Lakshya

Karan, the son of a wealthy family, has no goal at all. He does whatever his friends do, while his girlfriend Romila is a woman with direction. On a whim he enters the military academy, runs at the first difficulty, then returns out of shame. During the fighting at Kargil he takes on the job of retaking a peak. The film is not interested in war. It is interested in acquiring a purpose: its first half is entirely the portrait of a useless young man, and the war section only comes once that portrait is built. His transformation is told through repetition rather than a single heroic moment. The form is in two pieces: the wealthy circles of Delhi and the rock of Ladakh. The military sections were shot at altitude on real terrain, and the climbing scenes do not retreat to a studio. Farhan Akhtar directed, from a screenplay by Javed Akhtar. He had made Dil Chahta Hai before this, and the portrait of youth here comes from the same vein. The music is by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. Hrithik Roshan plays Karan, Preity Zinta the journalist Romila and Amitabh Bachchan the commanding officer. Who it is for: viewers who like Indian military stories and films that give character development time. Who it is not for: anyone sensitive about length. The film runs close to three hours and the romantic strand does not always sit well with the military one.