Defence and Police forces in Indian Cinema

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 11 Jan 2010 01:42

Which reminds me.... US military is generally pretty friendly with Hollywood in that they will supply airplanes, helos, artillery etc. for movie scenes at reduced prices. Do Indian Forces have similar deals with film makers?

Of course, the Pentagon read the script first before offering any help. If the script doesn't agree with them, they will first ask for a change of script, or failing that, they refuse to lend any equipment for the movie. Ridley Scott, the director of "Black Hawk Down" was once asked whether he could have filmed the movie without military assistance. He said, "Yeah. We just would have had to call it 'Huey Down'."

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Jan 2010 01:44

Jagan wrote:....
I agree Lakshya was pretty good, with lots of action being restriained and not over the top. Didnt they import a phoren guy to do the action direction? probably explains why they didnt fall for the bollywood razzle dazzle.

yep, there were two furrin stunt directors. both are famous in that world. one of them was the stunt director of a MI series film.

farhan also had retd IA officers to advise him on the nitty gritties.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 11 Jan 2010 02:14

What is this?

Is this a bashing bad Bollywood military themed movies thread onlee? If not, then why no more than a passing mention of Prahaar and those superb scenes at Belgaum!

Didn't Nana train there before the shooting - he did look superbly fit and I wonder who was the unsung IA jawan who did the Ledo jump stunt.

For IAF themed movies, I love Vijeta and the numerous scenes right from the Kirans to the MiG-21s.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 11 Jan 2010 02:15

Since we are in bashing mode, I couldnt help notice how the sterlings in the bollywood movies had firecracker like sparks flying out of their barrel like phuljharis?

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 11 Jan 2010 02:23

Border: Sunny Deol.

[youtube]sKyiPxv8qaM&feature=related[/youtube]

Siddhartha · Post by **Siddhartha** » 11 Jan 2010 02:34

Jagan wrote: So as not to make this post an offtopic one - here is NTR as a very fat Subhash Chandra Bose
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 3974479402# @ 4.20 min
(Sufficient reason for West Bengal to declare war on Andhra Pradesh I guess)

...yaah....Subhash Chandra Bose fought for only WEST BENGAL's freedom....Alas! if only he could have known this. Sorry for this offtopic post but could not resist myself...

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 11 Jan 2010 04:23

Am watching Commando starring Mithun Da -

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 11 Jan 2010 05:06

Siddharth, take a chill pill . will ya?

Talking about Border.. This is a letter written by Brig K S Chandpuri MVC, hero of Longewala to an Army Colonel. (probably responding to an enquiry onthe movie)

From AM M S Bawa via Suman Sharma

Brando · Post by **Brando** » 11 Jan 2010 05:19

Its been a while since I've seen any recent Bollywood movies but in the movie Border, I remember clearly that one of the "heros" carried actually carried an anti-tank mine and placed it behind a retreating tank in the midst of a hail of gunfire and bombs. That scene was truly hilarious!

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 11 Jan 2010 06:35

Jagan wrote:
A thread "Mapping India's Battles on Google Earth" may work if we have sufficient volume.

Imagine mapping out point 4272, point 5318 etc.

Where's Gagan?

munna · Post by **munna** » 11 Jan 2010 08:28

Gagan wrote:The common refrain is: "Dharam phaa'ji, Sunny phaa'ji, Bobby phaa'ji"
Its like " main sunny paa'ji di movie dekh ke aa raha hoon"

Any doubts fellas? Phaa'ji is big, as big as it gets!

sunny y · Post by **sunny y** » 11 Jan 2010 13:02

As far as portrayal of our police force is concerned, two movies that I think we all have had the pleasure of watching in recent times are Black Friday & A Wednesday. The former is the work of pure genius Anurag Kashyap & the latter one is the work of debutant.

These are the only two movies that one can call authentic. Films like these again reiterates the fact that in the end story & its execution are the only things that will impress the viewers not the amount of money spent.

Anybody who hasn't watched them yet, please please watch them. Highly recommended.

