'Lakshya' is out in the theatres. Is the film worth a watch? Let's find out.
Story
Pardhu (Naga Shaurya) faces an immense obstacle just as he is starting to hog national headlines as a consummate archer. His rival Rahul (Shatru) is biting the dust. His grandfather (played by Sachin Khedekar) faces a setback and is struggling to keep things floating somehow. His girlfriend Ritika (Ketika Sharma) has her own set of problems at home. After a huge fall in the world of sport, Pardhu has to make a strong comeback. Can he?
Performances
Naga Shaurya has worked extremely hard to do justice to his role. He had to steer clear of drinking any liquid for 9 days (not at a stretch) to get the 8-pack abs avatar right. One must appreciate the actor for not sticking to comfort roles; he is not after tags like 'Chocolate Boy' or 'Family Hero'.
Ketika Sharma played a modish singer in 'Romantic' and here, she is more a girl-next-door type with no shouting to do. One feels the weak love track has let her down. Jagapathi Babu and Sachin Khedekar compete with each other, with the former getting to scream less and act more. The latter is adequate. While there are at least two comedians (Satya and Viva Harsha), the film barely has a single funny moment. Kireeti Damaraju is seen in an important role in the first half.
Technical aspects
For the budding composer Kaala Bhairava, this one is the first movie with a certain scale. His previous outings like 'Mathu Vadalara' and 'Aakashavani' were small in scale in comparison. However, the music director gets to compose only two songs ('Saya Saya', 'O Lakshyam').
The cinematography by Raam Reddy is a plus. Sharmela Yalisetty's art direction comes to the fore in the archery scenes. Junaid Siddiqui's editing could have been better.
Analysis
Director Dheerendra Santhossh Jagarlapudi of 'Subrahmanyapuram' fame comes equipped with a basic storyline. There are no major twists or unpredictable tropes in the movie. That's a huge minus for a sports film.
It's commendable that Archery has been chosen as the sport to toy with. Naga Shaurya exudes confidence and conviction in the sports scenes. But this merit is frittered away by the lame drama surrounding the sporting scenes.
The first half has got absolutely no merits barring the damnation that Pardhu faces in life. The second half could have been more satisfying in terms of how Pardhu's rise is shown. Jagpaathi Babu's character doesn't make us invested despite all the over-indulgence of emotions. Even the love story follows a beaten path, giving no emotional satisfaction.
The climax feels a bit rushed despite the run-time of the movie being 150 minutes.
Closing Remarks
'Lakshya' is about one man's hard journey. But it doesn't feel like an eventful, exciting film at all.
