Vijeta

About the film

Vijeta (English: The Victor) is a 1982 Indian coming-of-age Hindi film produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Govind Nihalani. It stars Shashi Kapoor, his son Kunal Kapoor, Rekha, Amrish Puri and Supriya Pathak with K.K. Raina, Raja Bundela and Shafi Inamdar.

Plot

Angad (Kunal Kapoor) is a confused teenager trying to find himself and is caught in between the marital problems of his Maharashtrian mother Neelima (Rekha) and Punjabi father Nihal (Shashi Kapoor), it is time for him to decide what he wants to do with his life. Angad chooses to join the Indian Air Force and become a fighter pilot. What follows is his struggle to become a victor both with his self and the outer world. Angad is attracted to Anna Varghese (Supriya Pathak), who is the daughter of his flying instructor Group Captain Varghese (Amrish Puri) a Malayali Syrian Christian. Angad must learn to adapt to flying, leaving his mom and dad for long periods of time, as well as try and woo Anna who helps him overcome his fears and realize his potential as a fighter pilot. Nihal is a clean-shaven Sikh, Neelima is a Hindu, Angad is a Sikh and Anna a Christian, while Angad's fellow officers represent all religions.

The film is notable for some rarely seen aerial photography of combat aircraft active with the IAF in the 1980s. The central character of Angad is a MiG-21 pilot and is shown flying the aircraft in the ground attack role in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Much of the movie, including the climax involving a MiG-21bis, was shot at Pune. The IAF No.4 Squadron (the 'Oorials') provided the pilots and planes for the film's aerial sequences. The movie included good color footage of the Oorials aircraft in flight and in operation.

Music

"Man Aanand Aanand Chhaayo" - Asha Bhosle, Satyasheel Deshpande

Reception

Film World magazine rated the film "Good" and wrote, "Vijeta is perhaps the first film of its kind, a film which shows the Indian Air Force, its gallant men and their life in true colours." According to Asiaweek, "Vijeta is a tribute to the IAF in celebration of its golden jubilee last year".

Key details