Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl | |
---|---|
![]() Netflix release poster | |
Directed by | Sharan Sharma |
Written by | Nikhil Mehrotra Sharan Sharma |
Produced by | Karan Johar Hiroo Yash Johar Apoorva Mehta Zee Studios |
Starring | Janhvi Kapoor Pankaj Tripathi Angad Bedi |
Cinematography | Manush Nandan |
Edited by | Nitin Baid |
Music by | Score: John Stewart Eduri Songs: Amit Trivedi |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 112 minutes [2] |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film, directed by Sharan Sharma and produced under Dharma Productions and Zee Studios. The film stars Janhvi Kapoor as Indian Air Force pilot Gunjan Saxena, one of the first women to fly in a combat zone, alongside Pankaj Tripathi and Angad Bedi in supporting roles. [3]
Principal photography commenced in February 2019 and was wrapped up in October; it was extensively filmed across Lucknow. [4] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was unable to release theatrically and was picked up for distribution by Netflix. [5] [6] It was released globally on 12 August 2020. [1]
At the 66th Filmfare Awards, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl received 8 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Sharma), Best Actress (Kapoor) and Best Supporting Actor (Tripathi).
Beginning in Lucknow, 1984, the story begins with young Gunjan Saxena in a flight along with her older brother, Anshuman. Gunjan wants to look out of the airplane window, but Anshuman doesn't let her. A kind air hostess tends to the problem and takes Gunjan to the cockpit. Looking at the cockpit immediately sparks a desire in her mind to become a pilot as she feels enthusiastic about the plane's features.
A few years later, Gunjan is congratulated for her academic excellence with her proud parents, Anup and Kirti, were planning to send her to high school. Gunjan, however wants to drop out of high school to become a pilot. Anshuman, her brother feels that women should not be in the cockpit, but in kitchen making food for the family, but her father strongly disagrees. A firm believer of gender equality, he allows Gunjan to experiment with her desire to become a pilot. Gunjan makes multiple attempts, but these are thwarted by concerns regarding her educational qualifications and high costs, causing her to return home dejected each time. While her parents differ in their outlook towards her dream, with her mother hoping her daughter would soon be wary and Anup insistent on allowing his daughter to pursue her dreams relentlessly, an advertisement in a newspaper for acceptance into the Indian Air Force provides Gunjan just the right opportunity for making an effort to enter the air force. Anshuman, who is himself serving in the army, completely disapproves and tells Gunjan that the Air Force isn't a place for women. She, however, ignores him, and goes ahead with the formalities, later finding out on the day of the results that she is the only female who got accepted.
During her medical tests, Gunjan learns that she is one centimeter too short and seven kilograms too much for the Air Force requirements. She is devastated by this, but learns that she can take a retest in two weeks, and discusses it with Anup, who asks her not to give up, and together they come up with a workout regime to lose weight. Across the retest, she still falls short on the height criterion, but the officers conclude that the length of her hands and legs would compensate for it, and accept her into the force. However, while Anup and Kirti are unable to contain their pride, Anshuman still remains in denial of his sister's dedication, but Gunjan decides to ignore his reservations and commences training. During her training, she finds herself subjected to several harsh realities and inconveniences due to the male-dominated order of the air force, and contemplates leaving the camp, when a crisis situation causes her to reconsider when, in 1999, the Kargil war begins, and all Air Force pilots are needed. Gunjan is determined to take part in the war, and despite Anshuman meeting her and dissuading her from participation, disregards his reservations yet again. She finds herself badly needed in a mission and proceeds with it, but is then ordered to abort because the mission is too difficult for her. She reluctantly resigns to the camp. Suddenly, news of army soldiers being heavily wounded in the battle arrives, and it is up to her to save them.
Gunjan and another pilot take separate helicopters and go over to aid the injured soldiers. Back at the camp, army soldiers ask her to abort the mission but regardless of their opinion, she proceeds. Suddenly, as the other helicopter gets shot down from an RPG attack, Gunjan rescues the other pilot and the wounded soldiers and successfully completes a risky maneuver, despite being exposed to bullets herself. After the mission and the war, she earns the respect by her fellow male soldiers and is rewarded with bravery and makes Anshuman and Anup proud.
