LOC Kargil

About the film

LOC: Kargil is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language epic historical war film based on the Kargil War fought between India and Pakistan, produced and directed by J. P. Dutta under his banner "J. P. Films". The film features an ensemble cast of Bollywood stars and music composed by Aadesh Shrivastava and Anu Malik, with the former composing the score and the latter composing the songs.

The film is based on the Indian Army's successful Operation Vijay that was launched in May 1999 in the wake of the Pakistani intrusion and occupation of the strategic heights in the Kargil sector to flush out the Pakistani intruders from the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC). Upon release, the film received a mixed response from critics and flopped at the box office. With a running time of 255 minutes, it is one of the longest Indian films ever made and fifth in terms of running time.

Plot

The film opens with an Indian soldier's wireless set chirping commands from a base, calling a patrol to report in while the radio operator lies dead. After attempts to locate lost patrols, Indian Army HQ in Jammu and Kashmir decides to deploy more troops. Lt. Saurabh Kalia and Lt. Amit Bharadhwaj are sent on reconnaissance patrols along the LoC. Kalia's patrol is wiped out; Bharadhwaj's suffers heavy casualties but returns. Pakistani forces shell across the LoC, targeting NH-1A. The Indian Army redeploys more troops but is beaten back by Pakistani intruders occupying peaks around Kargil and other areas. After reverses, maximum mobilization is ordered, deploying the best units, but orders from Delhi restrict crossing the LoC, leaving many battalions unaware of the threat, questioning the justification for such mobilization.

The first unit deployed is the 1st battalion, 11 Gorkha Rifles (1/11 GR), who are specialists in high-altitude warfare. 1/11 GR's commanding officer is Col. Lalit Rai, and the battalion has the charismatic and brave Lt. Manoj Pandey leading one of its platoons. Subsequently, the 18th battalion, The Grenadiers (18 Grenadiers), which was in the Kashmir Valley guarding against terrorist infiltration, was deployed in Kargil. Col. Khushal Thakur leads the battalion, and among the officers and soldiers are men like Lt. Col. R. Vishwanathan, Maj. Rajesh Adhikari, Lt. Balwan Singh, Capt. Sachin Nimbalkar and Grens. Yogendra Singh Yadav. 18 Grenadiers are followed by the 17th battalion, Jat Regiment (17 Jat) led by Col. Umesh Singh Bawa with Capt. Anuj Nayyar is leading one of its units. 17 Jat is followed by the 13th battalion, Jammu & Kashmir Rifles (13 JAK Rif) commanded by Maj. turned Lt. Col. Yogesh Kumar Joshi (Joe) with Lt. Vikram Batra leading one of its units. Other battalions are subsequently inducted into the theatre of conflict. The Indian Air Force launches photographic reconnaissance missions to identify the intruders.

The first assault was carried out by the 1/11 GR advance platoon, led by Lt. Pandey, who first captured Yaldar village and linked up with a beleaguered and severely mauled company from the 3rd battalion, Punjab Regiment (3 Punjab). JCOs from 3 Punjab reveal that earlier patrols from 3 Punjab and 16 Grenadiers had gone missing in the Kukarthang sector. Lt. Pandey's platoon followed the patrol paths and launched an attack on Kukarthang post, a very heavily defended enemy position supported by mortar units and artillery batteries on the Pakistani side of the LoC. The Gorkhas captured Kukarthang after taking 9 casualties. It is later revealed that the size of the infiltration was much larger than previously thought. Indian Army planners believe that approximately 3,000 members of the Pakistan Army's Northern Light Infantry were involved.

Production

Just like J. P. Dutta's previous war film Border, the Indian military provided technical and material assistance during the production and filming of LOC Kargil. Weapons depicted were those used in the Kargil war, like different variants of the INSAS rifle family as well as Swedish Bofors Haubits FH77 artillery guns and BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers. Indian Air Force planes like SEPECAT Jaguars in bombing roles and helicopters like Mil Mi-17s and HAL Cheetahs were shown in casualty evacuation roles. Pakistani artillery depicted were Indian field guns and 81 mm mortars. SLRs stood in for the G3 rifles used by the Pakistan Army.

Shah Rukh Khan was first offered Sanjay Dutt's role, but things couldn't be worked out. Aamir Khan was the initial choice for Karan Nath's role. Rahul Khanna and Arbaaz Khan were signed for the film, but both walked out later. Jackie Shroff was signed for the film but dropped out later. Salman Khan was the original choice for Abhishek Bachchan's role. Mukesh Khanna was signed for the film but was later replaced by Raj Babbar. Danny Denzongpa was signed for the film but later opted-out; Sudesh Berry replaced him later.

Soundtrack

The music of this movie was composed by Anu Malik, with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 15,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's eighth highest-selling.

Reception

Anupama Chopra of India Today called LOC: Kargil "Wasted effort" and wrote, "Stretching to more than four hours, the film feels almost as long as the actual conflict." Anita Bora for Rediff.com wrote, "The battle scenes are gruesome, loud and hammer at you, much like the blazing guns in the background. But a lot has gone into making the scenes as realistic as possible. ... The one negative factor is its length. This might deter many from watching the movie. Possibly a slightly edited version, keeping it within 3 hours is called for". Kavitha K of Deccan Herald wrote, "The movie has crisp dialogues (O.P. Dutta), good cinematography (Karim Khatri), well executed war sequences (Bhiku Verma), but fails to keep the viewer riveted for four long hours because of the surfeit of cameos, canons and caterwauling damsels."

Key details