Lakshya (2004 film)

Lakshya
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Farhan Akhtar
Written by	Javed Akhtar
Produced by	Ritesh Sidhwani
Starring	Amitabh Bachchan Hrithik Roshan Preity Zinta
Cinematography	Christopher Popp
Edited by	Anand Subaya
Music by	Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Production companies	UTV Motion Pictures Excel Entertainment
Release date	18 June 2004 (2004-06-18)
Running time	178 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹14 crore (US$1.6 million)[2]
Box office	₹26.25 crore (US$3.1 million)[3]

Lakshya (translation: Aim) is a 2004 Indian coming-of-age war drama film directed by Farhan Akhtar and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, and Preity Zinta in lead roles. Based on a story by the director's father on the 1999 Kargil War, the film is about Karan Shergill, an aimless, lazy young man and the son of a wealthy businessman from Delhi, who joins the Indian Army and matures into a battlefield hero just as war breaks out.

At the 50th Filmfare Awards, Lakshya received 4 nominations, including Best Director (Farhan) and Best Actor (Roshan), and won 2 awards – Best Choreography (Prabhu Deva for "Main Aisa Kyun Hoon...") and Best Cinematography. Though the film was a box office failure, it gained a cult following later. The film was also instrumental in motivating youths across India to join the Indian Army.

Karan Shergill is an irresponsible young man who has no plans for his future. His girlfriend Romi, an aspiring journalist, tells him to have an aim in his life. Eventually, he contemplates joining the Indian Army at the urging of a friend. He takes the Combined Defence Services Examination, and to his surprise, gets selected for the Indian Military Academy (IMA), despite his parents' disapproval.

Karan's days at the IMA are a disaster, as his lack of discipline makes him unsuitable for a military life. Upset, he escapes from the academy and returns home. His parents are disappointed and tell him to join the family business. Romi angrily breaks up with him due to his lack of conviction. Devastated, Karan decides to get serious and returns to the IMA. He takes the punishment, becomes a focused cadet, excels in training, and finally graduates and is commissioned as a lieutenant.

Karan is posted to the 3rd battalion of the Punjab Regiment, commanded by Colonel Sunil Damle, stationed in Kargil, Ladakh. He returns home on leave and learns that Romi is getting engaged. The leave is cut short due to the outbreak of hostilities in Kargil, and he is promoted to acting Captain. Colonel Damle briefs the officers, revealing that infiltrators crossed the Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan and occupied a series of mountain peaks on the Indian side. The battalion is assigned to secure Point 5179, a crucial vantage point dominating the army's main supply line, the National Highway 1D.

Since the other sides of the mountain are perilous to cross, the battalion decides to attack from the eastern side. The first part of the assault is successful in destroying the enemy's screening units, with Karan cited for his bravery. Meanwhile, Romi goes to Kargil as a war correspondent, where she meets a changed Karan and falls in love with him again. In the second phase, the battalion fails to capture the peak and suffers heavy casualties. Colonel Damle is given 48 hours, and he orders a group of twelve officers and soldiers (including Karan) to scale a 1000-foot rock cliff on the western side to flank the enemy. Karan finally finds his aim in capturing the peak and rekindles his relationship with Romi as well, after finding out she broke her engagement.

The unit sets off on its mission but loses its commanding officer and many soldiers to enemy fire. The remaining six men push forward and scale the cliff, attacking the Pakistani position during the night. Their assault is successful, although Karan is injured. The next morning, he spots the remaining Pakistani intruders and kills them. He then he limps to the peak and plants the Indian flag, capturing it at last, while signaling Colonel Damle.

A few days later, Karan is discharged from a military hospital and reunites with his parents and Romi. In the midst of credits, Colonel Damle, Lieutenant Colonel Pradeep, and Subhedar Major Pritam Singh pay their respects to all the martyrs of Operation Vijay.

Production of the film began in Mumbai, Maharashtra and it was shot at several different locations in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The scenes in Kargil were shot in Ladakh. Some parts of the film centered around Hrithik Roshan's military training were also shot at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Actual Indian Army officers also participated in the shooting of the film. Seeing both the actors and officers in the same getup, at times Preity Zinta would get confused separating the actual officers from the actors. Pankaj Tripathi, then a struggling actor, shot for the film at Ladakh with Roshan and this news went viral in Tripathi's village that he is shooting a film with a big actor like Roshan. But Tripathi's role was all cut during the editing and he was very disappointed to see that his role was cut from the film.^[6]

The film's soundtrack was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar.^[7] Shaan's "Main Aisa Kyun Hoon", picturized on Hrithik, is a laid-back, funky-hip hop track.^[8] "Agar Main Kahoon" is the love duet, picturized on Hrithik-Preity. The trio used harmonica for the track.^[9] The title track "Lakshya" is a techno-flavored patriotic song by Shankar Mahadevan, which is followed by "Kandhon Se Milte", another patriotic song with the vocals of Kunal Ganjawala and Vijay Prakash. "Kitni Baatein", a pathos song, is crooned by Hariharan and Sadhana Sargam. There are two instrumentals, "Victory" and "Separation". The trumpet portion from "Victory" has been used as the background music for their logo by Excel.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Bollywood Hungama	[10]
Planet Bollywood	[11]

The soundtrack received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama in his review, said "Lakshya does have good music that is very urban and will appeal to the class audience. Going by the theme of the movie, the album is pretty balanced and has been composed with style that speaks of class."^[10] Planet Bollywood found the album to be "as good as Dil Chahta Hai".^[11] Subhash K. Jha described the album as "daringly unusual sound with a show-offy kind of innovativeness".^[12] Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com, however, remarked that, though the album was good, it was below expectations and "lacked punch".^[13] According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 11,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's thirteenth highest-selling.^[14]

Lakshya netted around Rs. 23 crore at the domestic box office.^[3] Lakshya grossed $5,859,242 worldwide including $753,600 from North American markets and $5,105,642 from other markets.^[15] In the U.S., it performed better, grossing $380,000 on 59 screens [approx. Rs. 1.75 crore] in its opening weekend with the per screen average being around $6,440.^[16]

Lakshya was director Farhan Akhtar's second film, following the success of his first film, the cult classic Dil Chahta Hai (2001). However, despite much anticipation, it did not fare as well at the box-office. Nevertheless, after repeated re-runs on TV over the years, Lakshya has been regarded as a cult film among an audience that argues it is Hrithik Roshan's best performance to date.^[17] Lakshya was also instrumental in motivating youth across India to join the Indian Army.^[18]

52nd National Film Awards:

• Best Choreography – Prabhu Deva for "Main Aisa Kyun Hoon..."

50th Filmfare Awards:

Won

• Best Choreography – Prabhu Deva for "Main Aisa Kyun Hoon..."
• Best Cinematography – Christopher Popp

Nominated

• Best Director – Farhan Akhtar
• Best Actor – Hrithik Roshan

• Lakshya at IMDb
• Lakshya at Rotten Tomatoes
• Lakshya at Box Office Mojo