Border Dvd

Border is an 1997 Indian Hindi-language war film directed, produced and written by J. P. Dutta. Set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, it is an adaptation of real life events that happened during the Battle of Longewala in 1971. The film stars an ensemble cast of Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Jackie Shroff, Sudesh Berry, Puneet Issar and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Tabu, Raakhee, Pooja Bhatt and Sharbani Mukherjee feature in supporting roles.

Plot

The film opens before the declaration of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. At a forward operating airbase, Indian Air Force Wing Commander Anand “Andy” Bajwa (Jackie Shroff) his air force wingmen soon take off to an unknown airbase in Rajasthan. Once there, he is briefed by his superiors that he and his squadron are assigned to the Jaisalmer sector and have to fly Hawker Hunter Ground attack planes to support the Indian Army. He is soon joined by his brother-in-arms army Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (Sunny Deol) as they meet on a courier flight and speak about the possibility of the opening of the Western front in light of the East Pakistan conflict. Kuldip takes up command of a company of the 23rd Battalion Punjab Regiment (composed of 120 soldiers), arguing about the light defense being assigned to the military post of Longewala. He meets his second-in-command 2nd Lieutenant Dharamveer Bhan (Akshaye Khanna) (who happens to be the son of a 1965 Indo-Pakistani War veteran who was killed during that war) and the Company JCO Naib Subedar Mathura Das (Sudesh Berry). The company moves to a remote outpost in the deserts of Rajasthan and begin to expand the rudimentary Border Security Force (BSF) post and does the observation of the area up to the international border with Pakistan. They meet the post’s BSF Assistant Commandant Bhairon Singh (Sunil Shetty), a deeply patriotic man who expresses his love for the desert.

During a night patrol, Kuldip, Dharamveer and Bhairon come across a suspicious bunch of locals who turn out to be insurgents having informed the identities of the company to the Pakistani military. Kuldip and Bhairon manage to kill all but one of the insurgents, but Dharamveer hesitates to shoot the surviving insurgent as he never killed anyone in combat. Kuldip severely derides him and shoots the insurgent himself, prompting Dharamveer to vomit. A badly shaken Dharamvir is comforted by Bhairon and the two reminisce about their personal lives. Dharamveer recounts how he met his fiancée Kamla (Pooja Bhatt), a lively girl from his native village whom he had fallen for and how he got his mobilization orders on the day of his engagement to Kamla. Bhairon recounts his wedding night, his first night with his bride Phool Kanwar (Sharbani Mukherjee), when he was called back to post and how he bids a tearful goodbye.

The unit is joined by the charismatic Subedar Ratan Singh (Puneet Issar), who has provided two 106mm jeep-mounted RCL guns to serve as an anti-armour unit. Eventually, the company wireless operator picks up a spy transmitting from a nearby area and Dharamveer sets out to investigate. He ambushes and kills the spy, bringing his body back to the post to prove that he has overcome his fear of killing. The unit the settles down to wait for the Pakistani military as they keep track of the developing events on the radio. The Indian army starts moving forces to nearby locations preparing to attack if Pakistan tries to open the Western front. This gives hope of soon-to-come action for the men tired of the long wait in the hot and desolate desert. The men receive letters with news from back home and talk among themselves of the people they left to serve the country, and Das is granted leave to attend to his wife (who is ailing with cancer) and children.

On the evening of 3 December 1971, the unit receives word that the Pakistan Air Force has bombed multiple Indian airbases and that war has been officially declared by the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Dharamveer and five soldiers are sent to patrol the border in a section while Bhairon and his men are assigned to clear out the nearby villages to avoid civilian casualties. The next day, the Pakistani artillery batteries start shelling the post and a nearby village, and Kuldip joins in the evacuation as heavy shelling occurs. Meanwhile, Dharamveer and his patrol spot Pakistani tanks (Chinese Type 59s) and infantry (led by the infamous Lahore thug Ghulam Dastagir, who was hired by the Pakistani military to lead the attack) crossing the border into India. Deducing that the shelling attacks were just a diversion to cover the arrival of the incoming invasion, Dharamveer reports this to Kuldip, who then orders him and his patrol to secretly follow the tanks without engaging them. Eventually, Das returns and apologizes for deserting the men, promising that he will return to his family after the war is over, and Kuldip happily assigns him to one of anti-tank gun jeeps.

