Samar Khan, producer and writer of The Test Case (2017), says that he never understood the logic behind the argument that women need to be like men and behave like them to be in the uniformed forces. The writer says that through this series he wanted to address those stereotypes and explain that patriotism is gender neutral.

Samar says, “I was in the National Defence Academy (NDA) for three years and I have a lot of friends who joined the Army. We also used to have the debate — Should women be allowed to join the Army? Is it logical? Army is pretty much the last male bastion. Through this series, I wanted to ask — what if something like that happens? The idea of The Test Case was that if a woman faces any kind of hardship or pushback in the male world, will she use the woman card. And our protagonist doesn’t use the woman card. I wanted to convey through the series that she will handle the situation in a gender-neutral manner. The point I wanted to address was that problems in the workplace need to be addressed from a gender agnostic point of view.”

Samar adds that the Army and uniformed forces are so male dominated that everything is from the point of view of men. He says, “We have slogans like ‘we make men out of boys’. It is not their fault either, because till now everything has been about men. The show’s dialogues were primarily written to address the stereotypes that men have about a woman in uniform. I have never understood the stereotype that ‘women have to be like men in a man’s world’. No, women don’t have to be like men. Women have to be women. We had a whole team that worked to address and break these stereotypes through the show. There was one dialogue which caught the spirit of the show — Deshbhakti gender dekh ke nahi aati. You can be patriotic irrespective of whether you are a man or a woman.”

Nimrat Kaur received a lot of praise for her performance in the show. Samar shares that Nimratwas his first and only choice for this role. “I knew that Nimrat’s dad was in the Army and he was a serving officer when he passed away. For this role, I wanted somebody who would understand the ethos of the Army. She worked really hard for it, and spent almost six months to get ready. I would say that for her it was almost like a tribute to her father.”

The writer adds that the audience sees too many male characters in shows and films about the armed forces, and with this show, he wanted to break the mould. “Cinema is a powerful influencer. By showcasing more women officers in the armed forces, there is a possibility that a girl sitting in a small town might watch it and say, ‘I also want to wear the uniform and live that life’.”

Samar says even though when his shows questions some issues, he is extremely mindful to be respectful toward the Army. He says, “More than anything I don’t want to ever let down my friends in the Army. For me, it is important that the Army is portrayed in the right way because most of us do not understand the kind of hardships they go through and the life they lead. I don’t think we have to sugarcoat things (while making shows) but we have to be respectful.”

The Test Case got good feedback from Army officers and Samar believes that this was possible only because the show didn’t undermine the Army. He says, “We have not undermined the uniform. If there is a problem with an individual within an organization then the organization is strong enough to take action against that person. The Army doesn’t let any bad apples remain there and they take action. In The Test Case also, I have shown that the Army is not an organization that will tolerate any discrimination or behaviour that paints its soldiers in a negative light – be it a man or a woman.”

Samar adds, “Today we are seeing women being given more command roles. I don’t think I have done anything great but I think I can still take a little bit of credit and say ‘Look, we have shown you this six years ago.’ Today, the Army has taken a stand that there will be women in the NDA. These changes are small steps in the right direction.”