Over the decades, hundreds of thousands lost their lives to keep the sovereignty of our nation intact. While many of these warriors are still remembered, some even, after their exceptional service in keeping India’s honour alive, have been lost in anonymity. One brave soul, who immortalised himself by fighting three major wars for our country, was Subedar Joginder Singh. 

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He served the British Indian Army pre-independence and later in the Indian Army. He fought to free us from the British and before achieving martyrdom, he also battled for the honour of his motherland in 1962 when China betrayed us and infiltrated our land.

He was commanding a platoon of unprepared soldiers, who were instructed to take positions in the adversities of NEFA (North-East Frontier Agency) without proper reinforcements. Soon after taking their positions, they faced lethal and unanticipated attacks by thousands of Chinese soldiers in three waves. It was due to his sheer mental strength that despite the exhausting ammunition and being hit by a bullet on his thigh, Subedar Joginder Singh kept motivating his soldiers. 

Not only that, he single-handedly killed dozens of Chinese soldiers with bayonets. For such exemplary and unprecedented display of valour, the Indian government honoured him with the country’s highest gallantry award — Param Vir Chakra posthumously.

A biographical feature on this braveheart has been shot in the picturesque but vulnerable locations of Kargil, Dras, Rajasthan and Assam. A major part of the film titled Subedar Joginder Singh has been shot at a height of 14,000 feet; the terrain is so insurmountable that it took the cast and crew hours of car drive and vertical trek from the base camp to reach the actual shoot location.

Protagonist Gippy Grewal plays the martyr in the biopic. These images speak volumes about the actor’s massive transformation into Subedar. What is truly remarkable is the kind of weight loss and gain that the actor went through for the role, knowing fully well that this could be hazardous for his health. His regard for the martyr was so deep that he took it as a challenge to do his own stunts. Despite suffering injuries during the action sequences, he continued with the shoot. What can you say to such dedication, except applaud it?

The movie, produced by Seven Colors Motion Pictures in association with Saga Music and Unisys Infosolutions, features Gippy Grewal, Guggu Gill, Kulwinder Billa, Aditi Sharma, Rajvir Jawanda, Roshan Prince, Karamjit Anmol and Sardar Sohi. Apart from Punjabi, it is scheduled to release in three languages — Hindi, Tamil and Telugu — in the summer of 2018.