Starring: Naga Shaurya, Jagapathi Babu, Ketika Sharma, Sachin Khedekar
Director: Dheerendra Santhossh Jagarlapudi
Producers: Narayan Das Narang, Puskur Ram Mohan Rao, Sharrath Marar
Music Director: Kaala Bhairava
Cinematography: Raam
Editor: Junaid Siddiqui

iQlik Movies Rating: 2.5/5

Naga Shaurya is in the search of a big hit for a long time. Recently, he came up with Varudu Kavalenu but it ended up as an average venture at the box office. Now, he has come up with Lakshya, hoping to get that much-needed big success. The film had hit the screens today and here is the review of it.

Story:
Parthu (Naga Shaurya) is a young Archery player who upsets the national champion right in his debut year. The Indian Olympic Association gets impressed by Parthu's skills and requests him to participate in the qualifiers. However, the ex-national champion Rahul traps Parthu and makes him a sedative addict. Eventually, he also attacks Parthu and breaks the latter's right palm. All of a sudden, Parthu's career is shattered. How he bounced back and became a champion forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Naga Shaurya worked very hard for this role. He underwent a massive physical transformation and his efforts can be seen on the screen. He needs to be appreciated for his efforts and dedication but a poor story damaged his soulful performance.

Heroine Ketika Sharma is good and she acted decently in the core emotional scenes. She has a long way to go in the industry. Sachin Khedekar and Jagapathi Babu have done justice to their roles. Rest others were okay.

Technical Aspects:
Director Santhosh Jagarlapudi chose a typical sports-drama template for this story and the only unique thing in this film is archery, which is the least explored sport in Telugu cinema. The narrative is very bland and has been tried in films across the world numerous times.

Music by Kaala Bharaivaa is decent. Songs are not that effective but the background score has been composed well. The cinematography has been excellent and so are the production values. These two aspects brought a rich look to the film. The editing is sloppy though.

Review:
We have seen many sports dramas like Lakshya in the past, where a hero proves his talent but faces an obstacle in the first half. The second half is all about how he tackled those obstacles and proved to be victorious yet again. The director could have used his narrative more effectively to make the film engaging but he fails in doing so.

The first half is engaging and goes on the point from the beginning to the interval block. Things falter in the second half and all of a sudden, we get bored while watching the proceedings. On the whole, Lakshya remains a disappointment. It can be watched during a lazy weekend.

Plus Points:
Archery Backdrop
Rich Production Values
Naga Shaurya

Minus Points:
Stereotypical narration
Too much melodrama
Lack of realism

Final Verdict: Target went wrong completely.