So JP Dutta is back with another War drama this time, Paltan. And like his previous war dramas - Border and LoC - Kargil - even Paltan boasts of an ensemble cast. So the movie has Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Gurmeet Choudhary, Siddhanth Kapoor, Harshvardhan Rane and Luv Sinha in the cast, along with Esha Gupta, Sonal Chauhan and Dipika Kakar. The makers have shared the first look of the movie, that feature none of the cast members, instead having real-life soldiers.

The movie is based in 1967, when India was waging a war with China. Previously, JP Dutta has made movies based on the 1971 war with Pakistan and 1999 Kargil war again with Pakistan. While our country has fought four wars after independence, while also being unwilling participants during the World Wars too before independence, very few (good) war biopics have been made in Bollywood about them. Probably it has to do box office sustainability, as only a few movies were actual hits. This is bas, since there have been some really good movies made in the genre. They may not be a Saving Private Ryan or Dunkirk, but these five movies are awesome in their own league!

Border

When we talk about the war dramas in Bollywood, we of course have to talk about the one that comes to our mind first. Border may be based on a real-battle that happened during the 1971 war with Pakistan, but it uses fictional narrative to tell a chest-thumping saga. The star-studded movie, with Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Suneil Shetty and a young Akshaye Khanna headlining the cast, may be not be as technically brilliant as some of the other movies in the list, but it makes up for that with heartfelt sentimentality and some really gripping battle sequences. Don't lie to me if you didn't have goosebumps when Sunny Deol destroyed the Pakistani army with a rocket launcher, as Hindustan Hindustan played in the background? Border is also the biggest hit in the genre as well at the box office.

Haqeeqat

Sometimes even defeats can make for poignant cinema. One such movie that narrates India's 1962 war with China through a tragic and somewhat fictionalised tale of the brave but routed Indian soldiers who fought against the burgeoning enemy ranks against all odds, and accepted death for the country. This Chetan Anand flick has one of Dharmendra's finest performances with an awesome Balraj Sahni for company, and also boasts of having the most emotional war tribute song in 'Kar Chale Hum Fida'.

LOC Kargil

JP Dutta established himself as a war drama auteur with this three hour long gritty exploration of the Kargil war, that has nearly half the industry in the cast. Made on the lines of Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line, LOC Kargil is technically brilliant than Border and also boasts of some brilliant performances from Ajay Devgn, Manoj Bajpayee and Abhishek Bachchan. However, many viewers felt that the movie had a docudrama feel, and that's why this movie underperformed at the box office. It's long for sure, but it actually talks about real-life heroes and their sacrifices. So deserves more love!

Lakshya

It may be wrong to call this Hrithik Roshan movie as a war drama, for this is more of a coming of age drama set against the backdrop of the Kargil war. But Lakshya, which happens to be Farhan Akhtar's second directorial, has some of the finest executed battle scenes in Bollywood cinema. The final conquest of the hero's squad in the climax will leave you exhilarated, while also leaving you with a tinge of sadness at the thought of all the lives lost in making this a success. Hrithik  Roshan is superb here, and so are each member of the supporting cast, including Amitabh Bachchan, late Om Puri and Preity Zinta (even in that weird wig). Unfortunately like LOC Kargil, even Lakshya tanked at the box office, though it developed a huge cult following later.

 

The Ghazi Attack

This 2017 bilingual is touted as India's first submarine movie, and it lives upto that billing. Sure, the making reminds you of The Hunt for the Red October and Crimson Tide, but The Ghazi Attack works in paying tribute to all the navy personnel working in the claustrophobic conditions of a submarine. Again inspired a real-life incident during the 1971 war with Pakistan, the movie may be not be without flaws (that Taapsee Pannu subplot should not have been there in the movie in the first place), but makes for an engaging watch throughout.

So can JP Dutta manage to beat these five movies, including two of his own, to be the best war drama in Bollywood?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2018 05:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).