Kuldip radios for air support and speaks to Bajwa, who sadly tells him that there can be no air support as his base has only Hawker Hunter Ground planes, which cannot be used for night combat. Expressing his apologies, Bajwa tells Kuldip to defend the post as long as possible and that he and his pilots would be on the battlefield at the first stroke of light. In despair, Kuldip radios his CO and explains his untenable position. He is given the option of either holding his post or retreat. Kuldip decides to remain defending the post and gives the company the choice whether to leave the post or not, and they all decide to stay with him and face the Pakistani soldiers to their deaths.

As Dastagir and his men finally close in to Longewala, one of the Pakistani tanks blows up, due to Kuldip getting his men to bury anti-tank mines around the post earlier to prevent the tanks from barging in. Dastagir orders the Pakistani tanks to open fire on the post, and Kuldip retaliates by having Das to destroy several tanks with his RCL units. Though the tide of the battle is improving for the Indians at first, Das’s jeep is hit by a tank shell, wounding him and prompting Bhairon to extract him from the burning jeep. Das is fatally wounded when he goes to extract a recoil spring for Bhairon’s MMG and dies in Bhairon’s arms. Rattan sacrifices himself to throw away an exploding tank shell to prevent several of his men from being killed. Another tank targets Bhairon’s machine gun nest and destroys it, wounding Bhairon. Using his remaining energy, Bhairon charges the same tank and destroys it with another anti-tank mine, killing himself and the Pakistani soldiers inside. Dharamveer breaks through the enemy cordon and returns to the post, but his entire patrol is wiped out in the process. Dastagir then orders a bayonet charge on the Indian position, but the attack is beaten back by the Indians with Dharamveer being gunned down to death by Pakistani soldiers. Kuldip then captures a dying Pakistani private, who reveals that Dastagir plans to invade Jaisalmer by morning, Jodhpur by afternoon, and reach Delhi by night, thus bringing India under Pakistani’s control.

As dawn nears, Dastagir orders his remaining men to make a last-ditch attempt to overrun Longewala with their massed assault of tanks and infantry, ignoring the danger of the anti-tank mines. Arming himself with an Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher and a bagful of grenades, Kuldip gathers his remaining depleted men as they make for a suicide counter-attack. Kuldip and his men manage to take down several tanks, killing Dastagir and many of his men in the process. Dawn has broken as Bajwa and his squadron take off on their planes to aid Kuldip and his men, destroying more Pakistani tanks in the process. The remaining Pakistani forces are forced to flee away back through the border to their country, thus leaving the Indian military as victors of the battle. Despite the battle being won while more Indian tanks and artillery arrive to fight back against Pakistani reinforcement, Kuldip and his remaining men are distraught over the many deaths of both their comrades and the Pakistani soldiers. The film ends with the Indian military launching their counter-offensive on the Pakistani military while the news of the deceased soldiers reach their homes, much to their families’ sorrow.

Cast

Sunny Deol as Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri
Jackie Shroff as Wing Commander Anand “Andy” Bajwa
Suniel Shetty as Assistant Commandant, Border Security Force
Akshaye Khanna as 2nd Lieutenant Dharamvir Bhan
Puneet Issar as Subedar Rattan Singh
Sudesh Berry as Naib Subedar Mathura Das.
Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Havildar Bhagheeram
Tabu as Yamora Kaur Chandpuri, the lovingly and caring wife of Kuldeep
Pooja Bhatt as Kamla Singh, the fiancée of Dharamvir
Raakhee as Sujata, Dharamvir’s blind mother
Sharbani Mukherjee as Phool Kanwar, the pregnant wife of Bhairon
Amrit Pal as Kamla’s Father
Hemant Choudhary as P.D. Somesh, IAF Officer