Gunjan Saxena The Kargil Girl Review: The story of the first woman to fly in war

Gunjan Saxena The Kargil Girl Review

Film : Gunjan Saxena – The Kargil Girl
Director : Sharan Sharma
Artist : Jahnavi Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Angad Bedi, Vineet Kumar, Manav Vij, Ayesha Raza, Chandan K. Anand, Aryan Arora, Rewa Arora
Star – 3

There was a time when women were few in the army. There were also, in departments like Engineering, Medical, Legal, Signal and Educational Wings. But conditions have changed over the years. Avni Chaturvedi, Bhavna Kanth and Mohana Singh are flying combat aircraft today as combat pilots. Now women have also reached the Navy. The Indian Army has also decided to increase the representation of women in view of their potential. The first batch of 100 women soldiers is expected to be commissioned by March 2021.

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Women like Gunjan Saxena have an important role in the conditions that have changed today. She has inspired girls to fly in the sky with her ability, dedication and perseverance. Gunjan was the first woman pilot of the Air Force to fly a helicopter in a war zone. He did this feat during the Kargil War. Their task was to supply the troops to the battlefield, to evacuate the wounded and the martyred soldiers from the battlefield and to assist in monitoring the enemy. He was also awarded the gallantry award ‘Shaurya Chakra’. She is also known as ‘Kargil Girl’.

The film ‘Gunjan Saxena-The Kargil’ presents the story of the same Gunjan. The film shows Gunjan’s valor in the Kargil war as just a reference, not an extension of it. It basically portrays their struggle to become pilots and then establish themselves. The film also challenges the notion of society that joining the army, becoming a pilot is only the work of men and women cannot do such work.

 The script of the film is fine. Sharan Sharma’s direction is also fine. But in order to make the film spicy, the writer-director has portrayed the Air Force as a bit negative. Male pilots and officers are depicted in most parts of the film as if they hate Gunjan Saxena. Yes, there are no two opinions that there were no women in the Air Force at that time, so there was definitely an uneasy situation when a woman came into the unit. For the women, the unit did not have toilets and changing rooms, due to which they had to go through troubles. But the Air Force quickly corrected these discrepancies. Gunjan Saxena himself once said that he had to go through many difficulties. But the position was accepted by male pilots sooner than they expected. However, in the climax, the director has tried to fix this mess. The film is successful in keeping the audience engaged.

Jahnavi Kapoor is good as Gunjan. However, she could have done it better. Pankaj Tripathi is in his iconic style as Gunjan’s father Ashok Kumar Saxena. Ayesha Raza in the role of mother Kirti Saxena sometimes reminds of Farida Jalal. Angad Bedi had nothing special to do in Bhai’s character. Vineet Kumar is impressive in the role of Flight Commander Dilip Kumar. Manav Vij’s performance in the role of Commanding Officer Gautam Sinha is also good. Other artists are also fine.  
This film inspires and shows that women can work with full competence even in the battlefield and in difficult conditions. It is a film worth watching.