'It's For The Love Of The Country'

'The amount of respect we have for people who guard our borders and put the country first.'
'Why do they do this?'
'The chances of not coming back are so high. Still, they take that risk.'
'It's for the love of the country.'

Farhan Akhtar is incredibly proud of his latest film, 120 Bahadur, and he has every reason to be.

Though it's getting mixed reviews and is struggling at the box office, the army itself gives the film a thumbs up.

"The things we take for granted as Indians come at such a heavy price. Those who safeguard our sovereignty are incredibly brave, courageous and selfless, and they need to be remembered," Farhan tells Subhash K Jha.

What brought your attention to this Param Vir Chakra winner Shaitaan Singh?

Director Razneesh Ghai (Razzy) is an army kid.

His father served in the army, his brother is currently serving in the army.

He grew up with this story, hearing it from his father first and then his brother, because this Battle of Rezang La is something that's taught in the army.

I had heard the name Shaitaan Singh, but that was about it. I didn't know anything more.

He was an incredibly powerful, heroic man; I'm genuinely surprised his story had not been filmed earlier.

Chetan Anand's Haqeeqat touched upon the same battle. It was the larger war and the India-China aspect was played up more.

But this was focused on the battle, on Charlie Company and on Shaitaan Singh Bhati.

I like the fact that Razzy was telling the story the way he did. I also like the way Rajeev Menon, who's written the screenplay, structured it, with the narrator being the radio operator.

How long ago did you become familiar with this?

The entire process took maybe two years.

The one thing that Lakshya prepared me for was understanding army culture.

It also prepared me for what the long haul in Ladakh feels like.

You went through the experience, some of it at least?

It's completely shot on location. Yes, all that happened to every single person but when you get through that, the more time you spend there, it becomes easier.

But doing action there is always a challenge.

Action Director Marek Svitek had done All Quiet On The Western Front.

How closely were you involved with the making of the film?

As much as a producer is.

The director shares his casting options with you and you go through all of that stuff together. And whenever Razneesh needed me...

He was very focused. He made a film called Dhaakad earlier.

What is your hope and aspiration for this important film?

My hope is the absolute joy of discovery that I had hearing the story. And the emotion that accompanied it.

I want people to feel the sorrow or the regret of not having known of an important (event).

I want them to go and see the film and learn about this incident, learn about these people and understand the things we take for granted, be it our freedom, be it our map, our borders, our culture.

Because when land is taken, cultures change.

The things we take for granted as Indians come at such a heavy price.

Those who safeguard our sovereignty are incredibly brave, courageous and selfless, and they need to be remembered.

I am glad that I could be a conduit to bring the story to people.

I hope people can learn about Shaitaan Singh and about those 120 brave Ahir soldiers.

It should get a tax exemption.

Yeah, but that's not for me to decide. I would hope that it happens because it really is a film that every Indian should watch.

Making it exempt of tax in states would make it more accessible to people. So I hope that happens.

Why is the Param Vir Chakra winner named Shaitaan?

There is an explanation for it.

You know, why he was named that, you can find out on Google.

But let me tell you something as an aside.

Shaitaanji, in the course of his life, two or three times, actually tried to legally change his name.

He was named something else before his parents changed it to Shaitaan, so he wanted to go back to his original name.

When he unsuccessful in changing his name for the third time, his senior officer told him not to change it because he was an officer, a soldier of this country.

He said, tomorrow if you go into battle, this is such a unique name that will always be remembered.

What is your takeaway from this experience?

Love for country, and love for the person you're standing beside in the army.

Respect, honour, these are important things that keep people going.

But more than that -- and this is something I've felt more and more -- is the amount of respect we have for people who guard our borders and put the country first.

Why do they do this?

The chances of not coming back are so high. Still, they take that risk.

It's for the love of the country.

But I don't know if it's seen as a risk. That's what's amazing about it.

It is seen as an opportunity to do something or be part of something that is larger than you.

That's an amazing emotion to carry in your heart.

So my takeaway is the selflessness.

And when you're wearing a uniform, there is a different level of selflessness that is asked of you. The selflessness is a great thing to think of for everything in India, no matter what you're doing. That's what is amazing.

If only those who go and see the film, if they get inspired to join the army, you would have done something that cinema hardly does these days.

I don't know how much of that will happen.

But it definitely makes you think about why and how people put the country before themselves.

That happened with Lakshya; I witnessed that first-hand.

But I'm talking about people who are not going to join the army, people who already have jobs.

Our responsibility can't be that, okay, let's just depend on these chaps and we won't do anything that is selfless in our own way and in our own sphere of work.

Why didn't you add Lata Mangeshkar's song Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon, which she especially sang for the war in 1962?

Yeah, she did. We did feel that there was an opportunity to create something new.

It would be nice to have a new song that can join that universe of songs.

I think Shreya Ghosal has done an incredible job.

You're a songwriter, an actor, a filmmaker. What exactly is your vocation?

I really, really do hope that five years down the line, whether it's a film I've acted in or directed, or a song I've put out, you and I can still have a chat like this, in a positive way.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff