"Lakshya" may have got a tepid response from Indian critics, but Farhan Akhtar's idealistic war epic seems to have caught the attention of cinema experts abroad.

Traditionally, war films made in India do not succeed abroad. But "Lakshya" seems to have broken the jinx.

Time magazine correspondent Alex Perry has called it "the first mainstream Indian movie capable of holding its own against virtually any summer smash from Bollywood."

Hrithik Roshan too has come in for his share of praise. Writes Perry, "Roshan, with his self-deprecating humor and subtle emotional depth, sets a new standard for the industry."

Confirms Akhtar, "It's doing very, very well in the US, surprisingly well, I'd say. I can't say I'm not disappointed with the film's performance in India. I definitely thought it would do better. Both my producer, Ritesh Sidhwani, and I are trying to figure out why the film didn't work in India as well as we expected."

He feels the press in India was evenly divided. "We got both good and bad reviews. A lot of the ferocious flak came from within the film industry."

However, Akhtar is sure that the film will make a neat, if not an astronomical, profit in every territory.

For now, he is leaving on a well-earned holiday abroad, "to write my next script, to figure out my next move, and to get back my groove".

He goes leaving several questions unanswered.

If a polished product like "Lakshya" fails to get the ovation at home that it's expected to, and if a crudely assembled film like "Garv" finds wider acceptance, what will the visionaries, the movers and the shakers of Hindi cinema do?

Opines Akhtar, "I think more and more filmmakers from my ilk would target their films at the overseas market."