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Hrithik Roshan plays an Indian Air Force Officer in the upcoming film Fighter. Helmed by Siddharth Anand, the film is all set to release on January 25, 2024. The film is about a group of IAF fighters who come together for a mission against Pakistan. It also stars Deepika Padukone, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, and Sanjeeda Shaikh as Indian Air Force officers.
After watching the cast look terrific in uniforms, we thought we would research a bit about men and women in uniform on-screen. To our surprise, while there are plenty of films made on the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, and Navy remain much unexplored on-screen.
Quite a few of the films have IAF as the backdrop, while there are rare films made on the Indian Air Force that offer a detailed story about officers and their war valors. Recently, Kangana Ranaut‘s Tejas had the actress play an IAF officer, and the film tanked at the box office. Before Tejas, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, a biopic on war hero Gunjan Saxena, was released on Netflix, where Janhvi Kapoor played the title role. Even Ajay Devgn’s Bhuj: The Pride of India, released in 2021 on Hotstar, was a film that explored the Indian Air Force.
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Bollywood’s ‘Love’ With IAF As Backdrop
The first Bollywood film that dealt with the backdrop of the Indian Air Force was Sangam, which was released in 1962. The story revolves around an IAF officer who was assumed dead in war but comes back to the love of his life, who has moved on with his best friend. The love triangle struck the right chord and collected 4 crore at the box office, turning into the highest-grossing film of that year. Made on a budget of 80 lakh, the film registered a profit of almost 387%.
The next film that had IAF as the backdrop was Aradhna, which was again a blockbuster with Rajesh Khanna playing an Air Force Officer. The film collected 3.5 crore at the box office, but Bollywood was still far away from exploring the Indian Air Force as the main subject.
Lalkar was another film that was the first to delve a little deeper into the subject. Helmed by Ramanand Sagar, the 1972 film had Dharmendra and Rajendra Kumar playing brothers. While one of them served the army, the other served the IAF, both of them falling for the same girl, but which of them would survive the battle to come back to their love was the exact plot twist. The film fared well at the box office.
The First War Film
The first film that involved a war and Indian Air Force was Hindustan Ki Kasam in 1973 which was a disaster at the box office. It was followed by another disaster titled Vijeta in 1982. While the former starred Chetan Anand, Vijay Anand, and Raaj Kumar, the latter starred Shashi Kapoor. In an interview the actor revealed that many Air Force Officers suggested him to make a film on them.
The First Success
For the first time, the role of IAF was seen as a subplot in 1997 with Anil Sharma’s Border, where Jackie Shroff played an Air Force Officer. The film, however, was a war film dedicated to the Indian Army that collected 39.6 crore at the box office. A similar sub-plot was seen in 2019’s Uri: The Surgical Strike, which collected 244 crore at the box office. Kirti Kulhari played an IAF officer in the film.
Another IAF Disaster
Apart from Lalkar, Vijeta, and Hindustan Ki Kasam, another IAF disaster was Agnipankh, which starred Jimmy Shergill. The film collected only 55 lakh at the box office and was a disaster, though it had a gripping tale to tell about IAF officers.
More Films With IAF Officers As The Protagonists
Two notable blockbusters that had the Indian Air Force as the backdrop was Veer Zara, which had Shah Rukh Khan playing an Air Force Officer. It was released in 2004 and collected 43 crore at the box office. Rang De Basanti in 2006 had R Madhavan playing an Air Force Officer whose death triggered a revolution that formed a gripping tale. The film collected 53 crore at the box office. In 2011, Shahid Kapoor played an Air Force Officer in Mausam which was a disaster at the box office that collected 31.5 crore.
So, the Indian Air Force as the main theme has not been a success story at the box office. Hopefully, Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter will break the jinx. Helmed by Siddharth Anand, the film also stars Deepika Padukone. The film is Hrithik and Siddharth’s third collaboration after two hits, Bang Bang and War, and Siddharth and Deepika’s second collaboration after Pathaan.
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
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