Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya completes 20 years, set to re-release in theatres

Farhan Akhtar’s war film Lakshya completed 20 years of its release, the makers announced on Tuesday. It will be re-released in theatres from June 21 to mark its 20-year anniversary. The film will be screened for the public in over 50 PVR INOX cinemas in more than 20 cities in India. Starring Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, and Om Puri, the film originally came out on June 18, 2004.

Directed by Farhan Akhtar and penned by his father, screenwriter-lyricist Javed Akhtar, Lakshya tells the story of a lost and aimless youngster Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan), who finds his purpose in life when he joins the Indian army.

The makers unveiled a trailer of the film that gives a glimpse into it, featuring some prominent scenes. They wrote in the caption, “Come, relive the journey of a film that ignited countless dreams and inspired generations. Celebrating 20 years of Lakshya, back in cinemas on 21st June.

Speaking about the film’s re-release in theatres, Farhan said, “There has been no greater reward than seeing the impact of this film on society and I thank all collaborators for putting their hearts and souls into its making. The re-release on this 20th milestone makes this anniversary all the more special for us and I hope, for the audience as well."

Hrithik shared a video recounting his experience of working in the film. He said, "I was the perfect human, not an actor, to be cast in the film. This is because I had been through all those experiences in very similar ways. Karan Shergil was me. I did not need to do much. The naivety, the the spontaneity, the anger, the Being on that cusp of maturity, learning the ways, being completely confused and dumbfounded as to what am I going to do in my life, not having any avenues that looked hopeful."

In the long video, he also revealed that Lakshya was the first time that he did sync-sound on a film and all the films he did until then had been dubbed. He praised Farhan's direction and called him a perfectionist as he added, "Farhan is just so precise. When I used to see the frames of Lakshya, it used to be satisfying because the Symmetry or the cleanliness of the lines and the thehraav (calmness) of each frame was so soothing. It was so soothing. And such a difficult film for Farhan to make."

The film also recounts the story of the 1999 Kargil war that broke out when some terrorists infiltrated the Indian border. It was Farhan’s second film as a director after Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and featured music composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.