Pakistan. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the name of this country which was once a part of India? Hatred, Violence, Terrorism, War or Rivalry? If you think that Lahore is just another movie that is based on these feelings than you are terribly mistaken because is a multi-layered sports story that has been woven with a lot of care and conviction and full marks goes to debutante director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan who has the guts to not only entertain us for two hours, but also ask us one simple question to all Indians and Pakistanis out there. What kind of future does India and Pakistan want to give to its future generations? Of hatred or of peace?
The plot revolves around two brothers Dheerendra Singh(Sushant Singh) and Virendra Singh(Aanaahad) who are top players in their own field of sports. While Dheerendra is a top-notch kickboxer, Virendra is a classy batsman who plays for Delhi. Though, they are busy with their own sports schedule they have a strong bond that holds them together. Rao(Farouque Shaikh) is a Hyderabadi, straight-to-the-point type of coach for kick boxing who believes in fair play and giving opportunities to players purely on basis of their performance and determination, rather than political recommendations. However, inspite of political pressure and recommendation for a well established kick boxer Gajaanan(Kelly Dorji) Rao decides to take Dheerendra Singh for the Kuala Lumpur Kick Boxing Tournament based on his prior performance. Pakistan team which includes of coach Sikandar Hayaat Khan(Sabyasachi Chakravarthy) and his trump card player Noor Mohammed(Mukesh Rishi) and sports psychiatrist Ida(Shraddha Das) also arrive for the tournament and finally it’s an India-Pakistan final, where Dheerendra takes the upper hand throughout the match, but Noor’s ego and feelings of getting defeated by an Indian forces him to do go beyond fair play and he hits Dheerendra while he is not ready for the fight and the result is that Dheerendra dies of fatal injuries. The news soon rocks the entire India, but sports committee in Pakistan and Malaysia wrap up the news concluding it as an unfortunate accident. Dheerendra’s family and his fiancee Neela(Shraddha Nigam) is shattered to hear this, but Rao tries his best to speak out asking for justice, but fails to bring any change. Virendra decides to bring home the lost glory and convinces Rao to get his name registered for the next Quaid-e-Azam GoodWill Kick Boxing match in Lahore and he gets a good amount of support from Pakistani sport psychiatrist Ida who now admires and loves Virendra. How Virendra brings glory to India is wrapped up in a nail-biting kick boxing match that is a must-watch.
On a performance level, Farouque Shaikh is brilliant as a witty coach who does not take any crap from ministers and makes sure that the spirit of sport is kept alive. Debutant actor Aanaahad is very lucky to get such a powerful role in his very first film and he lives up to the expectations as well. Sushant Singh gives out a good performance in the first half of the film. Mukesh Rishi and Sabyasachi Chakravarthy come out with unbelievable performance to keep the level of movie high. The female actors in the movie, Nafisa Ali, Shraddha Das and Shraddha Nigam are good at supporting the movie. The music and background score by M.M. Kreem and Warne Sharpe are good and they blend well with the mood of the story, so you dont feel that the music is interrupting the flow of the movie. However, it is the camera work by Neelabh Kaul and Rolf Dekens that take all the credit with their superb cinematography, especially the fight scenes are extraordinary. The fights by Master Tony Leung Siu Hung are so good that you wont take your eyes off the screen. The movie has already won 4 international awards including the Special Jury Awards for Best Film at Houston International Film Festival.
Lahore is purely a sports film at one level that will appeal to all sports lovers, but there are many other hidden aspects that are brought to attention. The movie sneaks into the level of corruption that not only affects the career of good talented players that never get the credit they deserve, but how it also affects the ranking of a country at international sports level. Why a country like India with a population of 117 crores struggles to get one Olympic gold medal? The movie shows how double-standard some people in India and Pakistan are that they blabber about peace process on one end and than scratch the old wounds that only evokes feelings of hatred and enmity against each other and making games between India and Pakistan seem more like a war and less like a normal game. Lahore is a warning bell that educates the youth of both the countries that we should rise higher and work towards building a peaceful and better future rather than turning back and looking at the tormented history and mistakes of our country. To conclude, I would say that Lahore is neither a Gadar: Ek Prem Katha nor a Chak De India, but it is certainly a good movie that will creep inside your soul.