There will be plenty of time to talk about the thin characters in Operation Safed Sagar and how the relationship between them is established in the most formulaic manner (to be honest, there is not much to discuss there). But first, what's worth highlighting is the show's emphasis on the titular operation, which is defined in both human and scientific terms. Most war stories single-mindedly deal with the valor of soldiers, as if big fights are won through courage and physical strength alone. Those two qualities are undoubtedly crucial, but equally important is all the planning and coordination between the men fighting the war that actually helps them defeat their opponents. Operation Safed Sagar grippingly displays the behind-the-scenes work that goes into preparing soldiers for the real battle. It reveals that while valor and patriotism play a significant role in shaping the psychology of fighters, it helps greatly if they also proceed with a strategy and a clear intention.
In Operation Safed Sagar, we watch the Golden Arrows squadron of Indian Air Force pilots conduct trial exercises and then debate why they failed to complete their goal. Sometimes they accuse each other; sometimes a particular person accepts his fault. These young men are made to practice something known as a "transport formation" first in the air and then on the ground. They make mistakes, but they also learn from them. During the training exercises and sorties, they converse with one another through their technical jargon as well as through the language of brotherly motivation. Their talk ranges from the intimate to the practical. When Dhaliwal (Abhay Verma), the pilot who likes to show off his talent, is criticized for taking a risk during a war game by Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja (Siddharth), Baldy (Mihir Ahuja) explains how he could have approached his mission differently by taking an alternate route. Dhaliwal, though, doesn't just sit quietly and listen. He responds sharply with his own facts and knowledge. In other words, we don't merely see a quarrel or debate between two characters; we see two different sets of minds at work, sparring with each other.
How did the Indian armed forces learn that Pakistani troops had betrayed them? Ajay and Wing Commander B. S. "Tony" Dhanoa (Jimmy Shergill) fly over the snowy valley and take photographs from their jet. These pictures are then developed and inspected by Ajay at the Photo Interpretation Cell. There, Ajay zeroes in on a specific area and asks for it to be enlarged further. In that magnified image, he spots signs of footsteps moving in a straight line, which means the footprints belong to disciplined men, which means they have to be from the Pakistani Army and not militants. Air Marshal Vinod Patney (Adil Hussain) approves Tony's unconventional air attack with one condition: the margin of error should be within 200 meters. The team spends hours trying to perfect both the execution and the scientific calculations. What's more, how does Tony come up with a risky plan for the low-altitude bombing of enemy-occupied areas? He checks the SAMs used by the Pakistani soldiers and realizes that they work based on heat signatures.
All these details are worth pointing out because they deliver a vital lesson: the Kargil War was won with as much zeal as with days and hours of trial and error, rigorous testing, and physics and mathematical calculations. This is worth saying out loud in today's climate, where people with large numbers of followers and those occupying seats of power are wielding their influence to spread unscientific beliefs and disgusting superstition. This line must echo loudly in an India where one's fate is surrendered to the stars (astrology) and where cow dung is advertised as a cure for cancer. Wars demand that a soldier act with both logic and heart—faith in oneself and faith in analytical estimations. A nation that cherishes and respects science will take calculated risks and always emerge as a winner and a role model. It will create a blueprint, a manual for future generations.
You don't simply scream and run toward your enemy without a plan. Such notions of "glory" arise from the brains of amateurs. This brings me to another point: when Dhaliwal asks the journalists whether they have sat in a MiG-21, you feel like asking those who fantasize about war and celebrate it when it happens elsewhere whether they have actually fought in one themselves. It's easy to pass judgment from the outside or enjoy the "spectacle" from the comfort of your home. What really goes on inside the heads of soldiers and even within their camps is something only they know. No wonder you admire the scene where, during an India-Pakistan debate in the classroom, Tony asserts that the Indian Air Force has nothing to do with politics and that it should, like a razor blade, do its job. The message is there for anyone willing to look; it's also very, very relevant. Don't use the armed forces for political approval. Their job is to serve India, not the whims and demands of politicians.
The actors are all fine, especially Siddharth and Shergill. Observe them in the scene where they casually hang out together with their wives, eating lunch, and as soon as Baldy enters the room, they turn dignified and sober. Their mannerisms are on point, and you expect nothing less from them. Some of the dramatic beats are just fine and functional. I didn't care much about the relationship between the husbands and the wives or the pilots and their superior officers. It's all sketched conventionally; there is just enough meat to get the basic job done. Among the younger men, only Dhaliwal and Baldy are given something resembling emotional vulnerabilities to render them human. But even they look repetitive in their drama. Both struggle to cope mentally with what unfolds in their personal worlds, but those worlds are thinly, blandly drawn.
The air sequences, though, are competent, and because the action and the positions of the pilots in the aircraft are clear, both individually and in relation to one another, you are hit with a rush of excitement whenever the enemy position is weakened. Operation Safed Sagar might be far from perfect, but it has the right consciousness. Most importantly, it gets at the core of something very true and substantial. At a time of hypermasculinity and loud jingoism, something like Operation Safed Sagar cleanses the palate and serves as a reminder of what's really at stake during moments of extreme distress. One, after all, doesn't always need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes, it's more than enough to take it for a spin in familiar territory with sufficient competence.
Final Score - [7/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times