Teaser launch of 120 Bahadur: War is not only about winning, it’s also about heroics

India lost the battle of Rezang La, in the Indo-China war, of 1962. It was an unequal battle. Battles and wars are very rarely fought among equals. At -24 degrees Celsius, and with no warning, 3,000-5,000 Chinese militarymen attacked 120 Indian troops. The result was a foregone conclusion. But one man, Major Shaitan Singh, of the Indian army, exhibited such heights of bravery that he was posthumously awarded the ParamVir Chakra (Super Bravery Medal), the highest military honour, for those who died fighting for the motherland. Pankaj Dheer played the character in the eponymous TV serial, made the Anand brothers: eldest Chetan Anand and youngest, Vijay Anand. I had the honour of dubbing the voices of many actors who appeared in this serial, along with Vijay Anand, who was seated next to me, and had a microphone and TV screen in front of him, like I had. Chetan Anand had made, what was probably India’s first war film, Haqeeqat.

Faiz Ahmed 'Faiz', the poet laureate of the sub-continent, had written decades before ParamVir Chakra and Haqeeqat, ‘Jis dhaj se koyee maqtal men gayaa, Voh shaan salaamat rehtee hae, Yeh jaan to aanee-jaanee hae, Is jaan kee koyee baat naheen.’ Roughly translated, it means that 'the exalted manner in which someone entered the battleground is the grandeur that remains intact. This life is something that comes and goes, And it is not worth talking about." So aptly put. It is this never-say-die spirit, this bravura, this death-defying resistance, put-up by Indian soldiers in the battle, is captured in Excel Entertainment’s latest strike on the battleground of patriotism and heroics. And Farhan Akhtar, partner of Excel Entetainment (with Ritesh Sidhwani) returns to the screen to don make-up, after Toofaan (2021), the voice of Ben Andrews in The Archies notwithstanding.

Farhan is 51. And the actors who have worked with him in this film are in the age group of 20-50. Some 10 of them were present at the launch of then teaser at IMAX Palladium Phoenix, Lower Parel, Mumbai. Constantly riled whenever someone talked about watching Farhan while at school or college, reminding him of his age, albeit indirectly, he was thrilled when somebody told him that Haqeeqat was made in 1962, some 11 years before he was even born, he was so delighted that the reference was to an eon when he was yet to be born, that he left the stage and went up to the person who was actually going to ask a question after that comment about Haqeeqat, jumped over a packed cinema hall crowd, many sitting on the steps, reached the seventh row, and gave him a real warm hug. Jhappee, anyone? That 'somebody', ladies and gentlemen, was yours truly.

I asked him and director Razneesh ‘Raaz’ Ghai whether they have gone the whole hog, given the present scenario that welcomes films on patriotism with fervour, and they replied in the affirmative. “I am the son of an army-man, so directing this film adds a huge responsibility on me. European experts were called in to supervise and choreograph the battle scenes and the results have been mind-blowing.” Razneesh has directed the 2021 film Dhaakad, with Kangana Ranaut as Agent Agni, a highly trained and deadly field agent, entrusted with the mission to gather intel and eliminate Rudraveer, an international human and arms trafficker, who has been off the radar for ten years. It was co-written by Rajiv G. Menon, who again, has co-written 120 Bahadur, this time with Sumit Arora. At its heart are the braveheart declarations: “Hum Peechhe Nahin Hatenge!” (We will not retreat) — a line that echoes throughout the visuals and sets the emotional core of the film, and "Yeh vardi sirf himmat naheen, balidaan bhee maangtee hai!"

Somebody asked if the producers were planning to release the film, like its trailer, in IMAX, and Ritesh parried the question to distributor Anil Thadani, who, seated in the audience (he is a low profile, high rank distributor), who apparently said “Yes.” So are we going to see 120 Bahadur (120 braves) in IMAX format? November, when the film releases, will tell.

Here are some of the names of actors who you will see on the screen in this small, but epic battle:

Vivan Bhatena

Ankit Siwach

Eijaz Khan

Ashutosh Shukla

Ajinkya Deo

Dhanveer Singh

Sahib Verma

Atul Singh

Brijesh Karanwal

Sparsh Walia

Add Farhan himself, in the titular role, and you have a 10% representation of the Bahadurs at the event, 12 out of 120: the Dirty, ooops…. the Clean Dozen. Ajinkya Deo wowed his fans by speaking his first two lines in Marathi, the local language. The others spoke too, all uniformly bowled over at the VIP treatment they were given. Raashii went to the extent of saying that after this experience, she feels that other units do not pamper her as much as Excel did.

The boys, who included one man who is 50 (that is about as close as you can get to Farhan, in terms of age), and some, for whom this is their debut film, raved about the absolutely wonderful experience that had while shooting the film, as did Raashii Khanna, the only female on stage, and, perhaps, in the film. She recalled having done an ad film with Farhan 10 years ago.

Farhan was modesty personified, in his answers, and I could not believe that he actually came over and hugged me. Asked by a member of the press whether box-office really mattered to Excel, he said that reaching the masses is more important. In that sense, high box office collections meant that more people had seen the film, and that is what he wants. He denied that he makes or picks subjects and films that have a message. If he can engage the audience, that is ample reward. Responding to the constant refrain from the cast that the film found them, and not the other way round, Farhan opined, "I believe that paths find wayfarers." 

RJ Rohini, who used to be a regular at Amazon Prime Video events, conducted the show very competently, this time going a little slow in back-slapping and blowing trumpets, de rigueur extolling the greatness of the film and its cast and crew. That was a welcome sign. An anchor or job is really unenviable. If he/she underplays the role, the organisers feel that he/she has not really delivered. On the other hand, if he/she goes really overboard, then discerning audiences might get turned off. But here there were at least 200 ‘fans’ present, who applauded and blew whistles on cue, along with patriotic and religious slogans. Actually a no-brainer, but somebody suggested that the name of Excel Entertainment should be changed to Excellent Entertainment, with the line-up they have in their stable--Dil Chahta Hai, Don – The Chase Begins Again, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Rock On!!, Luck by Chance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Don 2 – The King Is Back, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Superboys of Malegaon--and the way they treat their unit. Well, one is said to Excel when one is Excellent, isn’t it?

Teaser? As expected, it is as contemporary, technically and subject-wise, as 2025, and as realistic as what we believe must have been the scene in 1962. Not only is the sacrifice of the men given their due, the women, represented here by an army wife, played by Raashii, have got their rightful place in the narrative. Snow, guns, bullets and blood. Gore, and more. Also present on the occasion, to offer his blessings, was Major Shaitan Singh's son, Narpat Singh Bhati. He visited the Rezang La War Memorial with three generations of his family, to pay tribute to his father and the other soldiers who fought in the battle, according to a post on X, from the @firefurycorps_IA. Narpat Singh was a teenager when his father died. Narpat provided the film’s a deep insight into the events that rocked the Himalayas in 1962.

Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar (Excel Entertainment) and Amit Chandrra (Trigger Happy Studios), 120 Bahadur was shot across the rocky, mountain terrain of Ladakh, Rajasthan, and in Mumbai. As Farhan might put it, Rock On!

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