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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2020-08-18 08:50:04

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Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

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Gunjan Saxena - The Kargil Girl is the story of the first female Indian Air Force pilot. It traces her desire to become a pilot from an early age. When her brother does not let her watch the sky from the flight by not yielding his window seat and the air hostess takes her to the cockpit, her mind is made up that flying is what she wants to do in life. She even starts wearing black goggles all the time so that her sight is not impaired as she tells her brother that a pilot needs perfect eyesight.

She faces a lot of problems at home. Her mother (Ayesha Raja) is dismissive of the idea and her brother (Angad Bedi in a restrained performance) tries to show her a girl's place by saying that women do not fly planes, they only serve refreshments on the flight. But her father (Pankaj Tripathi in yet another impressive act), himself and army man, supports her to the hilt and pushes her up whenever she is down. When her initial attempt to join a training academy does not materialize due to lack of funds, she is pushed to join the Air Force by her father.

The story then narrates the way she is made to feel an outsider, first at the training camp where the instructor yells at the girl candidates that if they cannot be soldiers then they should go home and work the belan, and then in the all-male club at Udhampur Air Base. She is almost rejected due to being overweight and short in height by 1 cm. Her father pushes her to lose weight and when it is discovered that she has a long reach that compensates for the short height, she is finally commissioned.

But the males at the base do not want a female officer to usurp their monopoly. There is no toilet or changing room for ladies at the base and Gunjan misses her morning sorties twice in succession. Later, no officer is willing to take her with him on sorties and an amenable Flight Commander Dileep Singh (Vineet Singh impresses in a grey role) allows them to have their way and does not allow Gunjan to log air miles. When the commanding officer (brilliantly played by Manav Vij) discovers this, he takes her under his wing and through a strategy of scolding, cajoling and instructing, makes her a top pilot.

But Gunjan is crushed and defeated when the Flight Commander does not let her hold the daily briefing which comes as an honour to her for logging the highest miles in a week as she is "weak". To prove the point, he makes her arm wrestle with another officer, adding salt to the injury. A devastated Gunjan is left wondering whether the Air Force needs her for her skill, talent and capability as a pilot or for her strength and valour. She gives the males a piece of her mind when later in the night they are partying with loud music and goes on leave, perhaps never to return.

Back home, she attends the wedding of a friend and later tells her father that even she is thinking of 'settling' down. The father tells her that it will be a defeat for both of them if she leaves the Air Force despite being a top pilot. So Gunjan goes back when her leave is canceled and she is asked to report to the base immediately. All officers are transferred to the Srinagar Air Base as the Kargil war starts. Discrimination follows her there too when on a routine mission to spot army camps, another chopper carrying two male officers goes down and she is asked to return to the base without rescuing them. A politician is shown telling TV audiences that does the Air Force not have male officers that it allows female officers to fly in combat zones. What will happen if she is captured by the enemy? The commanding officer decides to send her back to Udhampur.

But fate has other designs for her. A soldier is injured in a skirmish and an evacuation mission has to be undertaken immediately. No pilots are available. Flight Commander Vineet Singh takes one chopper and reluctantly allows Gunjan to take the back up one. Once in the skies, Gunjan spots enemy movement near the evacuation site. By the time she warns the other chopper, it is hit and goes down. She instructs her co-pilot to shoot at the enemy, disconnects the radio connection with the base as they ask her to return without doing anything and lands at the site to rescue the three injured personnel, including the flight commander. Her valour is recognized by all and she is applauded for it. Finally, she is accepted as one of their own.

Janhvi Kapoor excels as Gunjan. She displays a wide range of emotions with ease. Janhvi gets into the skin of the character from the first scene and displays the single-minded focus of a girl who has set her mind on being a pilot effectively. She carries the training scenes with aplomb and shows the right amount of disappointment when it seems that she will be rejected for a disability. This role will define Janhvi as an actress of substance as it was without the normal song and dance routine. She will go far if she selects such roles. Pankaj Tripathi as her father acts as the perfect foil by egging her on to pursue her dream.

Director Sharan Sharma mercifully does not take too many cinematic liberties and keeps the story taut and fast-paced. He develops scenes in an endearing manner. The scene where the daughter is confused whether she is doing the right thing by joining the Air Force just for the love of flying and not because she wants to do something for her country and the way the father explains to her that the Air Force does not need jingoistic officers who will yell "Bharat Mata ki jai" but those who do their jobs with efficiency and honesty is the high point of the film. Sharma has also written the story with Nikhil Mehrotra. Watch the film (streaming on Netflix) for its excellent storyline, great performances and total entertainment.