LAHORE
Earnest and well-intentioned crowd- pleaser but come with high stakes
by Vishal Verma

A Sai Om Films Pvt Ltd presentation and production of a Warner Bros India release.
Producer: Vivek Khatkar
Writer-Helmer: Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan
Genre: Drama – sports
Target Audience: General



Starring

Aanaahad...... Veeru
Shraddha Das...... Ida
Farooq Sheikh...... S K Rao
Nafisa Ali...... Amma
Shraddha Nigam...... Neela Chaudhary
Saurabh Shukla...... Madhav Suri
Aashish Vidyarthi...... Mohd. Akhtar
Mukesh Rishi...... Noor Mohammmad
Kelly Dorjee...... Gajanan
Late Nirmal Pandey...... Anwar Shaikh
Sushant Singh...... Dheeru
Sabyasachi Chakravarthy...... Sikandar Hyaat Khan
Pramod Moutho...... Shahnawaz Qureshi
Jeeva...... Kunjal Bhaskar Reddy



Technical Analysis

Earnest and well-intentioned, first time helmer Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s ‘Lahore’ is a high-minded sports drama attempting not only to merge brotherhood between India and Pakistan but also dedicates itself to entertaining the audience via its kick-boxing duels as it introduces another exciting sport to Indian cinema called kick boxing coming after some decent drives with cricket based flicks like ‘Lagan’, ‘Jannat’ and missing the net from other football flicks. More ‘action’ oriented and less motivationally ‘desi’ then ‘Chak De’ based on the Indian national sports hockey, ‘Lahore’ scores on its action and doesn’t get involved in Pak bashing, the sort of thing that always goes down very easily.

First time helmer Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan shows his potential with ‘Lahore’ as an engrossing story teller. Technicians like action director Tony Leung Siu Hung, cinematographer Neelabh Kaul, background score Wayne Sharpe, production design Kesto Mondal, support the director in his cause with their brilliance making ‘Lahore’ a well crafted flick that also comes with a social message and terrific performance where Farooque Shaikh is outstanding. Saurabh Shukla is fantastic. Sabyasachi Chakraborty is excellent. Sushant Singh is praiseworthy. Shraddha Nigam impresses, Mukesh Rishi is commendable. Shraddha Das manages to make herself being noticed. Nafisa Ali is competent. Ashish Vidyarthi does a sincere job. K. Jeeva, Kelly Dorji and Nirmal Pandey do their act professionally.

Even in this talented crowd, Aanaahad, makes his mark and portrays a neat performance that opens his gates in Bollywood as an actor with talent. But the movie suffers from predictability disease and also takes some cinematic liberties like Aanaahad who plays a gentleman’s sport like cricket gets chosen to play an altogether ‘bloody’ different sport like kick boxing may not be easy for some to digest.

This decent buzzer at festivals, ‘Lahore’ is a well crafted flick that also comes with a social message and terrific performance, Warner Bros in India should be at least proud to have a decent flick in their hands which promises more in its post theatre package.
The movie scores 3 out of 5



The Story

The selection of the Indian kick-boxing team is to be done. The final stage of qualification is in process. Amidst all this there is a minister (K. Jeeva), who wants his favourite participant to be selected; a coach (Farooque Shaikh), who wants merit to be the order of the day; an aspirant (Sushant Singh), who dreams to qualify purely on the basis of his merit; another aspirant (Kelly Dorji), who is over-confident, well connected and aims high to represent India.

The focus shifts to Kuala Lumpur. Two opponents, Dhirendra Singh (Sushant Singh) from India comes face to face with Noor Mohammad (Mukesh Rishi) from Pakistan. But an unexpected incident takes place. The sports fraternity stands numb.

The two nations meet in Lahore for a fresh kick-boxing tournament. This time, Noor Mohammed comes face-to-face with Virendra Singh (Aanaahad), Dhirendra's brother. Winning the game is not the only thing on his mind. Virendra wants to settle some old scores and restore the lost pride of the nation.



Promotion

The movie has traveled at festivals and has maintained a buzz the promotions has been fair. The media awareness has been decent.



Business Analysis

Well crafted ‘Lahore’ comes with a crowd and major threats some from its own like lack of face value and competition with a well advertised new age flick  and some from others like the IPL season and multiple release. The festival recognition has increased the stakes which are not likely to be achieved major returns are expected from its post theatre sales.



Other credits

Executive Producer: Vishva Vijay. Cassettes and CD's on Junglee Music. Lyricist: Piyush Mishra, Junaid Wasi and Panchhi Jalonvi. Music: Director: Hitesh Soni, M M Kreem and Wayne Sharp. Background Music: Wayne Sharp. Cinematography: Neelabh Kaul. Choreography: Tony Ching Siu Tung. Action: Tony Ching Siu Tung. Art: Keshto Mondal. Screenplay: Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan. Sound: Nakul Kamte. Dialogue: Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan. Media Relations: Peter Martis and Rahi Communications. Reviewed at Famous studios.

Indianmotionpictures.com is striving to present the most thorough review database. We do not currently list below-the-line credits, although we hope to include them in the future. Please note we may not respond to every suggestion. Your assistance is appreciated