The word is Lakshya
Lakshya.The goal of a film-maker is to express his feelings in a manner which entertains people.And thats where Farhan excels.
The movie starts off at Leh.Picturesque locales are showcased with aplomb.Introductions are taken care of and personalities hinted at.Once all of this has been established,its time for the flashback.
Hrithik(Karan Shergill) is shown as a cool dude who cannot think beyond 6 hours.Typical beta of a rich baap.Baap re baap(Boman) thinks of his son as an useless fellow with no goal(must be the genes).So thoda bashan ho jaaye.Zinta(Romilla) plays the love angle.Not the typical sweet ladki with kadki.A girl who speaks her mind(protest march and what not!).Turns out Amma dear(Lillete Dubey) was quite a lady in her younger years and had a lot of one night stands at the police station.Besides that,Amma has no role.
Hrithik has dostlog with the same attitude as his.One of his friend decides to join the army.After some grey cells have been exhausted,Karan decides to join the army too(heavily influenced by the scene he sees of Arnold in Predator...).He talks to dost who chickens out of the army deal.Hrithik responds "arre main Army mein akhele kya karunga?".Guffaw!!What a laugh riot.
The scenes of him at the IMA,Doon are quite good.Funny as hell.Beta decides Army is not for him.So he takes flight and reaches home.Dad and girlfriend are disgusted with him.So he returns back to the IMA.Goofy turns serious.Soon he gaduates with top honors from the IMA.
While this wasa happening,Zinta becomes a news anchor and is engaged to some dude.Hrithik returns home(on leave) and finds out about the engagement.Alas, it seems like the Gods are conspiring against him.His leave is cancelled and he has to report to base.(Kagil intrusion).
The second half of the movie is quite rivetting bar the climax (cliched).The action sequences are well shot with not too much of gore.Just a single scene of a dead soldier being taken to a hospital says a lot about how uncertain it really is for our jawans.The outburst of a soldier at Zinta when she asks to no-one at particular as to why there is war when all we want is peace(aman and shanti) is poignant.
Throughtout the movie,the enemy isnt shown in black and white.Just blurry figures and voices.Patriotism without being jingoistic.Some Army humor thrown in for good measure.
The last 20 minutes or so is pathbreaking.Stunts like these havent been seen yet on the silver screen(for a bollywood flick).It is quite similar to MI2 but exception nonetheless.These 20 minutes are worth the 100 odd rupees you fork out for the ticket.
Performances.
Hrithik : Carries the movie on his shoulders.An excellent follow-up to Koi mil gaya.He is here to stay!
Preity : Spunky character.Does well with the limited scope that the role had.More footage in the 1st half than in the 2nd.
Big B : Good enough!
Om Puri : Has some good lines for his short role.
Boman : Plays the grumpy bit with elan.
Farhan : The word is excellent.
Shanker/Ehsan/Loy : Some hummable tunes.Background score while the war is on is great!
Chris Popp(Cinematographer) : Does more than enough to give the audience a taste of Leh.
To sum it up:
I found myself(very happy) after 3 hours and at 300 feet above MSL.I have a feeling you might too.
The movie starts off at Leh.Picturesque locales are showcased with aplomb.Introductions are taken care of and personalities hinted at.Once all of this has been established,its time for the flashback.
Hrithik(Karan Shergill) is shown as a cool dude who cannot think beyond 6 hours.Typical beta of a rich baap.Baap re baap(Boman) thinks of his son as an useless fellow with no goal(must be the genes).So thoda bashan ho jaaye.Zinta(Romilla) plays the love angle.Not the typical sweet ladki with kadki.A girl who speaks her mind(protest march and what not!).Turns out Amma dear(Lillete Dubey) was quite a lady in her younger years and had a lot of one night stands at the police station.Besides that,Amma has no role.
Hrithik has dostlog with the same attitude as his.One of his friend decides to join the army.After some grey cells have been exhausted,Karan decides to join the army too(heavily influenced by the scene he sees of Arnold in Predator...).He talks to dost who chickens out of the army deal.Hrithik responds "arre main Army mein akhele kya karunga?".Guffaw!!What a laugh riot.
The scenes of him at the IMA,Doon are quite good.Funny as hell.Beta decides Army is not for him.So he takes flight and reaches home.Dad and girlfriend are disgusted with him.So he returns back to the IMA.Goofy turns serious.Soon he gaduates with top honors from the IMA.
While this wasa happening,Zinta becomes a news anchor and is engaged to some dude.Hrithik returns home(on leave) and finds out about the engagement.Alas, it seems like the Gods are conspiring against him.His leave is cancelled and he has to report to base.(Kagil intrusion).
The second half of the movie is quite rivetting bar the climax (cliched).The action sequences are well shot with not too much of gore.Just a single scene of a dead soldier being taken to a hospital says a lot about how uncertain it really is for our jawans.The outburst of a soldier at Zinta when she asks to no-one at particular as to why there is war when all we want is peace(aman and shanti) is poignant.
Throughtout the movie,the enemy isnt shown in black and white.Just blurry figures and voices.Patriotism without being jingoistic.Some Army humor thrown in for good measure.
The last 20 minutes or so is pathbreaking.Stunts like these havent been seen yet on the silver screen(for a bollywood flick).It is quite similar to MI2 but exception nonetheless.These 20 minutes are worth the 100 odd rupees you fork out for the ticket.
Performances.
Hrithik : Carries the movie on his shoulders.An excellent follow-up to Koi mil gaya.He is here to stay!
Preity : Spunky character.Does well with the limited scope that the role had.More footage in the 1st half than in the 2nd.
Big B : Good enough!
Om Puri : Has some good lines for his short role.
Boman : Plays the grumpy bit with elan.
Farhan : The word is excellent.
Shanker/Ehsan/Loy : Some hummable tunes.Background score while the war is on is great!
Chris Popp(Cinematographer) : Does more than enough to give the audience a taste of Leh.
To sum it up:
I found myself(very happy) after 3 hours and at 300 feet above MSL.I have a feeling you might too.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, June 20, 2004 at 8:39 AM.
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