I watched Lakshya several times and every time I lost interest in the second half. In general, military dramas and war films strike me as intense films for a watch and they should have something very special and enough credibility to engage me. This film, despite its technical brilliance, didn't entirely do it for me, and I found many of the scenes and proceedings quite filmi and cliched. What's more, the first parts of the story are more about the character of Karan, and it sounds like a good start for an inspiring coming-of-age drama, which is sadly lost in the transition from his personal story to the war drama. The protagonist is played by Hrithik Roshan, who delivers his best performance to that point. He really got the moronic nature of Karan and played the gradual development and transformation of the character into this fierce soldier along the story well. His dance for "Main Aisa Kyun Hoon" is marvelous. Where the film lacks credibility, except for some of the war sequences, is in the lack of any chemistry between Roshan and female lead Preity Zinta. There was nothing between them - no tension, no true affection, no romance; it felt really forced and non-romantic. Not to say Zinta, who is one of my favourite actresses is not good; she does a good job of transforming her appearance to fit the character of a brave journalist and playing against her energetic, bubbly self. Her natural presence is actually a good added value to this male-dominated picture. I wish the film took another direction. Akhtar is a talented director, and it shows here too, but this film is overlong and quite exhausting although I can't deny its cinematic value and I can't say I didn't like it at all.
Review of Lakshya
