Cast: Aanaahad, Shraddha Das, Farooq Sheikh,Nafisa Ali,Shraddha Nigam,Saurabh Shukla,Mukesh Rishi,Kelly Dorjee, Late Nirmal Pandey, Sushant Singh

Director: Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan

Lahore – Good message gone bad

Lahore is a film that truly focuses on the frayed relations between India and Pakistan and attempts to give a solution.

The film half of the film revolves around Dheerendra(Sushant Singh), a kick boxer. He is a promising newcomer on his way up, breaking many established records and easily carrying the tag of 'the pride of Rajasthan'. He plays fair. Wins with flair. He has a supportive fiance (Shraddha Nigam) and a loving mother (Nafisa Ali). To top it off, he's got a star cricketer (Aanaahad) for a younger brother. However, a goodwill match between India and Pakistan shatters happy family. Because, unable to suck up to the fact that he's lost, the great kick-boxer of Pakistan Noor (Mukesh Rishi) does a foul and knocks off Dheeru, forever.

The second half of the film, picks up the story of the vengeance filled younger brother who takes up the decision to changeover from cricket to boxing just so he can get back to Noor. Everyone realizes his intentions which are pretty obvious by the way. But somehow, coach Rao decides to give him a chance. So Veeru chugs to Lahore to face the brute who finished his elder brother's life without a second thought. Now in this match whether India or Pakistan wins and if the victory really matters makes up for the climax of the film.

The film is an epitome of fluctuation. Few elements make you love it whereas a few make you hate it.

Also, the film deals with a delicate topic like the India-Pakistan tensions. So it should be absolutely neutral and made in such a way that people from the countries love it and actually feel towards the cause. Sadly, the balance has severely been tipped. A genuine friendly gesture is now a pile of confused mass.

Yay!

Right from the opening credits something that subtly touches you is the background score. Although at times especially the requiem will give you a dj vu of other compositions but nonetheless the score is good. Good going Wayne Sharpe.

The action choreography (by Tony Ching Siu Tung) is stupendous. To add to the effect, the camerawork (Neelabh Kaul) has beautifully synchronized with it to give the actually feel of the 'wham-bam-boom!' of the boxing ring.

Great acting by Farooq Sheikh. In fact he is the only one who's histrionics actually entertain you. Nafisa Ali too is a class act. Sushant Singh too manages to maintain his position fairly well.

The message of the film that we need to attain peace with Pakistan is commendable.

Yawn…

The film shows the Pakistani team cheating (again!) and it's majorly pro-India. This itself contradicts the message of the film. You can't infuriate with provocative messages and then look forward to strike friendship!

It's like it's pretty obvious in the film that some people have done their job excellently while some have done it shoddily. The acting by newcomers fails to catch any interest and certain sequences are just too lengthy. The dialogues are sloppy.

The script could have been made crispier.

Yes or No?

Lahore centers around a good cause but somewhere loses the thread of it. Go if you are person keen on action or else there's nothing much to look out for here.

Rating: **1/2

Reporter and Author: Susan Jose