A Saga Of Missed Shots
Col Satish Singh Lalotra
Slalotra4729@gmail.com
Most of mankind’s earliest quest evolved around activities and equipment that were synonymous with survival of self, since self-preservation was the only way forward to further propagate his progeny in an atmosphere that was marked by the age old dictum of ‘survival of the fittest’. Incidentally these activities later took on the name of ‘war and battles’ with the former relating to a much more widespread clashes often spread across the continents and the later localized to a particular place. India being at the cross roads of civilizations was no exception to this phenomenon of ‘clashes of arms’ from times of yore. ‘Sanjay’ of ‘Mahabharta’ fame who was the advisor to blind king Dhritrashtra’ shall go into the hall of fame as responsible for virtual relaying of the events as they occurred live on the battlefield of ‘Kurukshetra’ to his blind king. A unique feat that has no equals to this day even after passage of thousands of years. Though India has fought countless wars and battles during ancient, mediaeval, Mughal and colonial times spanning right till today, the courage and bravado that went into each and every action has not been recorded properly in any visual form, though written records abound many. It is a given thing that a human mind records and interprets a visual much faster and better as compared to a written account. Hence the paramount need to record visuals of any action as and when they happened for posterity. At the same time it is also understood that not all happenings which were recorded in a written form can be reproduced in a visual format; there will be always the inevitable gap of written accounts vis a vis visuals of a particular incident. Much more about it later as to how to bridge this gap while recording an all too important military expedition or action as it occurred.
The present write up of mine has been drawn primarily from the background of yet to be released war movie-‘Border-2’ that promises to be much more bolder, broader in concept, and also a sequel to its predecessor ‘Border’ that was released way back in 1997. Starring the same old cast albeit with some changes in the actors and the roles they play , ‘Border-2’ will have to be seen on the silver screens of the country when released on 22 January 2026 coinciding with the Republic Day to draw any conclusion as to whether Indian cinema has really matured in the last 28 years since the release of its predecessor to produce a war movie of real worth. Or is it again couched in the age old matrix of half-truths and half Bollywood masala. ‘Border-2’ movie holds all the more importance since it is being produced in the interregnum/pause that was afforded to the producers of movie having the advantage of hindsight of 1999 Kargil war , the first ever televised war beamed straightway into the drawing rooms of Indians. War movies hold a special place in Indian history and imagination -from the valour of 1962 ( Haqeqkat- Battle of Rezang La ) , 1965 and 1971 ( Hindustan ki kasam) to Kargil ( Lakshya) & Shershah, 2021 the list is endless to satiate the cinematic palate of Indian cine goers. But are they being fed with truths of these wars? Does Bollywood stand any remote chance of comparison when it comes to producing epic war movies with famed Hollywood? International bestselling war movies like ‘Dam Busters’ of 1955 based on 617 RAF squadron undertaking ‘OP Chastise’ in 2 WW , or the ‘Bridge too far’ reflecting the paradox of ‘OP Market Garden’ and even the nerve wrecking ‘Tora Tora Tora’ replicating the visual action at Pearl Harbour undertaken by imperial Japanese navy in 2 WW are a legend in themselves. What ails our desi Bollywood to square up to the challenges of producing epic wars movies? Most of our epic war movies have either turned into a damp squib on the silver screens or worst peddled a false bravado that stood no chance of passing muster from the cine goers of India.
Though there are dime a dozen problems with which our desi Bollywood is beset with while producing war movies, nonetheless some major flaws that seem to be obvious are recounted in this write up of mine. Firstly the age old dictum of Bollywood to place ‘Formula over authenticity’ should be curbed with a heavy hand. How can a movie maker treat a real war or battle costing lives with his set piece formula of dance and song numbers, exaggerated heroism and melodrama often overshadowing the real grit and grime of combat , strategy and sacrifice? One of the biggest problems that plagues the Bollywood when it comes to making war movies is related to ‘weak research’ and ‘technical detailing’. It would be a big shock for the readers to know that while making the world famous movie -‘Dam Bursters’ Hollywood producers conducted extensive research into actual ‘OP Chastise’ , including the inventions of the ‘bouncing bomb’ by Sir Barnes Wallis , the modifications of Avro Lancaster bombers, and training of 617 RAF Squadron. They utilized reports and technical details from the original operation, including on Barnes Wallis, and the BRS (British bombing research). The team also recreated models and used real world settings like the ‘Derwent reservoir’ for testing and even borrowed RAF Lancasters and pilots for filming. Pheew, can our Bollywood movie makers have that much of mettle to make a real war movie of the same genre? Authentic locations, accurate ranks, meticulous focus on uniforms, battlefield tactics, and military jargon are often overlooked, which renders viewing a war movie of Indian genre an insipid experience.
