Lakshyam is a revenge drama complete with the trademark smirk and imposing physique of Gopichand.
A journalist father (Kota); an almost invisible mother; a righteous cop (Jagapthi Babu), his homely wife (Kalyani), and their little daughter, and a happy go lucky young son (Gopichand) make for a charmingly functional family. As a part of the media the father covers events fearlessly. And the cop-son fights injustice equally intrepidly. The righteous cop takes up the challenge of catching a dreaded criminal: Shankar (Yashal Sharma). Shankar's business is settling land disputes in his own way with scant regard for the law of the land. His favorite modus operandi is to kill anybody that comes in his way and report to the police immediately after the incident that the deceased had attacked him. Of course he has the DIG of police as a partner in his criminal activities for a share in the illegal earnings.
Shankar takes a loan of 1000 millions from a bank. When the payment falls due he decides to eliminate the bank chairman. Once the chairman is killed, the manager fails to convince the public of the disappearance of the cash. Jagapati Babu knows that the bank manager is innocent and wants to save him. While he cajoles and tries to extract the names of people involved in the scam from the bank manager, Shankar strikes. Can Jagapati Babu fight Shankar alone? Does he get help from his younger brother Gopichand? Where is the revenge factor? Find out.
If Lashyam sounds like a Jagapati Babu's movie, be informed that it's not. It's essentially a Gopichand movie with Jagapati Babu playing a vital role. Parallel to the crime fighting story of Jagapati Babu, Gopichand has a romance track interspersed with comedy. And during the second half Gopichand becomes a one-man army.
The opening scene of the movie Lakshyam is about when 75% of the story is complete. Then the narration goes back to the beginning of the story and runs till the opening scene. After which the remaining 25% is added as the ending part. That's refreshing. The debutant director Srivas has mixed it like a professional. He has been able to create curiosity in the opening scene itself. A decked up bride running away from her marriage function, the hero escaping from the clutches of the police and shooting the DIG of police on the tip-off given by an inspector of police; these all heighten the curiosity of the viewer.
The story is nothing new. But the treatment is slightly different, though not entirely unique. Credit should be given to the director for making two stars comfortable with their share of screen times.
The glamour factor in the movie is sustained by the flawless beauty Anushka.
The ending is not as intense as it should have been. The plot gets typical in the second half. Both these factors contribute to the movie being a slightly above average fare. But full marks to Jagapati Babu, Gopichand, and Anushka.