Rating : 3.7/5
Genre : Bio-pic
Year : 2020
Running time : 1 hour 48 minutes
Director : Sharan Sharma
Cast : Janhvi Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Vineet Singh, Angad Bedi, Manav Vij
Kid rating : G
Podcast Review : Here
Gunjan Saxena is another bio-pic, based on the accomplishments of Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena, the first female IAF officer to participate and excel in wartime activities. She’s also the first female Shaurya Chakra awardeee.
The plot: Saxena is born into an army household and wants to become a pilot. When all her attempts are thwarted, and flying school is too expensive, she applies to and is selected to be an IAF pilot. At her first posting in the Udhampur Air Force Base, she is the only female officer among a sea of men, and faces sexism and discrimination because of her gender. Despite that, Gunjan strives to excel and performs admirably during the Kargil war.
The focus of this film is Gunjan Saxena’s personal struggle to become a successful IAF pilot – thankfully this doesn’t give us a familial angle like Shakuntala Devi! The story is helmed well, showing us how a child’s passion for flying translates to her professional career. I loved the beautiful father-daughter relationship in the film. It is very moving to see the support and love Gunjan gets from her father, especially as she is flying in the face of traditional mores (pun intended), which advocate that Gunjan “settle down” like any other good Indian girl.
The film details out, and gives a lot of screen time to show the discrimination Gunjan faces from her peers and superiors. Showing that is important because the discrimination is unrelenting, she faces it day in and day out, time and again, despite trying her best, working hard and playing by the rules. It shows us her uphill battle and makes her victory, when it comes, more sweet. It shows her resolve and the fact that even though the IAF top brass might think along egalitarian lines and bring in female officers, spreading said egalitarian values to the grassroots level has yet been ineffective. Women who go into such male-dominated fields must grow spines of steel to be successful in them.
The film has some great acting. Pankaj Tripathi as Gunjan’s father, is fantastic, probably his best performance to date, understated yet carrying conviction. Ayesha Raza Mishra and Angad Bedi play her mom and brother respectively, and are effective. Vineet Singh (whom we saw in the fabulous Mukkabaaz) is Wing Commander Dileep Singh, her domineering, unfair boss, who is mostly responsible for the poor treatment she receives – he either engineers or condones it. Singh, who is impeccable in every role he plays is no different here.
The weakest link is Jahnvi. I did like her work in Dhadak, but here, while she brings in innocence and naiveté (owing to Gunjan’s sheltered upbringing) and enthusiasm, she doesn’t quite deliver on the scenes where her resolve and courage must shine through. In the war scenes, where the real Gunjan must have displayed determination, Jahnvi seems tentative and unsure. The real-life Gunjan Saxena must be an extraordinary woman – no ordinary woman could take that terrible, ostracizing sexism thrown at her day-after-unrelenting-day and still manage to stay her course. Unfortunately for Jahnvi (and I do hope she matures and improves) she isn’t able to portray that extraordinariness on screen.
The film is still well-made, and nicely crafted. The story lines and characters are believable and well-rounded. Gunjan Saxena is a good film; I recommend you watch it with your family.
Kidwise: Some depictions of war and violence, but otherwise clean.
