Lakshya review: Same old drama, just a different sport

1.5/5

Story:

An elderly patriarch in a village, Raghuramayya (Sachin Khedekar), loses his son and daughter-in-law to a terrible accident, just when the latter's sports career is about to take off. Raghuramayya takes it upon himself to raise his grandson Pardhu (Naga Shaurya), who displays a flair for archery at a young age and hopes to groom him into an accomplished sportsman. He sells his lands, properties and shifts base to Hyderabad give wings to Pardhu's ambitions. Pardhu, while leaving no stone unturned to represent his country, falls in love with a city-girl Rithika (Ketika Sharma). What comes in the way of Pardhu and his ambition?

Review:

It's not hard to guess why Naga Shaurya has picked Lakshya at this phase of his career. It's his conscious attempt to break away from his comfort zone - romantic comedies - and challenge himself to transform mentally, psychologically for a sports film. That he does very well in Lakshya. For a major part of his career, there's been very little doubt about his potential too. Unfortunately, it's the film that fails him this time. The director Dhreendra Santhosh Jagarlapudi uses every tiring cliche in the book to forcefully fit the sports drama into the 'four songs-six fights' commercial template. 

There's almost no attempt to tell how Pardhu is a natural as an archer - the film claims that it's a talent he's inherited from his father. As a child, he directs an arrow towards a robber at his household and the grandfather is convinced that Pardhu should take up a career in sports. There are many trainers in the film, but no talk about technique, nuance in archery. There's nothing to show how Pardhu nurtures his talent over the years. 

The conflicts in Pardhu's life are all too cinematic - be it monetary issues, arch-rival trying to pin him down, his fall and his subsequent rise in the climax with a patriotic high. Half the time, the story is busy creating mythological parallels with the film's characters. The lead character is named after Arjuna (a well-known archer in Mahabharatha), a fatherly figure is called Parthasaradhi (hinting at Krishna). He joins an institute named Kurukshetra Archery Academy (yaaawn!). 

The sports backdrop is completely superficial; all that the filmmaker does is to come up with age-old tricks to showcase his larger-than-life, capable hero, who is bound to rise after every obstacle thrown in his way. The clash between Rahul and Pardhu at the academy makes no sense. Rahul is accompanied by three sidekicks who keep boosting his ego. The entire thread of how Pardhu is made to use performance-enhancing drugs is absurd at best. 

The intermission sequence where Pardhu arrives at the stadium in a blood-soaked shirt is laughable. The romantic track has very little purpose or meaning. Rithika's mother goes to the extent of telling 'Archery itself has no future in India. What do you expect of Pardhu?' suggesting why her daughter should dump him and marry someone else. The only priority of the parents is to get Rithika married. This is 2021 and still, such characters are passed off as 'female leads' in Telugu films. 

Not a single character apart from Pardhu is written well in the film - everyone else is a laughing stock, a cheerleader to lead him towards his destination. The grandfather-grandson thread could've brought some emotional depth to the story, but the melodrama is intolerable. When a doctor advises a heart surgery to the grandfather, the latter responds 'Can I use tablets instead?' In a nutshell, that's Lakshya for you.

The portion where Pardhu admits to consuming drugs is reminiscent of the scene in Arjun Reddy where the lead character's medical license is cancelled. The CGI in the climax is tacky. Lakshya is akin to watching paint dry. You know what's going to come next, who's going to get beaten up, who'll fall, rise and emerge victorious. 

It's only Naga Shaurya who goes out of the way to get into the skin of the character and make the viewer resonate with his trauma. The young actor, despite his efforts, appears helpless in a formulaic film. Ketika Sharma gets another ridiculous role after Romantic. Sachin Khedekar is wasted in a poorly-written part and so is Jagapathi Babu in the latter half. Kireeti, for a change, is cast in a role with grey shades and he makes a good meal out of it. The supporting cast is passable but can't rise above the mediocre script. Kaala Bhairava's music is hardly memorable. 

Verdict:

Lakshya is an immensely disappointing film that tries to blend a sports film into a commercial template (like Seetimaar) and makes a mess of it - neither providing the adrenaline rush of a sports film nor having the appeal of a masala potboiler. Naga Shaurya is the film's only saving grace.