2 Movies Like Lakshya (2004)

Staff & contributors

, 2010

Good parents, of course, try to push their children to better outcomes, but abusive parents, under the guise of this idea, turn this into restrictive control, where failure is irredeemable, expectations become orders, and the said child is blamed for everything that goes wrong. Udaan depicts this fraught father-son relationship realistically. It’s a tough watch because of how realistic the abuse was portrayed, but the film soars with the way it doesn’t paint Rohan only as a victim, but rather as a boy able to find his way through empathy and kindness despite the terrible way his father treats him. There’s a sense of genuine hope Udaan has that many other films forget, and it’s an important perspective we should try to remember.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Aayan Boradia, Akshay Sachdev, Anand Tiwari, Jayanta Das, Manjot Singh, Raja Hudda, Rajat Barmecha, Ram Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Sanjay Gandhi, Shashi Sharma, Shaunak Sengupta, Varun Khettry, Vikas Kumar, Vikramaditya Motwane

Director: Vikramaditya Motwane

Rating: Not Rated, R

If you detest musicals, don’t watch Mohabbatein. The pacing is a tad too slow, the ensemble juggles way too many plotlines, and there are some strange editing choices that can distract from the film. But if you happen to be a musical fan, Mohabbatein has spectacular sequences, with excellent choreography, brilliant blocking, and insanely catchy songs. And it’s all in the service of a story that challenges the ways men approach romance, by embracing love without fear or regret, but with sincerity. Mohabbatein is not perfect– it certainly could be pared down– but it nonetheless makes excellent use of Bollywood tropes in such a novel way.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Amrish Puri, Anupam Kher, Archana Puran Singh, Helen, Hiten Patel, Jimmy Shergill, Jugal Hansraj, Kim Sharma, Parzaan Dastur, Preeti Jhangiani, Ram Mohan, Rushad Rana, Saurabh Shukla, Shah Rukh Khan, Shamita Shetty, Shefali Shah, Sindhu Tolani, Uday Chopra

Director: Aditya Chopra

Rating: PG