5 Bollywood films the National War Memorial must showcase

This winter, while shooting my new film in Kashmir Valley, I spent a lot of time with our soldiers posted in isolated, rough terrains, in sub-zero degree climate, in the midst of menacing snowstorms, with no electricity and hence, no heat and fresh water. In a soldier’s life, if there is a side that is full of courage and glory, there is also a side that is full of personal conflict and loss. 

As my mind pondered if we have done enough for our bravehearts, I read the news of PM Narendra Modi's cabinet sanctioning a Rs 500 crore ‘National War Memorial’ to immortalise the ultimate sacrifice of around 22,500 jawans since independence. This year has been good for Indian defense and armed forces. FDI in defense production, modernisation and long overdue acquisitions for Air force and Navy, sanction of OROP, and as I write this column, in an extremely cheery move, the Air Force has decided to induct women fighter pilots. It took us almost seven decades to arrive here. 

I’d recommend that the War Memorial showcase our war movies to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of our soldiers. Filmmakers like Chetan Anand, Manoj Kumar and JP Dutta dedicated their entire careers to making movies with war and patriotism as their central themes. If given a choice, I’d recommend the following films to be showcased: 

Upkar

In the mid-sixties, India faced double trouble. On one hand, Pakistan attacked our frontiers, on the other, there occurred a scarcity of food grains. In such testing times, Lal Bahadur Shastri gave a slogan ‘Jai Jawaan, Jai Kisaan.’ Manoj Kumar’s Upkar was an extension of this idea. It drew attention to safeguarding the frontiers as well as increasing foodgrain production. Manoj Kumar’s Upkar remains an unmatched benchmark as far as bringing nationalistic feelings to the mainstream is concerned.

In the movie, Bharat (Manoj Kumar) sacrifices everything to educate his brother (Prem Chopra), who turns out to be a selfish man, wanting to divide the land. This is when the 1965 war between India and Pakistan breaks out. Manoj Kumar leaves for the war, while his selfish brother makes profits by black-marketing. Manoj Kumar fights the enemy at the border and in his own village. 

With Upkar, Manoj Kumar introduced camera angles, which were never seen before in Indian cinema. He could see the crops through the anklets of a village beauty or his own close ups in the mirror work of the heroine’s blouse. He could capture three people in one frame with different frames of minds. The way he shot this movie, could make any city-bred guy fall in love with village life. 

Upkar is also remembered for changing the image of the most feared villain of the time, Pran. If the industry lost one villain, it got one in the form of Prem Chopra. I don’t think many know that Rajesh Khanna was signed for Prem Chopra's role, but opted out.

If nothing else, Upkar shall be remembered for giving us two anthems in ‘Mere desh ki dharti’ and ‘Kasme vaade pyaar wafa…’

Haqeeqat

Chetan Anand’s Haqeeqat, set during the 1961 Indo-China war, is a tale of sacrifice, heroism and love. The defeat in this war demoralised the Indian psyche and leadership so much that political commentators and historians tried to forget and bury it. The award winning Haqeeqat is the only film that depicts this war in all its reality.

A small platoon is considered dead in Ladakh, but in reality it is rescued by Dharmendra’s character and Ladakhi tribesmen. They are asked to retreat from their post as the Chinese have surrounded them. Dharmendra and his girlfriend Priya Rajvansh die holding the Chinese at bay so that their comrades can retreat to safety. But even the retreating soldiers are heavily outnumbered and give up their lives for the country. 

Chetan Anand has brilliantly juxtaposed cinematic drama and history to the extent of showing the weak response of the government that failed to fight the war, when the soldiers were ready and willing to do so. One dialogue of Balraj Sahni as the Commanding Officer puts the entire war in perspective when he shouts,“I need men; I need guns; I need orders”. 

If the purpose of a war movie is to catalogue history, trigger a sense of pride and patriotism and show the plight of the soldiers who fight to save their motherland, Haqeeqat does all that plus leaves us with a lump in the throat and brings tears to the eyes when Kaifi Azmi’s immortal song plays - ‘Kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan saathiyon… Ab tumhare hawale watan saathiyon…’

Haqeeqat introduced Ladakh to Indian cinema. It was shot in Sonamarg, Zoji La, Lamayuru, Leh, Thiksey and one can see that the Srinagar-Leh highways were completely untarred back then. It is one film that every citizen of independent India should watch, just to understand what our soldiers went through. And as encapsulated by Kaifi Azmi: 

“Saans Thamti Gayi; Nabz Jamti Gayi;
Phir Bhi Badte Kadam Ko Naa Rukne Diya;
Kat Gaye Sar Humare To Kucch Gham Nahin;
Sar Himalay Ka Humne Naa Jhukne Diya.”

Saat Hindustani

Khwaja Ahmed Abbas’ classic Saat Hindustani is known more as Amitabh Bachchan’s launch film than a war film. It is a socio-war drama about national integration against a backdrop of racial, regional, linguistic and social divides.