AdityaM · Post by **AdityaM** » 11 Jan 2010 16:07

"Ek Aur Ek Gyarah". Sanjay dutt & govinda don army uniform. open shirt buttons, long unkempt hair. not to be missed!
"Hum" had a infantry vehicle probably made of cardboard!! now thats composite material!

pmund · Post by **pmund** » 11 Jan 2010 18:34

Raja Ji, I doubt if Nana 'trained' in Belgaum. Some of the scenes were shot in NDA during a term break, and some in Belgaum. He may have learnt a few things, like monkey crawling (he did it very well...i confess, a tough thing to master) and the dreaded confidence jump, but did he 'complete' the junior commando course? And the stories that I can tell of the filming of Major Saab at NDA are hilarious, but let that be. Btw, has anyone had the misfortune of watching a movie called, Paramvir Chakra?? Well, we had to bcos it was a must-attend at Habibullah Hall. It is so pathetic that we could not help laughing IN SPITE of a threat by the Adju. The whole academy spent the next few hours running to Gole Market and back

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 11 Jan 2010 18:43

Any clue about the autheticity of the Climax for movie "Lakshaya" starring Hritik Roshan , If I recall correctly it shows the capture of Peak 5179 in the Kargil sector whereby a team of 12 officers + Jawans climbed an almost insane vertical distance to re-capture the peak.

atreya · Post by **atreya** » 11 Jan 2010 20:08

pgbhat wrote:Border: Sunny Deol.
[youtube]sKyiPxv8qaM&feature=related[/youtube]

Truly hilarious man!!
Prahaar is a great movie. Pretty accurate movie showing commando training. Then, I remember another Air Force movie "Agnipankh: Sky is the Limit". Starring Jimmy Shergill. That was another movie, which I won't forget in a hurry! I also remember another air force movie, whose name I now forget. Its cast included pretty unknown actors. The story was a of a Sikh pilot, and how he overcomes his fears to become an ace pilot. It was also a decent movie, though I had seen it more than 8-9 years, and thus don't remember it clearly.

Amongst police movies, the best one I like is "Sehar", starring Arshad Warsi. A must-watch. "Gangajal" was pretty good too. "Sarfarosh" was also an excellent police movie.

ASPuar · Post by **ASPuar** » 11 Jan 2010 20:09

And what about "Shaurya"? To be able to copy "A few good men", and to inject some of our own desi brand of secularism, the movie seemed to lose all sense of ground realities, and turn all army officers (except the noble JAG Rahul Bose), into some sort of rabid anti muslim rabble (This, when all riots in India are stopped ONLY and ONLY when the army turns up)!

Also, the usual oversimplistic moralising, the ridiculous caricatures of senior army officers always playing golf and sermonizing on whiskies, etc etc.

And there was one scene, where the so called "victim" muslim officers mother (who oddly lives in a broken down hut in Kashmir, even though her son is a captain, and presumably authorized government housing) is crying on a bench at the officers club... how did she even get in there, if she is a civilian, and not living with her son?

ASPuar · Post by **ASPuar** » 11 Jan 2010 20:11

ASPuar's favourite police movies:

1. Seher (very realistic), and all police officers were not wearing the badges of rank of a full general, as is usual in bollywood gobbledegook.

2. Sarfarosh (The writer didnt know the difference between a Mumbai Police ACP and an IPS officer, but other wise the movie was fantastic).

Dmurphy · Post by **Dmurphy** » 11 Jan 2010 20:19

ASPuar wrote:2. Sarfarosh (The writer didnt know the difference between a Mumbai Police ACP and an IPS officer, but other wise the movie was fantastic).

Yeah. Does it not show a handful of Mumbai Police officers raiding a Rajasthani fort in the end and clearing it of the terrorists with their country revolvers?

Aditya G · Post by **Aditya G** » 11 Jan 2010 20:21

My all time favorite is Lakshya starring Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta. It was a fictional account but inspired by true heroes

The most glaring error was the scene amongst the tall grasses - as no such fighting was done in Kargil War. However, it remains on of the best scenes of the movie.

The movie brings home the kind of warfare troops faced in the war. I still get goose bumps when I watch the initial assault take place before the enemy MGs open up.

Remember the beautiful IMA footage?

In the end I love the movie because it is very entertaining, unlike LoC Kargil which was a headache.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 11 Jan 2010 20:22

Lakshya is by far the best Army movie out there in B'wood. Production quality is top notch.

Notice they are carrying AKs....dressed in all black NSG outfits. Camo goes well with the mountains I guess

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Jan 2010 20:24

after Vijeta has there been even a half-decent movie featuring the IAF ?

and Vijeta was mid 80s

someone like the disillusioned senior pilot in flyboys who does a death dive into the zeppelin
would need to be found. among the bollywood lot maybe only akshaye khanna could be suited.

