Lamhaa

Lamhaa (transl. Moment) is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Rahul Dholakia. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Anupam Kher and Kunal Kapoor in the leading roles. The film follows an Indian Army officer sent undercover to find the culprit behind extremist attacks in Kashmir, where he is helped by the daughter of a separatist leader. The film released on 16 July 2010.

Lamhaa
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRahul Dholakia
Produced byBunty Walia
Juspreet Singh Walia
Screenplay byRahul Dholakia
StarringSanjay Dutt
Bipasha Basu
Anupam Kher
Kunal Kapoor
Music bySongs:
Mithoon
Background Score:
Sanjoy Chowdhury
Edited byAshmith Kunder
Akshay Mohan
Release date
  • 16 July 2010 (2010-07-16)
Running time
135 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Plot

Indian Military Intelligence assigns their agent, Vikram Sabharwal, to travel to Kashmir. There he is to locate the person(s) behind the violence, under the guise of a press reporter, Gul Jahangir. Once there, he begins his investigation by visiting highly sensitive areas as such as the Jama Masjid, Dardpura Village and Rainawari Chowk. He is accompanied by a tailor, Char Chinar, who sells uniforms to both militants and the underpaid military soldiers. Vikram meets up with Aziza Abbas Ansari, and her mentor, Haji Sayyed Shah, and aspiring political leader, Aatif Hussain. And it is after these meetings that he will conclude who is behind the extremism in this beautiful yet 'most dangerous place on Earth'.

Cast

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.

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."[11] 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."[12] 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."[13]

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."[14]

Soundtrack

The songs featured in the film are given by Mithoon with lyrics by Sayeed Quadri and Amitabh Varma.[15]

Track listing
No.TitleMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Madno Re"MithoonKshitij Tarey, Chinmayi8:26
2."Main Kaun Hoon"MithoonPalash Sen7:12
3."Rehmat Zara"MithoonMithoon, Mohammad Irfan Ali5:24
4."Sajnaa"MithoonMika Singh, Chinmayi8:26
5."Salaam Zindagi"MithoonMohammad Irfan Ali, Arun Daga, Saim Bhat6:56
6."Zameen O Aasmaan"MithoonKshitij Tarey5:53

Controversy

Lamhaa was banned in Pakistan and all 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.[16]

Earlier, the film's screening was cancelled in Kashmir[17] amid the tense atmosphere.[18] 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'."[19]

The Indian censor board passed the movie with an A certificate after two edits were made.[20]

Accolades
Award Ceremony Category Recipient Result Ref.(s)
3rd Mirchi Music Awards Upcoming Male Vocalist of The Year Mohammed Irfan - "Salaam Zindagi" Nominated [21]
Song representing Sufi tradition "Rehmat Zara"
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References
  1. "Movie Details: Lamhaa". amcentertainment.com. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  2. Vickey Lalwani. "Darr!". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  3. Subhash K Jha. "Safe sets?". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
  4. Subhash K Jha. ""We can't understand why Bipasha left the shoot suddenly" – Bunty Walia". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  5. Subhash K Jha. "Come back, Guys!". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  6. Vickey Lalwani. "Will Bipasha lose out to Vidya?". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  7. Runna Ashish Bhutda. "Back to Kashmir!". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  8. Subhash K Jha. "Bipasha returns to Kashmir for Lamhaa under tight security arrangements". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  9. Kunal M Shah. "Stress-busted". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  10. "My fake slum toilet made people puke". Tehelka. 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  11. Verma, Sukanya. "Lamhaa: One of the Best Kashmir films so far". Rediff. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  12. Parasara, Noyon Jyoti. "Lamhaa – Movie Review". AOL India. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  13. Kazmi, Nikhat (15 July 2010). "Lamhaa: Movie Review". Times of India. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  14. Shekhar, Mayank. "Review: Lamhaa". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  15. "Lamhaa – Music Review". 12 June 2010.
  16. "Lamhaa banned in UAE for objectionable content". FilmyFair. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  17. "Lamhaa's Srinagar premiere cancelled". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  18. "Protests in Kashmir as Lamhaa gears up for release". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  19. "'Lamhaa' banned in Middle East: Bunty Walia". MSN. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  20. Roshmila Bhattacharya. "Bipasha Basu's film banned in Middle East". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  21. "Nominees - Mirchi Music Award Hindi 2010". 30 January 2011. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
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