Lekin...
- Studio
- Lata MangeshkarHridaynath Mangeshkar
- Release Date
- 11 October 1991
- Language
- Hindi
Review
Gulzar's *Lekin...* arrives as an ambitious supernatural romance that reaches for something genuinely poetic, even if the execution falters under the weight of its own ambition. The film's central conceit—a reincarnated soul drawn across centuries to complete an unfinished tragedy—carries undeniable emotional resonance, and there are moments where the period flashbacks achieve a haunting beauty that justifies the period-piece investment. Vinod Mehra brings a quiet melancholy to Sameer's gradual awakening, while Dimple Kapadia's ethereal presence as Reva embodies the tragic heroine with grace, even when the script asks her to do little more than materialize and suffer. The Rajasthani locations are used effectively to suggest both the mystical and the desolate, and the cinematography occasionally captures something genuinely atmospheric about a love story fractured across time.
Yet *Lekin...* struggles with pacing and narrative clarity in ways that dilute its supernatural drama. The film takes considerable time establishing Sameer's visions before the historical backstory emerges, and when it does, the tragic events unfold with such relentless bleakness—torture, imprisonment, a cruel king, a fatal sandstorm—that the accumulation begins to feel more like melodrama than tragedy. Girish Kasaravalli's direction shows control, but the film doesn't quite find the emotional center between Sameer's contemporary mystery and Reva's period nightmare; we're perpetually watching rather tha
Storyline
Sameer rolls into Rajasthan as a government officer tasked with cataloging some dusty old haveli, but things get weird fast when he starts seeing visions of a stunningly beautiful woman named Reva who keeps materializing and vanishing like she's not quite there. His old pal Shafi reassures him that spirits are totally real, and Sameer becomes obsessed with uncovering who this mystery woman is and why she keeps pulling him into her world. When Reva finally transports him into her past, Sameer witnesses a devastating story unfold—one of cruelty, desperate escape, and a love that transcends death itself.
Reva was trying to reunite with her sister Tara when the lecherous Maharaja Param Singh spotted Tara during a palace performance and decided she'd be his next conquest. Her music teacher Ustad Miraj Ali orchestrates an escape plan, but the vindictive king punishes everyone involved—he tortures Reva's father, imprisons her and Miraj Ali, and keeps her locked up for eight years waiting to assault her. When Reva finally breaks free with Miraj Ali's help and a guide named Mehru, the desert becomes her enemy instead—a brutal sandstorm kills her before she can reach safety, leaving her trapped between worlds, frozen in that moment of trauma and longing.
Here's where it hits different: Sameer discovers he's actually the reincarnation of Mehru, the selfless guide who died trying to save Reva, and their connection across lifetimes makes total sense now. Meanwhile, Tara actually made it across that desert and built a life, even had a daughter carrying her name forward—so while Reva's story ends in tragedy, her sister's doesn't, and somehow knowing that their family line continues feels like a small redemption. It's absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful, a love story that refuses to stay dead.