Limited budgets and visual effects that ask for large scale battle sequences, demand heavy investment in props, practical stunts and the like .Indian studios , wary of risk often allocate modest budgets, leading to outdated and minimal actions ,which further reduces cinematic punch that could carry the war movie on its shoulders. Since many of the cinema goers of younger generation are now fairly educated about such wars and battles that shaped the destiny of our country, any scriptwriting gaps, and human stories set against the backdrop of such actions is quickly captured by such an informed audience who go to the theaters armed with such advance info. This informed audience then becomes the spring board for spreading the quick word of worth or otherwise of such a war movie. Since a half-baked script fails to balance patriotism, with layered character arcs, moral dilemmas, and political context minus the required depth, such war movies become one -note tributes rather than moving narratives. It would be of real interest to the readers of this article to know that during the famous ‘Battle of Longewala’ in 1971, the role of artillery/ Mortars wielded by a light regiment which was the first support arm aka ‘first responders’ (even before the IAF) to come to the aid of the beleaguered company of Punjab regiment sadly doesn’t find even mention in this epic saga both officially as well as cinematically. What more tragedy can befall a cinematic genre of a country that fails to project its true heroes in one such epic cum heroic resistance though its audio-visual mode? Great war films are not only about battles, but about human beings caught in them. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ focused on a rescue mission, similarly ‘Dunkirk’ captured survival. Films like ‘Lakshya’ of 2004 starring Hriithik Roshan as an aimless young man finding his call by joining the Indian army blended a personal ‘coming of age’ with a credible military story. But then such genres are far and few that carry themselves on the weight of their own ‘cinematic convictions’ in India.
Films based on real operations need clearance from the MOD or individual units which took part in that particular action which can circumcise or limit creative freedom in film making and take out the real punch that would have kept the audience gasping on the edge of their seats in the movie -theater. Film makers may further feel hamstrung, by self-censoring, fearing controversy over sensitive subjects like cross border terrorism or internal security that may be still be in operation. But I suppose in such a trying situation, the film makers ought to stick to the actuals, since they become the mouth pieces of what happened in a particular battle or skirmish. As if this not enough , there are very few Indian directors barring a miniscule who specialize in making war movies. Film makers like JP Dutta (Border, LOC Kargil) showed interest, but the genre did not evolve beyond him for years. Most Indian directors are guided by the safer route of commercial film making like rom-coms, thrillers, or crime dramas etc. In such a dismal scenario what is the way forward? With the environment in India still suffused with the after effects of ‘OP Sindoor’ is it not the apt moment to capture this rare ‘national sentiment’ by the film makers and let go any inhibitions in replicating this ‘national sentiment’ on the silver screens of India? I am quite sanguine that if the under mentioned steps are kick started in the right earnest, days are not far when Indian film makers will be the byword for specializing in war movies-
* Prioritize authenticity-Collaborate with retired officers, war historians, defence experts , the units that took part in the operations with a detailed study of the war diaries maintained by these units, and pay visits to the area if possible where these battles were fought as also get into the nitty gritty of the actions from the very start.
* Invest in scripts— Focus on human stories, not just battle sequences. The soldier’s journey is as important as the mission.
* Increase budgets-Treat war cinema as prestigious projects worth large investments and not as side ventures.
* Use technology wisely-Adopt modern VFX (visual effects), but blend it with practical stunts and real locations as mentioned by me above.
* Celebrate lesser known battles-Beyond the usual wars that India fought, there are countless untold tales of skirmishes, face offs-like the famous 1967 Nathu La Cho La clashes, the longest battle India is still engaged with viz OP Meghdoot ( Siachen glacier) , IPKF in Sri Lanka, CI/CT operations in both J&K and the NE, UN peace keeping missions across the globe, and lastly the intense Para military actions against the Maoists in the hinterland in the last few years.
* Encourage OTT collaborations-Platforms like the Netflix & Amazon prime are willing to fund bold, research driven projects without the compulsions of song -dance. Why not make use of these platforms?
No other country as India is suffused with tales of bravado and military heroism in the world as it cast its fate on the anvil of countless battles and skirmishes with foreign marauders to safeguard its national frontiers and pride. But the foremost need is to show case the same on the silver screen with all the attendant sound and fury as it happened then. I am quite sure the coming ‘Border-2’ movie next January shall move beyond melodrama , invest in authenticity and daring that its producer JP Dutta is known for.
(The writer is a retired army officer)
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