Combining
sports
and
politics
is
not
an
easy
thing
to
do.
But
then
it's
not
that
difficult
either
considering
the
two
are
inextricably
intertwined
specially
in
the
Asian
sub-continent
where
Pakistani
cricketers
are
forbidden
from
participating
in
Indian
sports
events
and
Indians
don't
get
visas
to
visit
across
the
border.
Debutant
director
Sanjay
Puran
Singh
Chauhan
dares
to
visit
the
forbidden
territory.
Lahore
is
about
sports
and
politics
and
characters
from
both
the
spheres
getting
embroiled
in
a
terrible
fight
to
finish.
The
script
accommodates
a
great
deal
of
the
sporting
spirit
as
seen
in
the
perspective
of
Indo-Pak
politics.
Within
that
ambitious
framework
Chauhan
weaves
in
the
human
relationships
that
make
a
leap
for
warmth
and
then
stay
stuck
in
semi-sterility.
The
film
has
too
much
to
say
on
sports,
politics
and
human
nature.
It
isn't
able
to
say
all
of
it
in
a
lucid
language.
Chauhan
has
chosen
a
unique
sport
like
kickboxing
to
spotlight
the
process
of
cultural
assimilation
that
underscores
all
the
perverse
politicking
that
goes
on
at
the
surface
level
between
the
two
countries.
The
Indian
and
Pakistani
coaches
played
by
Farouq
Shaikh
and
Sabyasachi
Chakavarty
are
seen
to
be
sportingly
at
loggerheads,
a
bit
like
the
coaches
in
Yashraj
Films'
Dil
Bole
Hadippa,
though
Lahore
takes
the
spirit
of
sportsmanship
across
the
border
with
more
seriousness
of
purpose.
In
the
boxing
ring
the
game
gets
deadly
when
the
Indian
kickboxing
champion
Sushant
Singh
is
delivered
a
deadly
blow
by
his
Pakistani
opponent.
A
churning-point
in
the
narrative
arrived
at
in
restrained
rhythms.
This
is
where
Chauhan's
narratives
comes
into
its
own.
The
dilemma
of
the
deceased
kickboxer's
younger
brother
Veeru
(newcomer
Aanaahad)
to
preserve
his
sporting
spirit
in
the
midst
of
high-voltage
mutually-destructive
Indo-Pak
politics
is
built
into
the
plot
with
architectural
astuteness.
Not
all
of
the
material
outside
the
central
conflict
where
Veeru
forsakes
cricket
to
pursue
his
slain
brother's
dream
in
the
kickboxing
arena,
works
on
the
scripting
level.
Does
Veeru
only
want
to
use
the
boxing
ring
to
avenge
his
brother's
death?
Though
the
characters
falter
in
quantitative
excess,
the
opposition
of
sports
and
politics
and
politics
in
sports
is
put
into
a
persuasive
perspective.
The
rest
of
drama
tends
to
get
tedious
mainly
because
there
are
too
many
characters
swarming
the
Indo-Pak
map.
We
see
people
from
both
countries
trooping
in
to
scarcely
record
their
presence
in
the
plot
before
dissolving
in
the
unresolved
space
that
occupies
the
No
Man's
Land.
Veeru's
romantic
attachment
to
the
Pakistani
girl
(newcomer
Shraddha
Das)
is
skirted
across
in
a
few
scenes
where
they
exchange
veiled
pleasantries.
Passion
is
seriously
forfeited
in
the
flurry
of
squeezing
in
a
large
canvas
of
characters.
It's
in
the
kickboxing
scenes
that
the
film
exudes
blood
sweat
and
tears.
The
debutant
Aanahaad
and
his
opponent
Mukesh
Rishi
reveal
a
skill
in
the
ring
that
cannot
leave
the
audience
unaffected.
The
newcomer
does
well
in
the
sports
scenes
but
needs
to
brush
up
his
skills
in
the
emotional
moments.
Of
the
rest
of
the
cast
Nafisa
Ali,
Ashish
Vidyarthi,
the
late
Nirmal
Pandey
and
several
other
talented
actors
are
wasted
in
sketchy
roles.
The
film's
surface
is
over-populated.
But
its
inner
life
suggests
a
sincerity
of
purpose.
Wayne
Sharpe's
background
score
and
Neelabh
Kaul's
cinematography
are
first-rate.
They
add
to
the
feeling
of
a
film
that
goes
beyond
sports,
but
stops
short
of
making
a
statement
on
life
lived
on
the
border
of
hostility.
Lahore
is
not
only
about
kick-boxing.
At
times
you
wish
it
was.
Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2010, 12:24 [IST]