Tejas : Movie Review

 *Movie : Tejas*

It starts with some real promise of being a trail blazer... hat-ke movie. Ends up being a multi messaging platform... Naari Shakti, Atma Nirbhar Bhaarat, Naya Bharat (Remember "ये नया भारत है" dialogue from Uri, be ready for an advanced version here.) Little bit of too many things .

Our Government's decision to induct women as fighter pilots was historic to say the least. It has been more than five years since Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi made history by her solo flight of a Mig-21 Bison. The Indian Navy followed suit two years later in its Dornier maritime aircraft. Indian Army has started inducting women officers in Combat Arms. But does this all mean, that you have to wear an-all-too-forced patriotism from head to toe as a girl to be called a hero. Our Women-in-Uniform need to be celebrated in movies, but it is better done by keeping them as real life characters with their flaws and finesse and human frailties.

"Tejas" aims to inspire our gen next and instill in everyone a deep sense of pride in the valiant soldiers who tirelessly defend our nation, confronting numerous challenges along the way. But, the makers are not sure of how much of Kangana to unleash, how much of armed forces to brag about, how much of geo-politics to please their bosses and how much of Pakistan-bashing to draw audience seetis.... and votes (2024 is close, remember). 

The narrative is structured around a rescue mission in Pakistan. Not close to the LoC, because that can be taken care of by the Indian Army ("Uri" types). So, if Indian Air Force has to be the Rambo this time, the mission has to go deep inside Pakistan. Everything thereafter is meant to make the enemy look pure dumb. 

Kangana Ranaut tries her best to be the "Be All End All" version of a desi Maverick. So we have Ms Tejas, flying a Made-in-India Tejas, for Mission Tejas. Gosh, Too many Ts. But actually, the film is so Tejas-centric that other characters simply orbit around her like satellites. First half is too confusing with frequent shifting of gears, and years, to and fro. 

For an audience that is now used to the aerial combat realities of "Top Gun" standards and VFX of "Avatar" standards, what we see here sometimes appears like a video game from early 90s. If only the makers could have increased their budget to show the Chetak helicopter and Tejas Fighter in real glory.

O' and lest I forget, Indian Air Force does not do helicopter rescue missions as it has been shown in the beginning. Helicopter Pilots one day, and flying a fighter jet next day... No, it does not happen like that. Fighter pilots fighting terrorists on ground, in their territory, deep inside... Mission Tejas sets new benchmarks for military planning !

To be fair to Kangana, she has done a good job. She acts well and looks beautiful. And the movie is a clean family show, if you are looking to watch with children. They may even end up liking it. After all, Gadar-2, with all its mind-boggling stupidity shown in the name of Army, ended up raking millions. 'Tejas' has not gone to those extremes, but replace the Indian Army of Gadar-2 with Indian Air Force in 'Tejas', and the stupidity is close enough. Though Gadar-2 would still be far ahead.

So you may go and watch it for once to celebrate a movie that dared to be made with a female protagonist, and almost succeeds to motivate our gen next to choose their real life heroes differently.

Epilogue : Remember the months leading to 2019 General Elections. We saw release of many movies with a saffronised focus... "The Accidental Prime Minister", "Uri - The Surgical Strike" and "PM Narendra Modi" are coming to my mind. The road is open now for 2024.

***********************

Credits : The World Wide Web