#KargilVijayDiwas: When you are playing a real-life hero, it’s a huge responsibility, say actors

Actors who have essayed Kargil War heroes in cinema share their experiences of stepping into the shoes of these bravehearts for their roles | #KargilVijayDiwas: ‘Soldiers never get retakes, they are the unsung heroes’

- Rachana Dubey

Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on July 26 to commemorate India’s victory in the Kargil War (1999) and pay homage to the bravery of the Armed Forces. Several Hindi films, including LOC: Kargil (2003) and Lakshya, have depicted these very tales on the screen. Recently, Shershaah (2021) highlighted Captain Vikram Batra’s sacrifice in the Kargil War, while Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020) put the spotlight on one of the first women in the Air Force to participate in a war. Actors who donned the uniform to recreate some of the most prominent tales of patriotism and bravery from the war zone tell us how being a part of such films impacted them.

THE PRESSURE AND RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH THIS KIND OF A ROLE... ONE HAS TO ACCEPT IT. MY APPROACH AS AN ACTOR WAS TO FOCUS ON THE SPECIFIC QUALITIES CAPTAIN VIKRAM BATRA DISPLAYED — Sidharth Malhotra

DURING THE KARGIL WAR, I HAD VOLUNTEERED TO MEET OUR SOLDIERS AT THE BASE CAMP AND THE HOSPITAL. WHEN I MET THEM, I FELT MINUSCULE AFTER SEEING THEIR SACRIFICE. WHEN I SPOKE TO THEM, ALL THEY PROUDLY SAID WAS, ‘DESH KE LIYE MARNA HAI’

— Suniel Shetty 

‘SHOOTING AT REAL LOCATIONS MAKES YOU REALISE HOW OUR SOLDIERS NEVER GET RETAKES IN REAL LIFE’