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When it happened in 1999, it was the height of treachery from the neighboring country. This stunning series opens the curtains on the pathological hatred of individuals in that rogue nation that made them shed all veneers of humanity and engineer machinations against India, in a shrewd attempt to make them look like the injured party.
On the heels of the Indo-Pak peace summit spearheaded by our then-prime minister, Parvez Musharraf (played by Manurishi Chadha), then their Army Chief, almost unilaterally decided to occupy key posts in the Indian side of the Line of Control in the Himalayan region. These posts would be seasonally vacated by Indian forces keeping in mind the freezing climate and the height. Initially, Musharraf even kept his leaders in the dark, as he hit upon a diabolical plan to dress up his soldiers as mujahideen (terrorists) to absolve Pakistan of blame in the eyes of both India and the world.
Operation Safed Sagar was the code name assigned to the Indian Air Force’s role in helping the Indian Army during this phase to flush out these infiltrators. It marked the first large-scale use of airpower in the Jammu and Kashmir region since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The Indian Air Force’s precise strikes and coordination with the Army helped recapture all occupied positions. The operation highlighted the challenges of high-altitude warfare (the IAF sparkled in the highest altitude ever seen in any war). It finally led to significant modernization of the IAF, including the induction of advanced aircraft and precision-guided weapons. Internationally, India gained praise for its restraint in not crossing the Line of Control, while Pakistan faced diplomatic isolation.
This saga is narrated with exemplary passion, some moving dramatization and the single aim of patriotic documentation by director Oni Sen. Created by Kushal Shrivastava, comedian Raju Shrivastava’s nephew and an ex-IAF officer himself, the series grabs attention from episode 1 and does not let go through all six episodes, all of which are longer than 50 minutes. But there is not a moment of boredom as we sink in the valor of our armed forces amidst enemy duplicity.
Filthy Pakistani politics, cowardice, brutality and deceit further heighten Indian determination despite the inclemency of the weather and the primitive MIG 21 aircrafts. Discipline within the IAF ranks and the final synergy between those bravehearts and our army merge with narrative deviations into their families’ bonding and the control of intense personal emotions when strategy is required in war. On the other hand, we see how our valiant soldiers and pilots often took to sheer audacity to defeat the vile enemy, a foe so vicious that it had no scruples about torturing the captive soldiers and serving blatant lies to protect their cowardly armymen and leaders.
Since the series essentially tells the saga of how the IAF came in to decisively win the war, there is no plotline as such other than how the Golden Arrows air-force squadron overcame technical and natural adversity to deliver a smashing defeat to the enemy. The series depends on superb and realistic situations and lines, reams of aerial action, which is generally well-presented in terms of cinematography, aerial choreography and computer-generated imagery (CGI).
The director is in supreme command, much like the leaders shown of the Air Force, our Army, and our politicians, headlined by the ruthless Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister and Ananth Mahadevan as our Defense Minister Jaswant Singh. Yes, the script is culled from real people, with names unchanged. This series, happily, dares not to say that is “inspired” only but presents reality. And a pat to Shrivastava and Sen for that.
The performances are magnificent, led by Jimmy Shergil (spelling changed again!!) as Wing Commander B S. Dhanoa (called Tony) and Siddharth as Squadron leader Ajay Ahuja.
But the younger actors are no less. Abhay Munjya Verma as Flying Officer Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal a.k.a. Dhali and Taaruk Raina as Flight Lieutenant Jitendra Sangwan a.k.a. Sangy form the crème-de-la-crème among them with their exceptional turns.
That said, each and every actor, including Mihir Ahuja as Baldy, Arnav Bhasin as Goofy, Adil Hussain as Air Marshal Patney, Prajakta Koli as Madhavi and Amrita Bagchi as Alka are very good indeed. In cameos, Barun Sobti and Sanjay Suri also shine. Aanjan Srivastav as Vajpayee, K.C. Shankar as Squadron Leader Alok Choudhry fit their roles, as does Harssh A. Singh as Arvind Oak. Dia Mirza has nothing significant to do despite a featured role.
And, as we all know, a hero shines only when the villains are strong, so our actors portraying Pakistanis are no less impressive! Manu Rishi Chaddha is outstanding as the vindictive and egoistic Musharraf. Vinay Pathak as Nawaz Sharif does a different role and comes up trumps as well. The rest of the main actors playing the enemy—Lalit Parimoo, Danish Hussain, Mohan Kapur, Pawan Chopra, S.M. Zaheer—also shine.
Anurag Saikia’s background score is surprisingly in sync instead of being routine and trite. I wonder if this has anything to do with co-composer Siddharth Pandit! Technically, the series shines and overall, it is a worthy addition to our reality-based patriotic saga, on big screen or small.
Real, rousing and rare in its potent voltage, this one’s a classy, unmissable winner!
Rating: ****1/2
Netflix presents Matchbox Shots’ & Feel Good Films’ Operation Safed Sagar Created by: Kushal Shrivastava & Abhijeet Singh Parmar Produced by: Karishma Panvelkar, Mehboob Pal Singh Brar, Sarita Patil & Sanjay Routray Directed by: Oni Sen Written by: Sandeep Jain, Nikhil Ravi & Barun Kashyap Music: Anurag Saikia & Siddharth Pandit Starring: Jimmy Shergil, Siddharth, Vinay Pathak, Manu Rishi Chaddha, Taaruk Raina, Abhay Verma, Mihir Ahuja, Harssh A. Singh, Adil Hussain, Barun Sobti, Arnav Bhasin, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sanjay Suri, K.C Shankar, Aanjjan Srivastav, Ananth Mahadevan, Dia Mirza, Prajakta Koli, Amrita Bagchi, S. M. Zaheer, Mohan Kapur, Danish Husain. Pawan Chopra, Mark Bennington & others
