Kargil Vijay Diwas 2022: Hindi Movies That Paid Homage to the War

KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS 2022: The Kargil War between India and Pakistan was fought from May 3 till July 26, 1999 after the Pakistani Army illegally occupied Indian land at the Line of Control (LOC) in Kargil. About 30,000 Indian soldiers fought against Pakistani troops and won. 527 Indian soldiers were martyred. Indian cinema has, since then, paid tributes to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for this country through many films. On the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, we look at five Bollywood films that deal with the war.

1. Dhoop (2003)
   Captain Anuj Nayyar was one of the Indian Army officers who died defending Kargil’s Tiger Hill from the Pakistani military. Directed by Ashwini Chaudhary, Dhoop deals with the aftermath of Nayar’s death and shows the harassment suffered by his parents at the hands of government officials and goons while trying to rebuild their broken lives. The film stars Om Puri, Revathy, Sanjay Suri and Gul Panag, among others.
2. LOC: Kargil (2003)
   Directed by J.P. Dutta of ‘Border’ (1997) fame, LOC: Kargil focuses on the Kargil War from its inception to conclusion. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Nagarjuna, Ashutosh Rana, Saif Ali Khan, Raveena Tandon, and Rani Mukerji, Esha Deol, Mahima Chaudhry, among others. The film received a mixed response.
3. Lakshya (2004)
   Farhan Akhtar directed this fictional coming-of-age drama, interwoven with events from the Kargil War of 1999. The protagonist, Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan), is an aimless man who eventually joins the Indian Army and helps win the Kargil War against Pakistan. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Boman Irani and Om Puri, among others.
4. Mausam (2011)
   Mausam is a romantic drama directed by Pankaj Kapur, starring Shahid Kapur, Sonam Kapur and Supriya Pathak, among others. Apart from the Kargil War, the film also deals with events like the Demolition of the Babri Masjid (December 6, 1992), the Bombay riots (December 6, 1992- January 26, 1993), the Bombay bombings of 1993 and the Godhra riots (2002).
5. Shershaah (2021)
   Tamil filmmaker Vishnuvardhan directed the biopic of Captain Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra), martyred on July 7, 1999, after re-capturing Point 4875 at Kargil from Pakistani troops. Kiara Advani portrayed Batra’s fiancée Dimple Cheema, who chose to remain unmarried in his memory.