LoC: Reel tribute to real war heroes

July 26, 1999. It''s strongly etched in thememory of many as the day several Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives atKargil. J P Dutta, whose film recreates the conflict, still remembers his call to the mother ofsoldier Vijayant Thapar. "It''s because of you that my son is notwith me today," she said. "He was a big fan of Border. He watched the film manytimes and it inspired him to become a soldier." That call was enough tostrengthen Dutta''s resolve to make a film documenting thewar.Ironically, Dutta had sworn off war movies after Border,deciding he couldn''t relive the trauma of losing his soldier brother all overagain. But when the army approached him to make a film on Kargil, it resulted inseemingly endless correspondence, until they called Dutta over to Delhi to watchan informative video on the war. "I watched it alone," recallsDutta. "I broke down and left the room, deciding to make the film." Thus beganthe exhaustive research that led Dutta and his team to the families of deadsoldiers and the battalions concerned. "I lived with the jawans," says Dutta."It was disturbing to hear horrific tales of war and how these brave menfought.", shotover two years in Leh, Ladakh and Kargil, has its stars swearing by the film asan experience they''ll carry with them for the rest of theirlives."As a kid, I used to accompany my dad (Sunil Dutt) to theshows he held for soldiers," recalls Sanjay Dutt. "So I was happy to play asoldier. It''s important for the world to see what these men went through and theconditions they fought in. Everything else seems so small in comparison."Suniel Shetty accepted the film without any desire to read thescript or knowing what character he played. "I did the film purely for emotionalreasons," he says. "It was like being part of history." For AkshayeKhanna, was a moment ofrealisation: "When you go out and play these soldiers for a film, it hits youhard. You realise that your problems are nothing incomparison."Dutta would rather let his film do the talking." is my tribute to our warheroes," he says. He recalls a line he heard in a Vietnam war documentary: "Itwas not as if we were fighting a war. We were just helping to keep each otheralive."And Dutta feels that''s true of Indian soldiers too, whosemain aim was not to waste a colleague''s death. "They fought back to compensatehis death with victory, and this they did without crossing the line ofcontrol."