Shameek · Post by **Shameek** » 11 Jan 2010 20:25

atreya wrote:I also remember another air force movie, whose name I now forget. Its cast included pretty unknown actors. The story was a of a Sikh pilot, and how he overcomes his fears to become an ace pilot. It was also a decent movie, though I had seen it more than 8-9 years, and thus don't remember it clearly.

You are probably referring to Vijeta. One of the better movies on the IAF.

negi · Post by **negi** » 11 Jan 2010 20:37

Shaurya: I fell off my chair when I watched K K Menon knock a baki on other side of the fence using a golf ball.

.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 11 Jan 2010 22:30

shiv wrote: Imagine mapping out point 4272, point 5318 etc.

Where's Gagan?

Can't trace exact peak.

For example, what we know as Tiger Hill in Drass, is actually a huge complex of a dozen peaks, parts of which are called helmet top.

The various peaks are called by their meter heights there fore point x and point y.

Impossible to locate and pinpoint each unless someone who's knows the area like the back of their hands sits down on GE and marks out the points.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 11 Jan 2010 22:50

Nihat wrote:Any clue about the autheticity of the Climax for movie "Lakshaya" starring Hritik Roshan , If I recall correctly it shows the capture of Peak 5179 in the Kargil sector whereby a team of 12 officers + Jawans climbed an almost insane vertical distance to re-capture the peak.

One instance where a peak was scaled along the cliffs was Tiger Hill for which Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav received his PVC. Not sure if there were other instances.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 11 Jan 2010 22:59

In kargil there were quite a few peaks where vertical climbing was involved. The thing is, the pakistanis probably had the direct paths covered, so the only way left was to climb to the hill amidst the pakistanis throwing grenades and rocks.
These resulted in the high casualty rates initially.
But later on with the artillery barrages and some help from the IAF and the soldiers mercilessly climbing, come what may, the pakistanis were truly browning their pants.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 11 Jan 2010 23:01

Yeah, seems like it. Found one more: Point 5140

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 11 Jan 2010 23:08

Sriman wrote:Yeah, seems like it. Found one more: Point 5140

Where? On GE? Please post a pic.

I'm currently doing the Jammu - Baramulla railway on GE, will post links and GE and actual pics once done.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 12 Jan 2010 00:05

Gagan wrote:
Sriman wrote:Yeah, seems like it. Found one more: Point 5140
Where? On GE? Please post a pic.

I'm currently doing the Jammu - Baramulla railway on GE, will post links and GE and actual pics once done.

No, i mean i found one more instance. From an account of Captain Batra's assault.

abhishekm · Post by **abhishekm** » 12 Jan 2010 03:09

ASPuar wrote:ASPuar's favourite police movies:

1. Seher (very realistic), and all police officers were not wearing the badges of rank of a full general, as is usual in bollywood gobbledegook.

2. Sarfarosh (The writer didnt know the difference between a Mumbai Police ACP and an IPS officer, but other wise the movie was fantastic).

I thought the Amitabh Bachchan-Ajay Devgan starrer "Khakee" was also a good police movie. Atleast the uniforms and weapons were authentic. And the same goes for the stupidly titled "Aan-Men at Work".

Does anyone remember a show on Doordarshan called "Param Vir Chakra"? This would have been either in the late 1980s or the early 1990s -I can't recollect the exact details but there sure were a number of rather entertaining episodes!

For fans of regional cinema, I would recommend the Malayalam movie "Keertichakra" which is a fantastic movie on militancy in Kashmir, as shown from the perspective of an NSG officer. It has good action sequences and is fairly realistic, just like Lakshya.

On another note, does anyone know whether R&AW has ever been realistically portraryed on the big screen??

CalvinH · Post by **CalvinH** » 12 Jan 2010 06:11

Brando wrote:Its been a while since I've seen any recent Bollywood movies but in the movie Border, I remember clearly that one of the "heros" carried actually carried an anti-tank mine and placed it behind a retreating tank in the midst of a hail of gunfire and bombs. That scene was truly hilarious!

Its logical. One can carry a land mine and do it. The illogical part was that the puki tank commander sees the guy carrying a landmine coming towards the tank and orders the driver to reverse (in fear) as if the guy will lift the tank and put the landmine under it.

