Lakshya

"Lakshya" is about one individual's odyssey in life from embarrassing idleness to redeeming self-motivation. This epic transition is achieved through layers of illuminating leitmotifs -- the wonderful soundtrack by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy for one. Hrithik takes the aimless urban drifter - the kind of south Mumbai brat who wakes up at noon and takes hard decisions on which parties to attend in the evening - far beyond where Aamir Khan took it in "Dil Chahta Hai". Hrithik creates a gripping graph for his character. The before-and-after effect whereby Karan goes from layabout to soldier could have easily become a caricature. But Hrithik plays it subtle. And shaded. And that's what makes it so special. As Romila the TV journalist, Preity Zinta does a Barkha Dutt with lip-smacking credibility. Her terse but well-articulated relationship with an ostensibly liberal fianc, who finally gives her a choice between a career and marriage, is one of the many by-lanes that Farhan's film takes before cruising the highway to heroic redemption. She's a perfect foil to Hrithik's intense introspective performance. The film is shot not only in real colours but shades that heighten reality without tampering with the tenor of the seductive storytelling. The peaks of Ladakh and the ruins of Delhi are projected into the plot with an inevitability that suggests a link between emotional topography and geopolitical reality. Javed Akhtar's work both on the screenplay and dialogues is refreshingly free of triteness and bombast. Though epic in quality, the film chooses to be quiet about its ambitious design. "Lakshya" is as inspiring as it is an inspired piece of cinema.