History gives us stories that are richer than our imagination. Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma will agree with this. Only a few months ago, he told the story of late football coach-manager Syed Abdul Rahim with Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan. Now, the director has found his next in the faraway locales of West Africa. Sharma is set to direct Operation Khukri, based on the Indian Armed Forces’ mission in Sierra Leone.

In July 2000, several countries, including India, sent their troops to Sierra Leone as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission. This was the first time when the peacekeeping mission was being spearheaded by an Indian soldier as Force Commander. But soon, Indian soldiers were surrounded and held hostage at Kailahun in the West African country. Indian Armed Forces’ personnel from 14th Mech Infantry, 5/8th Gorkha Rifles, Para SF Forces, Indian Air Force and several different divisions came together to execute the rescue mission, named Operation Khukri. The event highlighted the Indian Armed Forces’ professional competence internationally.

Excited about adding a mission film to his résumé, Sharma calls it a once-in-a lifetime project. “I am happy that Athena E&M and Chrome Pictures are backing this important story waiting to be told,” he says. Doing justice to the story and its scale will be tough, he admits.

“The biggest challenge is to showcase the massive scale of this operation, which involved various parts of Indian Armed Forces. Added to that is the complexity of telling a story inspired by true events, which happened in a foreign territory.” 

Casting will be finalized at a later stage. For now, Girish Kohli of Kesari (2019) fame is penning the script. He says, “The scale of the operation and the pride factor attached with the rescue mission made for a compelling cinematic retelling.”