Ajay Devgn starrer Bhuj: The Pride of India started streaming on Disney+ Hotstar on Friday (13). The film has received a mixed response from the critics as well as the audiences.
The movie is set against the backdrop of Indo-Pak war of 1971, and Ajay plays the role of IAF Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik who with the help of 300 women from a local village reconstructed an IAF airbase in Bhuj.
While talking to PTI, Ajay stated that people of India are unaware about the sacrifices made by countless heroes during the war. The actor also revealed that even he had never heard the real-life story of Bhuj until the film came to him.
He further said, “That’s the problem with our country. There are such great sacrifices that people don’t know about. It’s not there in our history books. And if we don’t talk about our sacrifices and heroes, how are we going to love our country?”
The actor feels that it’s important for the audience to know about the country’s history, especially, its hard earned independence. “People should know because when you get something with difficulty, you keep it close to you. If it comes easy to you, then you don’t value it. If they know about these sacrifices, they will know why we are where we are. And if it makes even a two-percent difference, we are sorted. The country is sorted. Then we don’t need to say, ‘Oh I love my country.’ You just need to respect it and it will fall into your every day duties.”
While talking about how a huge group of women helped in reconstructing the IAF base in 1971, Ajay said, “They broke their houses to make a runway and I thought it was a great story to tell.”
In recent past, many period films were criticised for being jingoistic. But, Ajay says that one should know where to draw the line. He said, “You keep characters and screenplay very real. You should know where to draw the line. In our film, there’s no jingoism. In Tanhaji also, there was no jingoism. They were fighting for the country but not crying that they loved their country.”
Directed by Abhishek Dudhaiya, Bhuj: The Pride Of India also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt, Nora Fatehi, Ammy Virk and Sharad Kelkar.
