BY REEMA CHHABDA
Story:
Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl is a real life story of a normal girl with normal dreams and extra struggles. With a supportive dad and unsupportive brother, Gunjan’s story is a tale that shows how a dream can only come true when you take efforts for it.
The film starts with Gunjan (Janhvi Kapoor) on her first mission during the 1999 Kargil War. The film then goes on rewind and starts from the point where a young girl starts dreaming of becoming a commercial pilot. The story takes off where Gunjan end up becoming an air force pilot as the family cannot afford the fees that commercial training requires.
On one hand, she has her father (Pankaj Tripathi) on her side throughout her struggles wjereas on the other hand, her older brother, Anshuman (Angad Bedi) tells her that girls can’t do what she’s dreaming of.
Writing:
Nikhil Mehrotra and Sharan Sharma briefly explained the situation and story through their writing. Nothing fancy but a sweet story with struggles was penned by the writers without taking much U-turns in the story of the film.
Direction:
Sharan Sharma’s direction in Gunjan Saxena is as simple as the story of the film demands. With no show offs, the film focuses on the story more than anything extra. Overall, decent direction made the film more interesting. The film also offers a very well shot camera work.
Performances:
Janhvi Kapoor plays a very strong character as Gunjan Saxena in the film. She is honest with her character, although a few more expressions would have made it a perfect act.
Pankaj Tripathi as Gunjan’s dad should deserve an award for playing the best dad for the film. His dialogues are so intense that at every line he says with utmost perfection, he becomes the ‘Father Of The Year’. He was surely the charm of the film.
Angad Bedi as Gunjan’s brother and Viineet Kumar Singh as Flight commander Dileep Singh plays the villain-ish part in the film continuously reminding Janhvi of ‘this is not girl job’, they both were perfect for their parts.
Manav Vij as Commanding officer does a cute part in Gunjan’s life by supporting her and judging her only through her talents and not gender. Keeping his angry look on the face all the time, his character is sure to melt your heart.
Music:
A story like this do not really need songs to complete them, but this film will change your mindset about this. Without wasting much time into the songs, the makers took a very clever step of keeping them as background tracks. Every song connects so well with the story that it will take you with the flow.
Verdict:
From dreaming of becoming a pilot to go through a lot of difficulties and finally completing them, Gunjan have set an example that we do not see dreams based on our genders. We dream to fulfill them. This film is a must watch.
Critics Rating:
Film review
Thumbs Up
- Performances
- Direction
- Writing
