Men in uniform have always fascinated Bollywood filmmakers. Films such as Haqeeqat, Saat Hindustani, Border, Lakshya, LOC Kargil and in recent times, Uri, have all been based on real stories. The box office too has rewarded these stories time and again. In fact, filmmaker Meghana Gulzar will soon start working on her next which is based on Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw and will star Vicky Kaushal in the lead. While these filmmakers have been focussing on telling stories through the three-hour format, the need for a more elaborate platform has pushed filmmakers to move to the OTT platform. It started with Bard of Blood produced by Shah Khan’s Red Chillies, which was about a disgraced intelligence agent.
Director Kabir Khan’s The Forgotten Army is now streaming on Amazon. The story revolves around Colonel Surinder Sodhi, a retired army officer played by MK Raina, who meets his family after a long time and narrates the tale of the Azad Hind Fauj to his grandson Amar, aka Karanvir Malhotra. Sunny Kaushal plays the young Surinder Sodhi in the 1940s. The voice-over has been given by Shah Rukh Khan. The series is based on an earlier documentary by the director. Khan, who was 25 then, says he always yearned to turn it into a bigger presentation. “Now with the OTT platform, I got the opportunity to narrate the story in an elaborate form,” says Khan. For Kaushal, the experience was overwhelming. “They were people who gave up their lives for us. I feel grateful and responsible that I have been given the chance to tell their stories,” he says.
Filmmaker Neeraj Pandey also recently debuted on the OTT platform with Special Ops, an espionage thriller series, which is streaming on Hotstar now. Co-directed by Shivam Nair, the series is a spin-off on the Parliament terror attack of December 13, 2001. Not new to portraying men in uniform, Pandey wanted a larger bandwidth, something that would give him seven-plus hours to tell his story. “This attack has always been on my mind and I have been working on it for a long time,” he says, adding that the search for a more detailed storytelling platform culminated in him taking to web series.
In fact, Pandey’s actors too couldn’t be happier about going the extra mile. Divya Dutta says, “It’s well researched and executed and the larger platform made it more interesting.” Actor Kay Kay Menon agrees and adds that the scale of the series was a big draw. “These men and women are unsung heroes of our time.” It also stars Meher Vij, who plays an undercover agent.
Tales of Valour is a series on Times Now, talking about the bravehearts who have gone beyond their call of duty. It is shot at real locations and features some of the living Param Veer Chakra awardees. Then there is State of Seige 26/11 directed by Matthew Leutwyler on Zee 5 and Amazon starring Arjan Bajwa, Arjun Bijlani and Vivek Dahiya. It’s about the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Code M is another one by Juggernaut Productions for ALT Balaji and Zee 5. The series stars Jennifer Winget, Tanuj Virwani and Rajat Kapoor and is about an Indian Army lawyer who discovers a conspiracy plot during her investigation of a military encounter case. Finally, there is Operation Parindey, a movie on Zee 5 about the infamous jail break in Nabha district in Punjab.Let the reel unroll to keep you entertained.