Lamhaa
| Lamhaa | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rahul Dholakia |
| Produced by |
Bunty Walia Juspreet Singh Walia |
| Screenplay by | Rahul Dholakia |
| Starring |
Sanjay Dutt Bipasha Basu Anupam Kher Kunal Kapoor |
| Music by |
Songs: Mithoon Background Score: Sanjoy Chowdhury |
| Edited by |
Ashmith Kunder Akshay Mohan |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 135 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Lamhaa (Hindi: लम्हा, Urdu: لمحا, translation: Moment) is a Bollywood action thriller film written and directed by Rahul Dholakia, released on 16 July 2010. Set in Kashmir, it is a story about an army officer, played by Sanjay Dutt, and his love interest, played by Bipasha Basu, in the midst of the issues that Kashmir had faced over the years. It features Anupam Kher and Kunal Kapoor in supporting roles.
Cast
- Sanjay Dutt as Vikram
- Bipasha Basu as Aziza
- Kunal Kapoor as Aatif
- Shernaz Patel as Parveena
- Aman Verma
- Yaspal Sharma as Rauf
- Vishwajeet Pradhan as Daljeet
- Vipin Sharma as Colonel Kapoor
- Yuri Suri as Pasha
- Anupam Kher as Haji
- Asif Basra
- Rajesh Khera as Parvez
- Murli Sharma as Dhruv Raina
- Jyoti Dogra as Badi Bi
- Denzil Smith as Brigadier Sharma
- Ehsaan Khan as S P Khan
- Mahesh Manjrekar as Peer Baba
- Harry Josh
- Vineet Sharma
Production
Casting
Karisma Kapoor was finalised to play the female lead, but she opted out at the last minute because she feared shooting in the troubled Kashmir valley where a significant part was going to be shot. Bipasha Basu, Ameesha Patel and Sonam Kapoor were considered for the same role, and Basu was finalised to play the female lead.[2]
Filming and post-production
Filming began in Kashmir on 25 October 2008.[3] During November 2008, Bipasha Basu left the shooting hours before Sanjay Dutt landed in Srinagar to start shooting with her — without informing the unit.[4] They decided to shoot the action sequences in Manali instead.[5] After her abrupt departure, producer Bunty Walia and director Rahul Dholakia asked Basu to arrive on the set on 4 January 2009 and that they would cast Vidya Balan as a replacement in case she does not comply.[6] Basu then arrived on the specified date after security arrangements were tightened and explained that she got scared in Kashmir after the crowd gathering became uncontrollable.[7][8]
In May 2009, Rahul Dholakia collapsed on the sets and shooting was delayed up to 25 May after doctors advised Dholakia bed rest for one month.[9] Eventually the entire film was shot in sets of Kashmir erected in Film City, Mumbai, for which production designer Wasiq Khan brought in two truckloads of chinar tree leaves from Kashmir.[10]
Critical reception
Lamhaa received mixed reviews from critics.
On the review-aggregation website ReviewGang, it scored 5.5/10 based on 9 reviews.[11] Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated it 3/5 and said, "Utimately, Lamhaa's relevance lies in its ability to give you an overview, even if it's a crammed one, about the ugliness of greed and intolerance through the example of Kashmir."[12] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL rated it 3.5/5 and stated, "Very truly it does delve right into the primary problem. But this time, unlike most other movies made on the same subject, it does not stay on a superficial level."[13] Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India rated it 3.5/5 saying, "Lamhaa is a no-holds-barred look at the multi-layered turmoil in Kashmir, with so many real-life references that you end up with just one conclusion: now here's a real film about a real problem."[14]
Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times rated it 2/5 and said, "It's not easy to make sense of Kashmir. It's harder still then to make sense of this film."[15]
Soundtrack
The songs featured in the film are given by Mithoon with lyrics by Sayeed Quadri and Amitabh Varma.[16]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Madno Re" | Kshitij Tarey, Chinmayi | 8:26 |
| 2. | "Main Kaun Hoon" | Palash Sen | 7:12 |
| 3. | "Rehmat Zara" | Mithoon, Mohammad Irfan Ali | 5:24 |
| 4. | "Sajnaa" | Mika Singh, Chinmayi | 8:26 |
| 5. | "Salaam Zindagi" | Mohammad Irfan Ali, Arun Daga, Saim Bhat | 6:56 |
| 6. | "Zameen O Aasmaan" | Kshitij Tarey | 5:53 |
"Madno Re" has been a huge hit and was aired throughout the nation for a long time.
Controversy
Lamhaa was banned in Pakistan and some GCC countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Oman. UAE National Media Council Censorship Board felt that the content of the movie is highly objectionable and controversial.[17]
Earlier, the film's screening was cancelled in Kashmir[18] amid the tense atmosphere.[19] The producer didn't want to be insensitive to the sentiments of the Kashmiri people. The producer, Walia commented, "There are no scenes that they want me to remove from the film. They have outrightly refused to screen Lamhaa. [...] This news has really dampened my spirits. The Middle East is a huge market for Bollywood movies these days and we could suffer a huge setback because of this ban. There is definitely a lot of money at stake that could have been recovered from that region, but more than that I am sad that the audience there can't see a film like 'Lamhaa'."[20]
The Indian censor board passed the movie with an A certificate after two edits were made.[21]
References
- ↑ "Movie Details: Lamhaa". amcentertainment.com. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
- ↑ Vickey Lalwani. "Darr!". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ↑ Subhash K Jha. "Safe sets?". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
- ↑ Subhash K Jha. ""We can't understand why Bipasha left the shoot suddenly" – Bunty Walia". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ↑ Subhash K Jha. "Come back, Guys!". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
- ↑ Vickey Lalwani. "Will Bipasha lose out to Vidya?". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
- ↑ Runna Ashish Bhutda. "Back to Kashmir!". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
- ↑ Subhash K Jha. "Bipasha returns to Kashmir for Lamhaa under tight security arrangements". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
- ↑ Kunal M Shah. "Stress-busted". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ↑ "My fake slum toilet made people puke". Tehelka. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ↑ "Lamhaa Reviews". ReviewGang. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ↑ Verma, Sukanya. "Lamhaa: One of the Best Kashmir films so far". Rediff. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ↑ Parasara, Noyon Jyoti. "Lamhaa – Movie Review". AOL India. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ↑ Kazmi, Nikhat (15 July 2010). "Lamhaa: Movie Review". Times of India. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ↑ Shekhar, Mayank. "Review: Lamhaa". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ↑ Review of Lamhaa Soundtrack
- ↑ "Lamhaa banned in UAE for objectionable content". FilmyFair. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ↑ "Lamhaa's Srinagar premiere cancelled". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ↑ "Protests in Kashmir as Lamhaa gears up for release". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- ↑ "'Lamhaa' banned in Middle East: Bunty Walia". MSN. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
- ↑ Roshmila Bhattacharya. "Bipasha Basu's film banned in Middle East". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 July 2010.