Lamhaa - Mixes Facts with Fiction

What is it all about?

Disappointing, when a national award winning maker like Rahul Dholakia who made the sensitive 'Parzania' tackles the burning issue like 'Kashmir', you expect something unknown, untold will be revealed in a stark and sensible manner. But what is this…… 'Lamha' mixes fact with fiction…. Means it takes a real life situation & tries to churn a thriller from this.. Then why the tagline which reads "The untold story of Kashmir'?

Rahul in his 'Lamha' tries to repeat the same story of Kashmir which everybody knows from print and satellite media. Lamha' swings between facts and fiction and lands no where, it goes over the head of common audience in trying to get involved in the complicated situation of the valley and then suddenly get into the thriller mode and hence slips from the laps of the connoisseurs of quality cinema.

The Story …….of course

Without telling something unknown, Lamha is a story of an intelligence officer played by Sanjay Dutt, who is sent to the Valley on a special mission. He must investigate the secret on-goings and unveils a sinister plot that threatens to derail the ongoing elections in the troubled state which has been grappling with terror and violence for the past three decades.

Sanjay assumes the identity of Gul Jehangir. The same day that he lands in the valley, Haji (Anupam Kher), a top separatist leader, survives a blast. Is there a connection between the blast and the operation?

To solve this conundrum, Vikram teams up with Aziza (Bipasha Basu), Haji's young, aggressive and outspoken protégé. The intensity of their beliefs and their will to survive against all odds creates a special bond between them. They embark together on a journey to uncover the truth.

What to look out for?

The DOP James does a splendid job in showing us the heaven on this earth, the movie has been shot in actual locations and it's a treat for your eyes, editing is sharp and technicalities are brilliant with superb production values.

The movie does has one superb moment where the director shows a child playing with bullets in a manner marbles are played.

The sequence where Bipasha is attacked by the women workers of her own separatist women party is awesome. Kunal Kapoor is okay. Anupam Kher is the actor that is able to get into the skin of the character and does a great job.

Jyoti Dogra, Murli Sharma, Shernaz Patel, Rajesh Khera, Yuri Suri, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Asif Basra, Denzil Smith and Ehsaan Khan do justice to their roles.

What Not?

Failing to impress anyone, Lamha is a waste of talents. A lot was expected from Rahul but he disappoints, no one expects the filmmaker to give solutions and it should have stick to being realistic but alas. And on top of that actors like Sanjay Dutt look out of place and disinterested. Bipasha doesn't look like a Kashmiri though she tries really hard.

Conclusion: Go if you really must
Rating **

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