Principal photography for the film was commenced in February 2019, with the film being extensively shot at Lucknow. [4] The film's shooting, despite being continued for three months, came to halt in May 2019, citing the bad weather, [8] but later resumed the same month. The first schedule of the film was completed on 24 May 2019. [9]
While the team planned to shoot few scenes at London on July, the team planned to change the location to Georgia. [10] The team planned to shoot some sequences high altitude regions of Georgia in the north eastern part of the country in a town called Kazbegi. The town is a mountainous area set over 5700 feet above sea level. Both Janhvi Kapoor and Angad Bedi have shot the sequences for maintaining fitness for their roles, being accompanied by coach Brinston Miranda. [11] Shooting of the film was wrapped up on 29 December 2019. [12]
Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by | |||||
Released | 3 August 2020 [13] | ||||
Recorded | 2019 | ||||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
Length | 25:24 | ||||
Language | Hindi | ||||
Label | Zee Music Company | ||||
Amit Trivedi chronology | |||||
| |||||
|
The film's music was composed by Amit Trivedi while lyrics were written by Kausar Munir.
No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Bharat Ki Beti" | Arijit Singh, Arhaan Hussain, Rohan Vaidya, Harshavardhan Gore, Rashi Harmalkar, Shanana Shome, Ahana Goyal | 4:20 |
2. | "Asmaan Di Pari" | Jyoti Nooran | 3:52 |
3. | "Dori Tutt Gaiyaan" | Rekha Bhardwaj | 3:51 |
4. | "Dhoom Dhadaka" | Sukhwinder Singh | 3:12 |
5. | "Rekha O Rekha" | Nakash Aziz | 3:38 |
6. | "Mann Ki Dori" (Male) | Armaan Malik | 3:35 |
7. | "Mann Ki Dori" (Female) | Palak Muchhal | 2:56 |
Total length: | 25:24 |
Gunjan Saxena’s coursemate Sreevidya Rajan posted on facebook claiming she was the first woman pilot to fly in Kargil, even before Gunjan came to Srinagar. She said they were both posted at Udhampur, however Rajan was sent to the deployment at Srinagar when the conflict started, and flew missions in the conflict area. Saxena came to Srinagar with the next crew few days later, and they participated in the operations together. Retired Wing Commander Namrita Chandi also said that it was not Gunjan, but Sreevidya Rajan who was the first lady pilot who flew to Kargil, and said that credit was being taken away. Rajan said she had never claimed credit because of her strong belief in gender equality. [14] She also stated that heroic acts may have been shown as part of cinematic licence.
Replying to the claims, Saxena said that she and Rajan were not stationed together at Srinagar during the Kargil operations, nor did they fly together. During a media interaction arranged by the IAF towards the end of the Kargil conflict, Saxena's name was projected as the first woman to fly for the IAF in a combat zone. She was credited with the same in headlines, articles and the Limca Book of Records. [15]
Authorities in the Indian Air Force (IAF) wrote a letter to the Central Board of Film Certification over the alleged "undue negative portrayal" of the IAF personnel. Pointing out that IAF was the first branch of Indian Armed Forces to recruit female officers in the force, the IAF said that they have a gender-neutral workforce and do not propagate gender biases in their service. [16] IAF claimed that Johar had agreed to represent it with authenticity and "make all efforts to ensure that the film helps inspire the next generation of IAF Officers." [17] Certain scenes and dialogues in the film and its trailer were shown to have projected the IAF in bad light. [18] Many ex-army officers expressed similar concerns. [17] A lady officer and helicopter pilot of the same batch, Wing Commander Namrita Chandi also remarked that the makers had exaggerated the gender conflict. [19] [20] Wing Commander Deepa Nailwal also stated the same. [21] Later, the Defense Ministry also raised concerns over the gender disparity shown in the film. [22]
Defending the portrayal of gender bias in the film, Saxena clarified that the "bias is not at an organizational level", and added that "Since the bias is not at an organizational level, the experiences of different woman officers would be different. To deny it completely speaks of a feudal mindset and undermines the grit of women officers". [23]
Following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl was subject to a campaign targeted against the film and its producer Karan Johar for supporting nepotism by casting Janhvi Kapoor, daughter of actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, in the film. [17] In a teaser poster announcing the film's release date on Netflix, Johar and Dharma Productions were not mentioned. Commentators believed this was due to the nepotism allegations. [24]
