Lakshya

Lakshya (“Target”) is a 2021 Telugu sports drama written and directed by Santhossh Jagarlapudi and produced by Sri Venkateswara Cinemas and Northstar Entertainment, with Naga Shaurya as a gifted archer. Jagapathi Babu, Ketika Sharma and Sachin Khedekar co-star, and Kaala Bhairava composed the music. It was released in cinemas on 10 December 2021.

What the story is about

Pardhu has been a natural archer since childhood. His grandfather spots the talent and spends everything he has to get him into the best archery academy in Hyderabad, and Pardhu soon becomes state champion and falls in love with Rithika. Then his grandfather dies, and in his grief Pardhu slides into drug addiction, and he later realises that someone deliberately engineered his fall. Suspended amid doping allegations and abandoned by those close to him, he finds an unlikely mentor in Parthasaradhi, an old friend of his father, who pushes him to fight his way back.

Cast and crew

• Naga Shaurya as Pardhu
• Jagapathi Babu as Parthasaradhi
• Ketika Sharma as Rithika
• Sachin Khedekar as Krishna, Pardhu’s grandfather
• Shatru as Rahul and Satya as Bala, Pardhu’s friend
• Ravi Prakash as Pardhu’s father and Kireeti Damaraju as Rajesh

Writer and director: Santhossh Jagarlapudi. Production: Sri Venkateswara Cinemas and Northstar Entertainment. Music and score: Kaala Bhairava. Runtime: 152 minutes.

Making the film

Known during production as NS20, the film began shooting on 16 September 2020; its title, Lakshya, was announced on 30 November 2020, and filming wrapped on 30 August 2021.

Reviews

Thadhagath Pathi of The Times of India gave it three out of five, calling it “an interesting sports drama with minor flaws” and crediting the director for avoiding “jingoism or unnecessary commercial elements”. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu praised Naga Shaurya and the archery backdrop but found the film slow and predictable, its only engaging factor “archery, a sport we haven’t explored in films”. Ram Venkat Srikar of The New Indian Express put it neatly: the film “surely has the focus”, but like its hero, the script “falls prey to predictability”.

Where to watch Lakshya

Lakshya has been streaming on Aha since 7 January 2022 (checked against the platform’s own listing). Availability can vary by region and subscription.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Lakshya (2021 film) and the reviews it cites, linked above; Aha’s listing; our own cast and crew records.