutsy one.....the shots on the high altitudes of ley and ladakh needed grim determination and apt technical expertise.....also the part of the movie before the interval has a quite sublime flow in it which keeps you fixed to your seat......
Karan is a laid back guy who prefers to live life as it comes, day by day and suddenly everything changes after he decides to go into Military after one of his friends think of going on army.
When i first saw the music video for the song where Hrithik is in college, i didn't think the movie would be that good.
The music fit perfectly, I have never heard Indian music like this before, this is something new for Bollywood, a lot different than A.R Rehman's style.Shanker, Eashan and Loy produces great music, Dil Chata Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho and now Lakshya!
After seeing liking Dil Chahta Hai and Don I wanted to see other films by Farhan Akhtar.
The coming of age of an aimless young man (Karan played by Hritik Roshan) was shown quite well in this film.
Hrithik Roshan (brilliantly) plays the role of a young man, and unlike most Hindi movies a young man everyone can relate to as he is not someone from a different world.
this is the story of that young man Karan Shergil, and even though war takes the center stage for the better part of the movie.
Farhan Akhtar's direction is crisp and precise, the cinematography of the movie stands out, so does a couple of dance sequences.
Preity Zinta has tried to look like Barkha Dutta and she is OK, Om Puri is impressive in his little cameo, but i feel he was underused, Amitabh Bachchan is there just to add some extra star power.
But this is a Hrithik Roshan movie from start to finish, and he manages to pull out the performance of his life.
The Production is good but I am dismayed to the fact that the Indian Producers are not adept at portraying the battle scenes-they all sound like dejavue from the previous movies like "LOC".
My romance with Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya started in 2004, when I saw the flick for the first time at a Delhi cinema theater.
The film's protagonist Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) is a rich, aimless, laid back individual with no ambition or drive in life.
One, superb characterization by Farhan Akhtar and second Hrithik Roshan looks just perfect as Karan Shergill.
Despite good performances by Big B and Zinta, the star of the show is undoubtedly Hrithik Roshan, who does an excellent job as Karan Shergill.
The first sequence of the movie where Amitabh Bacchan talks about how important it is to do things perfectly, and asks Karan Shergill to adjust a painting on his wallthat looks tilted towards one sidereflects the attitude with which the film has been made.
Acting of Hrithik Roshan in first half is very poor when he played son of rich father who has no aim or goal about future.
After watching this movie i'm simply amazed with the performance of Mr. Hritik Roshan, Legendary actor Mr. Amitabh Bachan and Mrs. Preety Chinta, Mr. Booman Irani, they all done brilliant Job here, storytelling was superb that going to keep you on the edge of your seat for the whole time.
Lakshya revolves around Karan Shergil,who is a carefree college guy with a girlfriend.The character of Karan is somewhere like all of us, as he does not thinks too much about whats going on around him,does not have a very cordial relationship with his typical Indian father and gets constantly compared to his brother.The film is beautifully shot especially the scenes of kargil.Farhan Akhtar has done a very good job with this film,and for me this is his best work till date.
Music of the film is good too but the background score is awesome.It gives you all the kicks and goosebumps in the combat and war scenes.Since the dialogues of the film are written by javed akhtar therefore the film keeps you gripped with the story line.Amitabh Bachchan is perfect,his awesome articulation of the amazing lines written by javed akhtar is unprecedented.Amitabh should have gotten a "best supporting actor"prize for this movie.Priety zinta and all other actors are fine too.
After Dil Chahta Hai, the expectations were quite high and Farhan Akhtar has delivered an amazing movie.The transition of the character Karan Shergill played by Hrithik Roshan from an aimless, confused youngster to a determined, young army officer is really well done.
Amitabh Bachchan has also a good role, and this movie is maybe one of the few in which the two legends Amrish Puri and Amitabh Bachchan are seen sharing screen space together for a few scenes.There are many memorable dialogues in the film.
Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is melodious and the theme music and background score is simply mindblowing.This movie other than being a war movie, also inspires youngsters to have a goal in life and work hard towards achieving it.
One of the best movies of both Hrithik and Farhan.
Farhan Akhtar has never failed to impress with his work, be it Dil Chahta Hai, Karthik Calling Karthik, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag or Lakshya.
Give credit where credit is due: Farhan Akhtar knows how to make a film and picked the right people for this film.Lakshya is all about a man with no motivation to achieve anything in life.
Lakshya :- great Indian war drama movie!.
There is a scene in the movie where the protagonist while standing on a cliff tells his girlfriend that my aim for rest of my life is to re capture this hill for my country (while pointing towards peak 5179).
Lakshya is story of a spoiled immature brat who doesn't have any aim in his life until he decides to join Indian Army.
