‘Bhuj: The Pride of India’ director Abhishek Dudhaiya revisits his grandmother’s story

Bhuj The Pride of India: “Bhuj: The Pride of India” director Abhishek Dudhaiya says the story of the film reminds him of a real-life incident of his grandmother, including her grandmother during the Indo-Pakistani War in 1971. About 300 women from a village played a key role in the construction of a damaged airstrip. The film is based on a true story of bravery, patriotism and determination. The film shows Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik, in charge of the Indian Air Force’s Bhuj airport in 1971, facing challenges and building a damaged airstrip with the help of around 300 women from a village in Madhapur. Veteran actor Ajay Devgn will be seen in the role of Vijay Karnik in the film.

Abhishek Dudhaiya has written the story of this film along with Raman Kumar, Ritesh Shah and Pooja Bhavoria. This is Dudhaiya’s first film as a director. He has previously directed television serials like “Ehsaas”, “Agneepath”, “Sindoor Tere Naam Ka” and “Umeed Naye Subah Ki”. Abhishek Dudhaiya said in an exclusive interview to PTI-Bhasha, “In Bhuj this story is narrated as a folktale. My grandmother Lakshmi Parmar was 35 at the time, she was one of the 300 women who helped build the Air Force airstrip and I had heard a lot of stories from her about it.” The director said that through this film He wants to reach out to young audiences who do not know much about the 1971 war.

Abhishek said, “I knew it would prove to be an expensive film as it is a war film. Many people suggested that I should make small films first and ‘Bhuj’ should be my tenth film. This work It was huge. But I was sure I could make a film on such an inspiring story and didn’t want to miss this opportunity.”

Apart from Karnik, before making the film, Abhishek spoke to 60 women who helped in the construction of the airstrip in 1971, who are still alive. The story of Abhishek’s film wanted to be given a real look. His grandmother had passed away 10 years ago.

Abhishek said that this film is a great example of women empowerment. Some women even ransacked their homes to help Vijay Karnik rebuild the airstrip. Keeping the spirit of service to the nation paramount, women performed this impossible task. According to Abhishek, Karnik and he believed that Ajay Devgan would be the better choice for this character.

Talking about the experiences of working with Ajay Devgn, Abhishek said, “Ajay sir watched a lot of videos of Karnik ji to understand the basics related to the story of the film. He also met them to understand how all this happened. When someone like Ajay sir supports you, the responsibility and pressure is more. I consider myself lucky that I got a chance to work with him in my first film.”

‘Bhuj: The Pride of India’ is all set to release on Friday on Disney Plus Hotstar VIP. Apart from Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, Amy Virk, Nora Fatehi and Sharad Kelkar have also played important roles in the film. Abhishek said that his next film will be based on the life of Param Vir Chakra winner Captain Bana Singh.