Rating: * * * *

Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa is certainly worth the excitement it has been creating for the last many months. As Bipasha Basu rightly put it in one of her interviews, Dholakia's Lamhaa brings to light the fact that Kashmir is more than just a political crisis. The beauty of Lamhaa lies in its all encompassing character. It captures human emotions, strife, conflict, manipulations and vested interests in great vividness. However, that also becomes one of its failings because there is too much to see and absorb in too little time. Having said that, Lamhaa still is a winner all the way.

Whether it is young children shouting Aayi Aayi Lashkar Aayi, Bharat Teri Kaut  Aayi who have been proselytized into following terrorism, or women looking for their absconding men, or ISI and Pakistan using the British policy of divide and rule and turning our own people against us, or for that matter the India militia treating the innocent and guilty all in the same measure, Lamhaa projects all the issues, agendas and problems plaguing Kashmir in a very balanced manner not siding with anyone.

The other thing that will work in the favour of Lamhaa will be powerful dialogues and powerful performances. All actors seem to have embraced their roles and characters in all earnestness. Sanjay Dutt as always looks very comfortable, it’s like every role comes very effortlessly to the actor. It is exciting to see Anupam Kher in a significant and powerful role after a long time. Kunal Kapoor too doles out an impacting performance as a radicalist who seeks freedom through peace. The surprise and most endearing package of Lamhaa is Bipasha Basu. If you only associated her with oomph, chances are your perception about Bips is about to change forever.