CalvinH · Post by **CalvinH** » 12 Jan 2010 06:18

ASPuar wrote:ASPuar's favourite police movies:

2. Sarfarosh (The writer didnt know the difference between a Mumbai Police ACP and an IPS officer, but other wise the movie was fantastic).

Puar Ji ..can you explain this one. I missed this completely it seems.

Most of you guys have put the better movies but let me start with the most ridiculous ones. My first choice would be Hero with Sunny deol sahab starring as an Army Major.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 12 Jan 2010 09:15

Gagan wrote:In kargil there were quite a few peaks where vertical climbing was involved. The thing is, the pakistanis probably had the direct paths covered, so the only way left was to climb to the hill amidst the pakistanis throwing grenades and rocks.
These resulted in the high casualty rates initially.
But later on with the artillery barrages and some help from the IAF and the soldiers mercilessly climbing, come what may, the pakistanis were truly browning their pants.

Gagan - I have heard from credible sources that the mountains slope fairly gently upwards on the Pakistan side in that area but are steep and craggy on the India side. So Pakistan has a natural geographic advantage.

Pakistanis used mules and other girlfriends to carry stuff up in a manner that is not possible from the Indian side.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 12 Jan 2010 09:40

For old gold, Haqeeqat still rules . Here is a clip
Khainch do apne khoon se jamin par lakir,
Iss taraf aane payye na Pakavan Koi

sum · Post by **sum** » 12 Jan 2010 10:03

Aditya G wrote:My all time favorite is Lakshya starring Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta. It was a fictional account but inspired by true heroes

The most glaring error was the scene amongst the tall grasses - as no such fighting was done in Kargil War. However, it remains on of the best scenes of the movie.

The movie brings home the kind of warfare troops faced in the war. I still get goose bumps when I watch the initial assault take place before the enemy MGs open up.

Remember the beautiful IMA footage?

In the end I love the movie because it is very entertaining, unlike LoC Kargil which was a headache.

Even now, the scene of the tricolour being hoisted on the peak( at the end) with the background music playing brings tears to my eyes ( even big B,a.k.a, Col Damle sheds a few tears seeing that). Amazing movie.

I have heard from a close friend whose relative was in SF about how he went miles into Paki territory during Kargil war for a ambush and returned after the mission shot multiple times( not sure if the mission was successful or failure

) with him stopping his guts from from spilling out using his bare hands. Maybe, the grass scene is a picturisation of some such mission?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Jan 2010 10:11

when things get desperate, people do use "sticky" bombs which need to be physically stuck
onto a tank. shown in pvt ryan I believe. australians used another version of it in tobruk (per
commando comics which is usually very accurate) and so I believe did the russians.

in kursk, russian AT infantry teams armed with long barreled anti material type guns were
crawling all over, even as the main tank forces duelled each other all day.

so infantry will fight close with tanks if pushed. various LAW like RPG26/Shipon with min range down to 50m testify to it.

tsarkar · Post by **tsarkar** » 12 Jan 2010 13:04

My vote goes to Hum Dono for Dev Anand's style quotient and the memorable song that I still keep humming occasionally, "main zindagi ka saath..."

Before anyone asks, yes, he was normal then.

sunny y · Post by **sunny y** » 12 Jan 2010 13:44

On another note, does anyone know whether R&AW has ever been realistically portraryed on the big screen??

Most of you guys have put the better movies but let me start with the most ridiculous ones. My first choice would be Hero with Sunny deol sahab starring as an Army Major.

In The Hero Sunny deol played the role of RAW agent. That Major thing was a cover up.
It wasn't that realistic but as far as bollywood is concerned it was good (atleast the action , cinematography was good).

How can anyone forget Shiney Ahuja starrer Hijack & similiar Ye Dil Ashiqana released many years ago. There was this another one Qayamat starring Ajay Devgan, Arbaaz Khan. Totally hilarious.

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 12 Jan 2010 14:01

I don't see movies as such, but whatever I saw earlier, the worst is the mismatch in uniform, cap badges with the shoulder titles and the lanyard etc.

I don't remember the name of the movie, but it was quite hilarious where Darmender wooed the heroine with a song high up in Ladakh and IIRC it had something to do with the 1962 Chinese aggression.

I liked the TV serial Fauji since it was near perfect except officers of his rank could not have lived in such palatial houses. I wondered if even Generals can!