Ajay Devgn will essay the role of an IAF Wing Commander, Vijay Karnik, in a film titled ‘Bhuj: The Pride of India ‘. The film is written and helmed by Abhishek Dudhaiya, it is based on true events and will present one of the most interesting war stories.
Ajay took to his Twitter to shed some light on his upcoming venture and wrote, “1971. Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik & team. 300 Brave Women. Reconstruction of a wrecked Indian Air Force airstrip. ‘Bhuj- The Pride Of India”.
1971. Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik & team. 300 Brave Women. Reconstruction of a wrecked Indian Air Force airstrip. 'Bhuj- The Pride Of India' pic.twitter.com/HZYxPOn0Du
— Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) March 19, 2019
Talking about the film, the makers revealed, “Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik was in charge of the Bhuj airport during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It was Karnik and his team, with the help of local women, who reconstructed the destroyed Indian Air Force airstrip at Bhuj in Gujarat, in what could be termed as India’s ‘Pearl Harbour’ moment.
The airstrip had been wrecked in air strikes that saw Pakistan drop bombs on it. Karnik convinced 300 fearless women from a nearby village to rebuild the airstrip so that a flight carrying Indian Army officers could land safely. He, along with two other officers, 50 Air Force soldiers, and 60 Defence Security personnel, did a great job of keeping the airbase operational despite heavy Pakistani bombing.”
The producer of the film, Bhushan Kumar also said in a statement, “This courageous tale needs to be told because we want the current and the coming generation to know about this brave soldier, Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik, who played a significant role in India’s victory in the 1971 war. He was heroic enough to take this bold step of involving civilians in a war. Also, who better than Ajay Devgn for the role of Vijay Karnik? We are working with him currently in De De Pyaar De and Taanaji, and we are glad that he is on board for this film, too.”
Narrating the war, Karnik also expressed his happiness on Ajay portraying his role on screen, said, “We were fighting a war and if there had been any casualties of any of these women, it would have been a great loss. But I took the decision and it worked out. I had briefed them where they could take shelter if attacked and they followed it bravely. Also, I could only see Ajay Devgn essaying my character and I’m glad that he’s on board”.