National Flag Adoption Day: From Manoj Kumar’s Upkar to Akshay Kumar’s Gold, 7 Iconic Scenes in Bollywood Cinema Involving the Indian Tricolour

On July 22, 1947, India, free from the reign of the British kingdom, officially adopted the Indian tricolour design as we know and respect it now. Earlier, the tricolour, designed for Indian National Congress by Pingali Venkayya, had the usual stripes of saffron, white and green with the charkha in the centre. On the above date, the design replaced the charkha with the Ashoka Chakra symbol and we got our National Flag that represents our cultural diversity and our values. Since then July 22 has been celebrated as the Indian National Flag Adoption Day. National Flag Adoption Day 2019: Know the History & Significance of India’s National Flag or Tiranga.

Over the years, the National flag has been hoisted as a symbol of our pride at various events, not just during national holidays, but also during important events like sports matches where India is presented and defence programmes. The tricolour has also been used in many of our movies to symbolise the idea of patriotism or nationalism for a particular character or scenario. National Flag Adoption Day 2019: Here Are Some Interesting Facts About Tiranga.

In this special feature, we look at seven iconic scenes in Hindi cinema that involves our National Flag.

Upkar

The Scene: "Mere Desh Ki Dharti"

There is a reason why Manoj Kumar is called Bharat Kumar; most of his movies have this strong infusion of patriotism. He has also given us one of the most optimistically patriotic songs in "Mere Desh Ki Dharti".

In which there is a scene of the tricolour waving, while Manoj Kumar's character pays tribute to our soldiers as well as our freedom fighters.

Roja

The Scene: Saving the Burning Flag

Yes, Roja is not exactly a Hindi movie; it is a Hindi dubbed film from Tamil, but we can 't let go of this one. Legendary filmmaker Mani Ratnam has directed one of the finest movies on Kashmiri Militancy in this 1992 classic. One of the best scenes in the film is when the militants, angered with the Indian government, try to burn the tricolour at their hideout.

Their captive, an Indian military scientist, played by Arvind Swamy, fearlessly falls on the burning tricolour and tries to douse it off, all the while getting kicked and beaten by his captors. Needless to say, here, the tricolour represents that bravery that emerges in every one of us when facing an enemy that challenges the fabric of our country.

1942 - A Love Story

The Scene: The Flag of Freedom

Vidhu Vidhu Chopra's evergreen love story set against the backdrop of Quit India movement has beautiful songs and terrific performances. It also has a very powerful climax involving Jackie Shroff's character hanging the main British villain, hoisting the tricolour atop a tower and then jumping below in flames.

The scene may not involve the tricolour as we know it now, but the earlier iteration.

Chak De India

The Scene: The Victorious Flag

This iconic scene has paved the way for countless inspired sequences in other movies, but nothing can touch the emotional high that we feel here. After Australia's penalty goal attempt is thwarted and India scores a nearly impossible victory, coach Kabir Khan, played by Shah Rukh Khan, himself is stunned by what happened.

With the slower version of "Maula Mere" playing in the background and the national flag in the backdrop, Kabir with tears in his eyes looks at the hoisted tricolour, and the viewer feels the same emotion that he does - the sense of victory.

Lakshya

The Scene: The Capture of the Summit

Farhan Akhtar's sophomore effort deserved more love at the box office than what it got, in being one of the best movies on war ever made.

The final scene where Hrithik Roshan's Lt Sheirgill fights against all odds to take over summit Point 5179 from the Pakistani army, while also achieving his own sense of purpose is exhilarating!

Airlift

The Scene: The Flag As The Sense of Relief

Of course, how can we write anything about patriotism in Bollywood without mentioning an Akshay Kumar film? So we have two films here on the list. Before he made a brand out of nationalism, Akshay got a lot of acclaim for his involvement as an actor in Baby and Airlift. The latter, based on the real-life evacuation of Indians in Kuwait during the 1990 Gulf War, has Akshay's Ranjit Katyal, a Kuwait-based businessman, who spearheads the evacuation.

After a lot of struggles, that puts their lives at fatal risk, Katyal and his group manage to reach the airport in Jordan only to find that there is no embassy set up for Indians. And just when things look bleak for them, the tricolour is hoisted at the airport giving the evacuees both a sense of relief and pride!

Gold

The Scene: The First Match

Reema Kagti's period sports drama, based on India's first Olympic gold win in Hockey as a free country, has its moments. The best of them was in the start when the Indian team, still playing for the British during the 1936 Olympics, win the finals only to find with much disappointment that they have to get the medal with the British anthem playing in the background.

Their assistant manager Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) understands their plight and sneakily takes the tricolour out of his coat, so the players can their respects to the flag instead.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 22, 2019 04:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).