The film was scheduled to release theatrically on 13 March 2020, and was later postponed to 24 April 2020. [25] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film's theatrical release was put on hold. The film's digital streaming rights were acquired by Netflix. On 9 June 2020, Netflix released a teaser video introducing Gunjan Saxena and also announcing the film's release date. [26] The film was premiered on the streaming platform on 12 August 2020. [1]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. [27] The film was received well in review from critics. Renuka Vyavahare of The Times Of India gave the film 4/5 and wrote "Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl is a deeply moving tale of a feminist father and his feisty daughter. It wages war against patriarchal mind-set and discrimination, and identifies it as a bigger threat to progress than the one we perhaps tackled in 1999". [28] Geetika Mantri of The News Minute gave the film a rating of 4/5 and wrote "The film makes you uncomfortable and emotional without obnoxious jingoism that’s common in army films". [29] Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave the film 4 stars out of 5, and found the film to be a "deeply moving account of a remarkable woman's heartbreaks and soaring triumph". [30] Stutee Ghosh of The Quint gave the film a rating of 4/5 and wrote "The real, steady moments where the film shines are in the emotional scenes, stripped of melodrama. An intensely emotional tale told with restraint, Gunjan Saxena seals a place in our hearts". [31] Pooja Prabbhan of The Free Press Journal gave the film a rating of 4/5 and wrote "Gunjan Saxena makes for an impressive watch with a storyline which highlights misogyny that triggers feelings of angst". [32]
Divyanshi Sharma of India Today gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "The Kargil Girl is named as cleverly as it is written. The film is first about Gunjan Saxena’s journey, and then about her contribution to the Kargil War". [33] Vaibhavi V Risbood of Pinkvilla gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "Gunjan Saxena is a film that must be appreciated and acknowledged for telling a story that will inspire us in many ways – to dream a dream, fight for it, and fight against all the odds". [34] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated it 3.5 out of 5 lauded Tripathi's performance and praised the film for sparing audience a "spectacle of ungainly chest-thumping" and for presenting "good old touching tale of a girl who dared to break free from her cage and fly away –a heroine we can cheer without resorting to a blood-curdling war cry". [35] Mayank Shekhar of the Mid-Day gave the film a rating of 3.5/5. [36]
Aishwarya Vasudevan of Dna India gave the film a rating of 3/5 and wrote "Pankaj Tripathi is the show stealer as a feminist father in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl". [37] Bollywood Hungama gave the film a rating of 3/5 and wrote "Gunjan Saxena is a well narrated tale of female war hero of India.Despite some minuses, the flick would touch a chord especially with family audience". [38] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Janhvi Kapoor does get better as she goes along, but performance-wise, she is still clearly a work-in-progress. She was excellent in her small part in Ghost Stories, and going by that, I was expecting more". [39]
Rohan Naahar of The Hindustan Times stated "Janhvi Kapoor and Pankaj Tripathi’s film is a refreshing change of pace for war films in India, which have forever been defined by whatever JP Dutta does". [40] Kennith Rosario of The Hindu stated "Narrated in a tried-and-tested three-act structure, ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’ makes ordinariness and familiar storytelling its strengths". [41] Mike McCahill of The Guardian praised Kapoor's portrayal of Saxena. [42]
Award [a] | Date of ceremony [b] | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Filmfare Awards | 27 March 2021 | Best Film | Dharma Productions, Zee Studios | Nominated | [43] |
Best Director | Sharan Sharma | ||||
Best Actress | Janhvi Kapoor | ||||
Best Supporting Actor | Pankaj Tripathi | ||||
Best Female Playback Singer | Palak Muchhal for "Mann Ki Dori" | ||||
Best Production Design | Aditya Kanwar | ||||
Best Sound Design | Ali Merchant | ||||
Best Special Effects | Jayesh Vaishnav | ||||
Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Yash Johar in 1979. It was taken over in 2004, after his death, by his son, Karan Johar. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and distributes Hindi films.
Run is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language romantic action film directed and photographed by Jeeva. It stars Abhishek Bachchan and Bhumika Chawla. It is a remake of a 2002 Tamil film of the same name for which Jeeva worked as a cinematographer. The film was produced by Boney Kapoor and Sridevi under the banner Sridevi Productions.
Angad Singh Bedi is an Indian actor and former model. He made his debut with Kaya Taran in 2004, an adaptation of a Malayalam short story by N. S. Madhavan, Vanmarangal Veezhumpol . He has acted in the film F.A.L.T.U in 2011 and known for his roles in Pink (2016), Dear Zindagi (2016) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017).
Pankaj Tripathi born as Pankaj Tiwari, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi films and series. He is the recipient of two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. After studying acting at the National School of Drama, Tripathi had minor roles in such films as Omkara (2006) and Agneepath (2012), and had a supporting role in the television series Powder (2010).
Vineet Kumar Singh is an Indian actor and writer known for his strong portrayal of an aspiring boxer Shravan Kumar Singh in Mukkabaaz (2018). An M.D. in Ayurveda from Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, Vineet began his acting career at the age of 21 with the movie Pitaah (2002). After few series of performances in his early career including the 2010 film City of Gold, he got noticed for his role in films like Bombay Talkies and Gangs of Wasseypur. His role in Ugly and the portrayal of the character Milan Shukla in the film Daas Dev won him appreciation. He made his debut as lead actor in the 2018 Anurag Kashyap film Mukkabaaz for which he won two awards.
