Lakshya

<p>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 , and to his surprise, gets selected for the (IMA), despite his parents’ disapproval. Karan’s initial 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 , commanded by Colonel Sunil Damle, stationed in , . 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 (LoC) from Pakistan and occupied a series of mountain peaks on the Indian side. The battalion is assigned to secure , a crucial vantage point dominating the army’s main supply line, the . 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 Subedar Major Pritam Singh pay their respects to all the martyrs of . Production of the film began in , and it was shot at several different locations in the Indian state of . The scenes in were shot in . Some parts of the film centered around ‘s military training were also shot at the , . Actual officers also participated in the shooting of the film. Seeing both the actors and officers in the same getup, at times would get confused separating the actual officers from the actors. , then a struggling actor, shot for the film at Ladakh with Roshan and this news went viral in Tripathi’s village. But Tripathi’s role was cut during the editing, which he expressed disappointment on seeing. The film’s soundtrack was composed by , with lyrics by . ‘s ” “, picturized on Hrithik, is a laid-back, – track. “Agar Main Kahoon” is the love duet, picturized on – . The trio used for the track. The title track “Lakshya” is a patriotic song by , which is followed by “Kandhon Se Milte”, another patriotic song with the vocals of and Vijay Prakash. “Kitni Baatein”, a pathos song, is crooned by and . There are two instrumentals, “Victory” and “Separation”. The trumpet portion from “Victory” has been used as the background music for their logo by . The soundtrack received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Joginder Tuteja of in his review, said ” 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.” PlanetBollywood.com found the album to be “as good as “. described the album as “daringly unusual sound with a show-offy kind of innovativeness”. Sukanya Verma of , however, remarked that, though the album was good, it was below expectations and “lacked punch”. According to the Indian trade website , with around 11,00,000 units sold, this film’s soundtrack album was the year’s thirteenth highest-selling. netted around Rs. 23 crore at the domestic box office. grossed $5,859,242 worldwide including $753,600 from North American markets and $5,105,642 from other markets. 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. was director Farhan Akhtar’s second film, following the success of his first film, the cult classic (2001). However, despite much anticipation, it did not fare as well at the box-office.<br /> Nevertheless, after repeated re-runs on TV over the years, has been regarded as a among an audience that argues it is Hrithik Roshan’s best performance to date. was also instrumental in motivating youth across India to join the .</p>