Well written by Javed Akhtar (of Salim – Javed fame) and brilliantly directed by Farhan Akhtar, Lakshya can be coined as one of the highly underrated Indian war films ever made.
The beauty of the film lies in the cast which is headed by Hrithik Roshan playing as the dashing Indian Army soldier and lover boy of Preity Zinta who plays an aggressive Indian journalist (definitely inspired by Barkha Dutt).They are equally supported by Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Om Puri and Amrish Puri ( in a very special appearance).
Lakshya (aim) is the exemplary story of a carefree as well as careless youth, Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) who is in love with Romila Dutta (Preity Zinta) but she finds it difficult to spend her life with a person like Karan who does not have any aim (LAKSHYA) in his life and happy to spend a lazy life on the strength of the money earned by his father.
Unlike DCH, the entertainment value of Lakshya is low.Though the chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta has not been developed properly on the screen, both of them have delivered power-packed performances individually.
As said earlier, many talented actors have been wasted in supporting roles but nobody has disappointed through his acting.Technically the movie is good but considering the gravity of the Kargil war episode, the work should have been better.
Having watched this movie some 25-odd times I could talk about this movie over and over again.It is a Story of a guy named karan shergill who comes from well to do family and has nothing better to do other than to hang with his friends and enjoy all the luxuries of life hard earned by his father ,karan has nothing permanent in his life other than his love interest played by preity zinta who comes from an highly educated background is serious of becoming a journalist.karan's seriousness towards his career in life could be felt and seen as he keeps repeating things heard from here and there and decides to join army inspired by seeing arnold schwarznegger's action flick.As he joins the army against his family wishes his non-serious nature comes into limelight as he runs away from military academy, Seeing zinta's reaction to this, he simply could not bear the pain and disrespect in their eyes and decides to go back and join the army again in order to win back the respect of his parents and zinta.
I would have gone with 8/10 for Farhan Akhtar's LAKSHYA but just bcoz i could empathize with lead character well played by HRITHIK ROSHAN and wonderful instrumental track of "Seperation" & "Victory" and after effects the movie had on me blended with ace direction of FARHAN AKHTAR (who earlier Debuted with Dil Chahta Hai) that can't have been more better, my rating is perfect 10.
I think Lakshya is one of the best war films made in India.India should be proud of Lakshya and Farhan Akhtar.
This was a war where hundreds of soldiers died for their motherland and Lakshya was a befitting tale on the war as its backdrop.Farhan has directed the film very realistically without making it too jingoistic like LOC Kargil.
I have always liked Hrithik Roshan and he is marvelous in this film.
If they had cut out a couple of the battle scenes, it would have been better, or they could have shown the battle from Hrithik's point of view and focused more on him since the movie is supposed to be about him, not Kargil.
Lakshya is not "Dil Chahta Hai", but it might do the same for current Bollywood films with war as a major subject as DCH did for films about urban youth in search for love and fulfillment: Move the issues on a more mature level and do away with unnecessary commercial ingredients that go against realism and a differentiated treatment.
It still remains watchable but is not as entertaining as Farhan Akhtar's first film 'Dil Chahta Hai'.
While the characters in Dil Chahta Hai made the movie so amazing(the educated youth in India could relate to them)...Hrithik's character in Lakshya just seems like a work of fantasy than a normal everyday character.
Lakshya: Must watch movie..
Before watching this movie, I thought it is some indo-pak war film.
Obviously, the scene where Hrithik puts the Indian flag on the peak and looks up Brilliant Movie!!.
Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai) outdoes himself on his sophomore directorial effort the lesser successful Lakshya, which deals with a young man coming of age and trying to find himself in the world.
The ever charming Hrithik Roshan plays Karan Shergill, a preppy happy-go-lucky slacker who is just comfortable going to school, hanging out with his best buddy Romila Dutta (Preity Zinta sporting really bad hair in the first half of the film) and just taking it easy in his parents house.
It is really surprising to note that the movie got extremely favourable reviews at the time of its release, but was still not a box-office hit.Acting-wise, Hrithik Roshan excels in his portrayal of Karan Shergill.
But finally the heroes of the movie are Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar..
I have to say this is the best army movie to come out of india.
Border is also an army movie but this is a film that the youth will relate to.
Hrithik roshan is the best performer in the movie.
I will call this farhan akhtar's best movie.
Re watched Lakshya after many years, calling it Hrithik most underrated film/Performance would be stating the obvious.
Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, and Om Puri have done the justice to their characters.
Boman Irani could have done better, though.The main character of the movie has been played by Hrithik Roshan.
do not think so..A coming of age film from the stables of a director who has proved yet again his talented direction after dil Chahta hai..Meet Karan the male protagonist who time & again proves his talent & hard work.