Operation Safed Sagar REVIEW: Siddharth, Jimmy Shergill’s War Drama Soars In Paying Tribute To Kargil War Heroes

Film:
Operation Safed Sagar

Creators: Abhijeet Singh Parmar and Kushal Srivastava

Director: Oni Sen

Story, Screenplay: Sandeep Jain, Nikhil Ravi, Barun Kashyap, Abhijeet Singh Parmar 

Cast: Siddharth, Jimmy Shergill, Abhay Verma, Mihir Ahuja, Taaruk Raina, Arnav Bhasin, Dia Mirza, Prajakta Koli, Amrita Bagchi, Adil Hussain, Vinay Pathak

Runtime: 6 episodes (around 40-50 minutes each)

Platform: Netflix

Operation Safed Sagar Review

When it comes to war films, Bollywood has always delivered. Be it 1997 classic Border, LOC: Kargil (2003), Lakshya (2004) or the recent Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), Sam Bahadur (2023), Bollywood has rarely failed in delivering a films that has us at the edge of our seats or talking about it way after the credits roll by. Netflix’s Operation Safed Sagar is one such project. Centred on the Indian Armed Forces’ victory during the 1999 Kargil war, this series takes you to high altitudes and unimaginable terrains as the Indian Air Force, especially the Golden Arrows, take to the sky, fly at supersonic speeds and attack enemy based set up on mountain tops.

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While many know about the Kargil War, Operation Safed Sagar is termed as a ‘little-known’ aspect of the deadly 1999 conflict that claimed many lives on both sides. While previous films have almost always shown us how the army scaled the treacherous, snow-clad peaks of the Drass and Kargil sector to reclaim the posts picked off by Pakistani infiltrators (initially reported to be mujahideens and not Pak soldiers) following the Lahore declaration.

Months below the war breaks out, India’s then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee (Anjan Srivastav) takes a bus to Pakistan to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif (Vinay Pathak) following the signing of a historic peace treaty – the Lahore declaration. While the treaty hoped for stable ties between the two nations, it ticked off General Parvez Musharraf(Manu Rishi Chaddha). Parvez foils the noble efforts by sending his soldiers masquerading as mujahideens on the Indian side of the peaks and raining hell on the Indian soldiers posted there.

While the politics takes centre stage, we are also introduced to the Golden Arrows and their families. Despite trying to keep the series serious and having its viewers hooked, we do see light moment shared by the Air Force pilots and their wives, including a dance to a Bollywood song and a young girl running away from her family and crashing on base.

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As war approaches, the makers – inserting real-life TV news clips, shows the brutality the soldiers, especially the PoWs (prisoners of war) suffered when caught by the enemy. The narrative never gives Pakistan an out, and even shows how Sharif power weakened day by day until he was overthrew in the 1999 coup d’état. While showcasing what the Indian Forces suffered, the narrative doesn’t descend into name-calling, bigotry or painting the Pakistani officers as exaggerated, soulless humans.

Operation Safed Sagar focuses on how Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja (Siddharth), Wing Commander BS ‘Tony’ Dhanoa (Jimmy Shergill), Flying Officer RS ‘Dhali’ Dhaliwal (Abhay Verma), Flying Officer DS ‘Baldi’ Nalwade (Mihir Ahuja), Flying Officer Amit ‘Goofy’ Gupta (Arnav Bhasin) and Flight Lieutenant Jitendra ‘Sangy’ Sangwan (Tarun Gahlot) willingly agree to risk it all in order to give the Indian Army an advantage against the hiding Pakistani soldiers. Not just their scarifies, but also those of their wives are given importance.

But is the series worth a watch? Read our honest review to know the answer.

What Works

The conviction which which every actor performs their part. The performances are real and will make you feel every high and low they experience. The story telling is also impressive and salutes the defence forces with respect without over exaggerating what happened. It’s by far one of the best battle account of recent times.

What Doesn’t Work

Nothing stands out as weak but overall the series does feel lacking. The CGI could have been better.

Technical Analysis

Direction

Oni Sen has done a commendable job in telling a lesser known story and doing it in a respectable manner. He has managed to not only capture the seriousness of officers during war time but also the human sides that make them and their families one.

Story & Screenplay

The story and screenplay by Sandeep Jain, Nikhil Ravi, Barun Kashyap, Abhijeet Singh Parmar is well written and not all over the place. They have done their best in telling us something about each officer’s personal lives without straying away from Operation Safed Sagar and making it too emotional. Even when it comes to talking the coup carried out the Pakistanis, they have done it in a reporting manner without being derogatory to anyone.

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Star Cast

Sidharth delivers a heart-touching and heart-wrenching performance as the leader who leads from the front. Despite little ups and downs, he manages it difficult for you to swallow during intense scenes. We hope Bollywood gives him more changes and we don’t have to wait another 20 years to see him again. Jimmy Shergill is as reliable and delivers a restrained performance, something expected not only from an actor of his calibre but also the position his character holds.

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Abhay Verma, Mihir Ahuja, Taaruk Raina and Arnav Bhasin as young offiers who trust one another as well as their seniors is worth a round of applause. They succeed in showing the naiveness they characters have and even manage to growth and mature when war strikes.

The ladies of the series — Amrita Bagchi, Dia Mirza, Prajakta Koli — have limited screen time but deliver still leave an impression. They aren’t the ‘abla naari’ waiting at home and pining for their husbands to return from war. They are shown as strong characters, especially Amrita.

Conclusion

This Netflix series shouldn’t be missed. It raw, real and an apt tribute to the Indian Armed Forces and the soldiers who willingly opted to take on daring missions to ensure India emerged victorious during the Kargil War.

Watch the trailer of Operation Safed Sagar here:

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Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.