communityFighter, starring Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan, and Anil Kapoor, is one of the week’s most anticipated film releases. Fighter is the first film in a planned aerial action franchise. Although it has gained popularity for various reasons. Not only is it Deepika and Hrithik’s first film together, but the plot of Fighter, is based on a true story of patriotism.
If you’ve seen the Fighter trailer, you may know that the plot is based on the true story of Pakistan’s 2019 attacks on India. The film follows a group of top IAF pilots who band together to face an imminent threat. The film makes references to the 2019 Pulwama attack, the 2019 Balakot airstrike, and the 2019 India-Pakistan border skirmishes. As well as how the IAF pilots returned it to the terrorists when the time came.
The plot of ‘Fighter’ begins with a Pakistani Army official and their supported terrorists discussing plans to infiltrate terrorism in India. Hrithik playing Shamsher Pathania, also known as Patty, the ‘best’ pilot at the Srinagar IAF station. Deepika Padukone is one of the helicopter pilots, and Anil Kapoor is their reporting boss. The main antagonist, Azhar Akhtar, is portrayed by Rishabh Sawhney. He plots to attack the Indian Army with the assistance of the Pakistani Army. One fighter jet, carrying two pilots, crashes inside the PoK during one of the ambushes. They manage to escape the crash in time, though, and are apprehended by adversaries. The primary plot of “Fighter” now centers on the Indian side’s decision to repatriate its officers.
The film’s story writer is former army officer Ramon Chibb. Compared to Pathaan (2023), Fighter has “much heavier” action scenes. Hrithik Roshan spent time with the pilots and cadets at the Air Force training academy in Telangana. Real-life Indian Air Force cadets contributed to the movie as well, providing information about the attacks, the Air Force team, and how they operated. The movie will open in theatres on January 25, 2024, which falls over the weekend of Republic Day.
In the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in the Pulwama district, there was a suicide bombing on February 14, 2019. More than forty members of the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed. The assailant was a member of the Pakistani militant organization Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The attackers’ militant group took credit for the attack. The incident heightened tensions between Pakistan and India, prompting calls for the Indian government to take firm action. The fighter’s storyline will heavily draw from the actual account of this incident.
On February 26, 2019, India launched an airstrike against what it claimed to be a terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, in retaliation for the Pulwama attack. Claiming to have carried out a preemptive, non-military, anti-terrorism operation. The Indian Air Force claimed to have seriously damaged the JeM camp. The Balakot airstrike was the first publicly acknowledged crossing of the Line of Control (LoC). The de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region, to conduct airstrikes on Pakistani soil since the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War. But this marked a significant escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. Pakistan refuted India’s allegations, claiming that there were no casualties and only minor damage from the Indian airstrikes.
The military clashes between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama attack and the ensuing Balakot airstrike are referred to as the 2019 India-Pakistan border skirmishes. The de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region, the Line of Control (LoC), is where these skirmishes took place. On February 27, 2019, Pakistan launched airstrikes across the Line of Control in retaliation for the Balakot Airstrike. Pak force shot down an Indian MiG-21 aircraft during aerial combat, and they apprehended Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the aircraft’s pilot.
China, the United States, and the UN all demanded moderation and de-escalation. On March 1, 2019, as a show of goodwill, Pakistan released the Indian pilot which resulted in the hostilities decreasing. Diplomatic tensions lingered between India and Pakistan even as the direct military tensions decreased. Both nations persisted in accusing one another of aiding terrorism, and the Kashmir dispute remained a divisive topic.
However, the border skirmishes in 2019 brought to light the tense dynamics between India and Pakistan, especially about the disputed territory of Kashmir. International concern over the events grew, and both countries were urged to use caution. The international community emphasized a peaceful settlement of the long-standing problems between the two nations.