The trailer of Disney+ Hotstar's Bhuj: The Pride Of India promises everything one wishes to see in an old-school Hindi war film — ample melodrama, a lot of action, romance, dancing and patriotic speeches to stir the blood. The trailer captures the emotional turmoil of soldiers and villagers, the determination of women ready to die for the nation, the preparation for retaliation and, above all, their love for Mother India.
The film is based on actual events where an Indian Air Force squadron leader, Vijay Karnik, reconstructed the Bhuj airbase with the help of 300 women from the village of Madhapar amid incessant raids by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, but the trailer doesn't focus this particular aspect. Instead, it showcases a few characters and how their combined efforts helped India counter Pakistan's constant airstrikes.
The trailer lands us directly in the middle of the action when the PAF destroys the airfield, leaving the Indian Air Force susceptible to another attack. Without the runaway and airbase. Apart from depicting Devgn's IAF squadron leader Karnik gunning down aeroplanes, Sonakshi Sinha's character, a courageous village woman, is seen confronting a wild leopard. Sanjay Dutt, Sharad Kelkar, Nora Fatehi and Amy Virk's characters also get their moment of glory and action set piece.
The trailer hints that the Bhuj: The Pride will hearken back to Hindi war movies of the early 2000s where every emotion is underlined by the dramatic score to heighten the effect, every dialogue is written with the intention of creating memorable quotes, and dance numbers manoeuvre their way in between tense do-or-die moments.
Devgn and Kelkar look convincing as determined army officers ready to kill or be killed. Fatehi and Dutt seem to be playing undercover spies. The trailer doesn't reveal much about Sinha and Pranitha Subhash's characters but one hopes they play a significant role in the film.
Bhuj: The Pride Of India has been directed by Abhishek Dudhaiya and is set to be premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on 13 August 2021.
Check out the trailer and let us know if you are keen on watching the movie.