The film is about how a dying Goan girl, in Portuguese occupied Goa, invites her six revolutionary colleagues to free Goa from Portugal rule. Goa was then what Kashmir is today. Goans thought that despite being a part of India, they didn’t have equal rights and freedom. Seven Indians undergo physical training to accomplish a mission to host seven flags at seven prominent police stations and other monuments in Goa.

Abbas made all his actors play a character different from their own religion/region. Utpal Dutt played a Punjabi, Malayali Madhu played a Bengali, Irshad Ali a South Indian, Jalal Agha played a Maharashtrian, Muslim Shenaaz played a Christian, Mahmood’s younger brother Anwar Ali played a staunch Hindu and son of a Hindu poet Amitabh Bachchan played a Muslim shayar. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas wanted to give a subliminal message of tolerance in a fragmented society. No wonder the film won the Best Film and Best Lyrics (Kaifi Azmi) Award for National Integration and Amitabh Bachchan won ‘Best Debutante Star’. Saat Hindustani is one of those films that is still relevant, as not much has changed in the country since then.

It’s a sad commentary that Khwaja Ahmad Abbas wrote Neecha Nagar, Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, Awara, Shree 420, Jagte Raho, Mera Naam Joker, Bobby, Henna and directed over 30 films, but he will be remembered only for his black and white Saat Hindustani. 

Border

Javed Akhtar’s lyrics summarise the theme of JP Dutta’s anti-war film Border:

"Hum apne apne kheton mein gehoon ki jagah chaanval ki jagah, ye bandookein kyoon botein hain.... Jab dono hi ki galiyon mein, kuch bhooke bachche rotein hain....!"

Unlike other war films, Border is one of the highest Box Office grossers of all times. It is based on real life incidents from the Battle of Longewala in the Western Theatre. During the Indo-Pak War of 1971, 120 soldiers of the Punjab regiment had defended their post all night, against a whole tank regiment of the Pakistani Army, until assistance came from the Indian Air Force the next morning. Dutta’s Border reiterates a central thought “You don't win a war by giving up your life, you win it by taking a life.”

With a huge starcast, Dutta shot the film on actual locations of the Battle of Longewala in Bikaner with real army men and equipment including tanks, army jeeps and real Hawker Hunters aircrafts with real unit logos. I don’t know how it was made possible because when I sought permission to shoot Army trucks for my film, the Raksha Bhavan denied it saying they don’t give it for commercial films.  

I think more than its narrative, Border will go down in history for Anu Malik’s poignant music and Javed Akhtar’s soul-searching lyrics. ‘Sandese aate hain… ke ghar kab aaoge… ki tum bin ghar soona soona hai…'. It's one of the finest songs ever written on the internal conflict and loss of a soldier’s family. For me, it has a sentimental value, as we were booked to see this movie in Uphaar Cinema, the day after it caught fire that had resulted in many casualties. 

Vijeta

Vijeta means the victor. This Govind Nihalani and Shashi Kapoor collaboration begins with Shashi Kapoor having nightmares about losing his son in the war and flashbacks from back in Lahore, during partition, when he comes home and his entire family is killed. 

Govind Nihalani, one of the most underrated directors and one of my favourites, weaves a story of partition, 1971 war and its trauma, with complex characters intertwined with their internal and outer conflicts, in the backdrop of a war. 

On the surface, it’s a coming-of-age story of Angad (Kunal Kapoor), confused like any other teenager trying to find himself and caught in between the marital problems of his parents. Angad chooses to become a fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force. What follows is his struggle to become a victor both with his inner self and the outer world, overcome his fears and realise his potential as a fighter pilot. 

Later, Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya also explored the same theme.

Vijeta was the first film to use such marvellous and rarely seen aerial photography of combat aircrafts. Kunal Kapoor is a MiG-21 pilot and is shown flying the aircraft on a ground attack role, in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The sequences in the second half involving the fighter planes and their manoeuvres and the sequences showing all the planes flying off together have been shot very well by the director.

After making a successful career in commercial cinema, Shashi Kapoor collaborated with Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad, Govind Nihalani to make meaningful cinema with a series of films. Vijeta was one of the last films in that series. It’s sad that he went bankrupt and his house was mortgaged in this attempt to put soul in our cinema. 

War movies aren’t mere historical records. They are reminders that a war doesn’t help anyone. I am hopeful that in the times of globalisation and interdependence, when more than half the world is suffering from poverty, social conflicts and climate related challenges, the army is used for promoting global peace and harmony.

As I sum up, a song written by Neeraj, from Vijay Anand’s Prem Pujari plays in my mind:

‘… dekar apna khoon seenchte
desh ki hum fulwari, 
bansi se bandook banate
hum woh prem pujari…’ 

Vivek Agnihotri is a film-maker, writer and motivational speaker. He tweets at @vivekagnihotri