Lamhaa Hindi movie review: Rahul Dholakia failed to deliver what he promised

After so much hype and hoopla Rahul Dholakia’s political thriller, Lamhaa, has finally released in theatres and the verdict is it is totally a wasted movie. Why? First of all, the movie does not stay true to its tagline “The Untold story of Kashmir.”

What it shows turns out to be very typical such as children being trained as terroists, guys blasting themselves are nothing uncommon to people. The movie does not show the real feelings of the people of Kashmir. What really do they want? What is their cause of fighting?

Rahul Dholakia did intensive research on the subject but he messed up trying to balance between the reality and make believe. In the end, Lamhaa turns out to be one of those disappointing Indian patriotic movies where Indian soldiers rises up to the occasion and becomes the real hero. What should have Dholakia done is to make it a serious movie just like A Wednesday with no nonsense approach.

Another big disappointment is that from the beginning, the viewers are told that something serious is going to happen in Kashmir that would paralyze the country. So, the viewer will be expecting something serious but it turns out to be a very simple matter. The screen play fails to keep the viewers hooked till the end and the poor climax just adds up to viewers’ disappointment.

In terms of acting, Sanjay Dutt looks rugged but not convincing. He fails to successfully portray his role of an undercover MI officer. Bipasha Basu though worked very hard, she also suffers from the same problem. Kunal Kapoor’s acting talent had not been fully exploited in the movie. Only Anupam Kher played his part convincingly.

However, there are good things about the movie, the camera works of James Fowlds is very good. You will see some great visuals of Kashmir. The shaking of camera would give the viewer a real feel. There are some great scenes like Aziza being attacked by the female party workers of Anupam Kher. Overall, Lamhaa fails to deliver what it promises.

Lamhaa premiere is banned in the Middle East

After Kashmir, the Middle East banned the premiere of Lamhaa. Earlier, Indian Censor board rejected the promos of Lamhaa. The director, Rahul Dholaka, then approached the revising committee that demanded to make several changes in the dialogue and delete some sequences.

About the Middle East Ban, Sanjay Dutt Tweeted, “First the premiere of Lamhaa was not allowed in Kashmir.. Now the middle east puts a ban on the release of the film in their countries,”

When Madhur Bhandarkar came to know about the matter he protested against the ban. He tweeted, “Banning a film is nothing but a Cultural Terrorism....very upset about ban on LAMHA iN GULF COUNTRIES...I CONDEMN IT STRONGLY AND SUPPORT MAKERS WHOLE HEARTEDLY!!!!”

Lamhaa is a political thriller revolving around Kashmir. The director tried to show the real condition of Kashmir. From a long time, Kashmir remained a highly sensitive political issue for India. It is unfortunate that when Rahul Dholakia is about to release his movie, political unrest in Kashmir started again.

Lamhaa stars Bipasha Basu, Anupam Kher, Kunal Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. Something serious is going to happen in Kashmir and M.I.officer, Vikram (Sanjay Dutt), is sent over there to investigate about the matter. Vikram befriends with Aziza (Bipasha Basu) and together they investigate a bomb blast case. Then there is Aatif, a former militant, who is now a youth leader. Lamhaa shows how the political incident changes the lives of these people. The movie is slated to release on July 16, 2010.

Lamhaa: Kunal Kapoor talked with former militants to prepare for his character

Kunal Kapoor has been in Bollywood for quite some time but unlike other actors, he did not end up doing typical Bollywood commercial movies rather off beat cinemas that deal with more serious subjects and he has established himself quite as an actor in that niche.

In Lamhaa, Kunal Kapoor’s played Aatif, a former militant who fought for Azad Kashmir and turned to politics.

The release day of Lamhaa is closing in and things are getting tensed. Lamhaa is a political thriller that revolves around the politics of Kashmir. From a long time, Kashmir has been a sensitive subject for India. With the latest political unrest, things took an ugly turn.

The Kashmir government cancelled the premier of the movie Lamhaa which upset the crew. Now, the movie’s premier would be held in Mumbai.

Regarding the cancellation, Kunal Kapoor said, “We would love to premiere Lamhaa in Kashmir when the situation settles down,T……The film is about Kashmir. It’s disappointing that the premiere there got cancelled.”

To prepare for his character, Kunal Kapoor read about youth politics in Kashmir and met some former militants. About the meeting he said that when one would meet with such people he/she would stop taking his freedom for granted. He said that the problem of Kashmir is very much complex than it seems. For “Aatif” freedom is not just gaining independence but freedom of speech, freedom from security and repression.

Kunal Kapoor is very much impressed with Rahul Dholakia. He liked him because Rahul is not afraid to express his view. The army gave the crew a list of places where they should avoid shooting at and the crew shot guerilla style in those places. There were tensed moments but it was well worth it.

Will Bipasha Basu’s deglam avatar in Lamhaa win the hearts of Bollywood fans?

Bipasha Basu is known for doing glamorous roles. Movies like Jism, Race, Dhoom 2, All The Best, No Entry, Omkara established her as Bollywood’s sex symbol. She did take up some non-glamorous roles but they were not well accepted by the audience.

In her upcoming movie, Lamhaa, Bipasha Basu did a non-glamorous role. Lamhaa is a political thriller that deals with the problems of Kashmir. Bipasha Basu’s character, Aziza, is a revolutionary. A strong minded, aggressive woman, Aziza has been involved in Azad Kashmir movement since she was six years old.

Lamhaa is going to be release in theatres on July 16, 2010. When the makers of Lamhaa, approached her for the role she was not sure whether they would want to play her the role of a Kashmiri girl because she has a Bengali face. After speaking to Rahul Dholakia, she became convinced that she could play the role.

Bipasha is all praise about Lamhaa. She said that the movie has a strong story and it focuses on the sentiments of the Kashmiri people. It is a film that would meet the standards of an International movie like Bourne Ultimatum. It is made like an International movie and the songs are pretty good to listen to.

However, the shooting of Lamhaa did not go so smoothly. After Bipasha Basu went to shoot in Kashmir, people threw stones at her. Initially, she became very afraid. She said,

“I had thought that I could not get out of Kashmir that day and that we all would get killed. The mob was angry but I think things have settled down now. I do not fear for my life because we have made an honest film and as soon as people see the film, people will understand the intention. It’s sad that we did have to cancel the Kashmir premiere due to the curfew and the tension in the valley.”

It was Sanjay Dutt who convinced Bipasha Basu to come back and work for the movie. Sanjay Dutt previously worked in Kashmir and he knows the local officials very well. Hence, Bipasha Basu agreed to work in the project.