Showing posts with label Nazir Ahmad Wani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nazir Ahmad Wani. Show all posts
The Indian Army was forgiving enough to give a militant an opportunity-Harman Baweja
11:06 PM
Set to depict Lance Naik Wani’s journey from militant to Army man, Ikhwan maker Harman on how he assured late hero’s wife of telling the story with sensitivity
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; April 13, 2024)
When Harman Baweja learnt that a militant-turned-soldier became the first Kashmiri to earn an Ashoka Chakra, the actor-producer knew there was a story to be explored. That’s how the seeds of Ikhwan, a drama based on the late Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani’s life, were sown.
“It’s the journey of a boy who got swayed by militancy. When he realised he was on the wrong side, he became a soldier. It’s a story of redemption. Also, the Indian Army was forgiving enough to give a militant an opportunity to prove that he wanted to do the right thing,” says Baweja.
Taking the story of the late hero, who was killed in a counter-terrorist operation in 2018, to the masses is a big undertaking. Baweja says a vital part of the process was to assure Wani’s wife Mehjabeen Akhtar of his honest intention. He credits Lieutenant General Satish Dua for facilitating their interaction.
“His wife shows tremendous courage, and wears everything as a badge of honour. It was important to make them understand that we’d approach the film with care and sensitivity. After she understood our vision, the family was amazing to us. We went to Kashmir a few times, and they came down to Mumbai as well.”
Films on patriotism often veer into jingoism. But Baweja says a lot of research, aided by historians, has gone into it. “The difference between patriotism and jingoism is the difference between love and obsession. Love is a selfless emotion. There is an inherent patriotism to this character.”
While he remains tight-lipped on who will play the protagonist, he shares that Ikhwan will roll in the second half of 2024.
J P Dutta penning a biopic on the first Ashok Chakra awardee from Kashmir, Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani
8:02 AM
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; July 21, 2019)
Last year, he completed his war trilogy with Paltan, which revolved around the 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes between the Indian and Chinese troops. And now, filmmaker J P Dutta has gone back to the drawing board. While his daughter Nidhi and his plans to make a historical are already afoot, Dutta has also started penning a biopic. In a first of sorts, he does not plan to direct the film, but will only produce it with Nidhi.Hearsay is that the biopic is based on Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, the first Kashmiri to receive an Ashoka Chakra. He was awarded posthumously this Republic Day by President Ram Nath Kovind, and his wife Mehjabeen had collected the award. Wani, a Sena Medal winner, was lauded for his fearlessness and display of valour in a counter-insurgency operation in Kashmir in 2018.
The film is set in the strife-torn Kashmir of the 1990s and it encapsulates the soldier’s story alongside the key incidents, which occurred in the state across the last two decades, that have shaped its present. According to a source close to the Duttas, the filmmaker and his daughter are in talks to finalise a director and actors for this film before starting JP’s next as a director. “J P Dutta stumbled upon the idea of this biopic during the course of a conversation with friends from the army a few months ago. With this film, he plans to explore Kashmir as a subject; it’s something he has followed it for years,” says our source.
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