Jitendra Kumar is an Indian actor. He is best known for his role of Jitu in TVF Pitchers, Jeetu Bhaiya in the series Kota Factory, and for his roles in Amazon Prime's comedy series Panchayat and in the film Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. He has received several awards including two Filmfare OTT Awards.
No. 17 Squadron is a squadron of the Indian Air Force stationed at the Ambala Air Force Station as part of the Western Air Command. The squadron was number-plated in 2016, but was resurrected in Ambala on 11 September 2019 with the Dassault Rafale.
Ayesha Raza Mishra is an Indian actress.
In the Indian Armed Forces women are allowed to join mainly in combat service support branches and in non combatant roles. The Indian Air Force had 13.09% female officers in 2018 and 8.50% female officers in 2014; the Indian Navy had 6% female officers in 2018 and 3% female officers in 2014 and the Indian Army had 3.80% female officers in 2018 and 3% female officers in 2014. In 2020, three officers had the rank of lieutenant-general or equivalent, all in the Medical Services. In May 2021, 83 women were inducted as sepoys for the first time in the Indian Army's Corps of Military Police. On 30 March 2023, 273 women were inducted in the Indian Navy as sailos for the first time in the history of the Indian Navy, total 2,585 agniveers passed out after successful completion of training from INS Chilka. The Indian Air Force got airwomen for the first time in its history on 7 March 2024 as 153 female agniveers passed out from the Airmen Training School, Belagavi with 2,127 male agniveers.
Janhvi Kapoor is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. Born to film actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, she made her acting debut in 2018 with the romantic drama Dhadak, which was a commercial success.
Sanya Malhotra is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She has had supporting roles in the sports film Dangal (2016) and the action film Jawan (2023), both of which rank among the highest-grossing Indian films. Her other commercially successful films were the comedy Badhaai Ho (2018) and the biopic Sam Bahadur (2023).
Roohi is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language comedy horror film directed by Hardik Mehta and produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner Maddock Films. It tells the story of a ghost who abducts brides on their honeymoons. The film stars Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma.
Mimi is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Laxman Utekar and produced by Dinesh Vijan of Maddock Films. A remake of the 2011 Marathi film Mala Aai Vhhaychy!, it stars Kriti Sanon in the eponymous lead who opts to be a surrogate mother for a foreign couple. Pankaj Tripathi, Sai Tamhankar, Manoj Pahwa, Supriya Pathak, Evelyn Edwards, and Aidan Whytock appear in supporting roles.
Gunjan Saxena is an Indian Air Force officer and former helicopter pilot. She joined the IAF in 1996 and is a 1999 Kargil War veteran. She flew into a combat zone in Kargil. One of her main roles during the Kargil War was to evacuate the wounded from Kargil, transport supplies, and assist in surveillance. She would go on to be part of operations to evacuate over 900 troops, both injured and deceased, from Kargil. In 2004, after serving as a pilot for eight years, her career as a helicopter pilot ended; permanent commissions for women were not available during her time.
Mili is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language survival thriller film directed by Mathukutty Xavier and produced by Bayview Pictures and Zee Studios. The film stars Janhvi Kapoor in the titular role, alongside Sunny Kaushal and Manoj Pahwa. It is a remake of the director's 2019 Malayalam-language film Helen. The film follows Mili Naudiyal, who gets stuck in a storage freezer and fights to stay alive.
Pankaj Tripathi is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema and has also appeared in English, Kannada, Telugu, Punjabi and Tamil language films. He is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award, a Filmfare Award, a Screen Award, and an IIFA Award.
Nikhil Mehrotra is an Indian writer and director who works in Bollywood. He began his career in the advertising industry before transitioning to screenwriting. His debut was as a writer in Bhoothnath Returns (2014), collaborating with director-writer Nitesh Tiwari. He is best known for his work in Dangal (2016), Chhichhore (2019), and Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020).
The film has not been free of controversy; first, Janhvi Kapoor was at the receiving end of a lot of backlash from fans of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, over the issue of nepotism, when the trailer of the film was unveiled online. After the release of the film, while several industry figures such as Hrithik Roshan and director Anurag Kashyap were effusive in praise, the Indian Air Force wrote a letter to the Censor Board, Dharma Productions and streaming giant Netflix for portraying "the IAF in an undue negative light".