Pippa blows hot and cold for a movie that features some of the most intense tank battles ever seen in Hindi action cinema. On the one hand, Raja Krishna Menon’s film, which is based on army veteran Balram Singh Mehta’s book The Burning Chaffees, is a skillfully done, largely subdued Hindi war movie. It’s undoubtedly a departure from the vile and ridiculous garbage that’s frequently aired on Indian television. Its narrative joins are easily noticeable, and it has a propensity to avoid screenwriting clichés before completely succumbing to them, so it’s not always the sharpest.
In 1971, during an Indo-Russian joint military training exercise, Balram (Ishaan Khatter) defies his commander’s orders and pilots a PT-76 amphibious tank into a river’s deep end. He is dismissed for disobedience, disappointing both his mother (Soni Razdan), a war widow, and his older brother Ram (Priyanshu Painyuli), a decorated soldier who fought in the 1965 conflict. His sister Radha (Mrunal Thakur), a university student, is only mildly sympathetic, but even she is able to cross.
Balram is left pushing papers in army headquarters as Ram departs once more for the battlefront. The Bangladesh Liberation War is in its dramatic final stages, with refugees pouring in through India’s eastern borders and Yahya Khan’s regime waging a brutal military crackdown. Radha is hired by the fledgling intelligence services for her cryptography skills.
Balli’s return to his regiment, the 45th Cavalry, which is currently stationed in the east, proceeds without delay thanks to some fortuitous engineering humour and the motivational Jubin Nautiyal song “Jazzbat.” The unit encounters retaliatory fire from Pakistani troops at Garibpur, a strategically important hamlet they are supposed to hold. A squadron of these troops arrives at the scene on superior M24 Chaffee tanks built in the United States.
Meanwhile, the enemy captures Ram, who was dispatched to support the Mukti Bahini in their armed insurrection. Balli is currently faced with a simple decision that is similar to Bharat’s in the Ramayana (down to the borrowed shoes!). He can either free his brother, with whom he has a tense, difficult relationship, or follow his orders as acting commander.
Pippa (Hindi)
Director: Raja Krishna Menon
Cast: Ishaan Khatter, Priyanshu Painyuli, Soni Razdan, Mrunal Thakur, Inaamulhaq
Duration: 139 minutes
Storyline: Three siblings serve their nation and help liberate a neighbouring one in 1971.
Pippa short story:
Pippa, which was co-written by Menon, Tanmay Mohan, and Ravinder Randhawa, is more aware of the moral consequences of conflict or war than the majority of Hindi films. Balli speaks pessimistically about the eastern refugee crisis in the opening scene, claiming it is burdening his own nation. Balli’s father lost his life while fighting in a later war, and his mother reminds him that their family is also one of refugees, having fled Rawalpindi during Partition. As Balli later experiences the horror firsthand, her words are repeated in voiceover. It’s an oddly gimmicky scene where the startled young captain drives past endless rows of displaced refugees.
Ram queries a Mukti Bahini leader in another place as to why they engage young people in armed conflict. The reply is, “A child who sees his mother being dragged away by his own country’s army and who wears his father’s blood-stained shirt every day is not a child anymore,” a sentiment that is always easier to understand in a story about a different country or conflict.
Similar to Menon’s 2016 film Airlift, Pippa honours Indian aristocracy while it is abroad. Raising his jawans to action, Balli declares that they are fighting a “tyranny” rather than a nation. He draws attention to the fact that, in contrast to single or fixed-class regiments, the 45th Cavalry comprises soldiers from all castes, religions, and states. Menon should have done a better job of illustrating this diversity rather than concentrating on a small number of (mainly North Indian) characters. However, thankfully, there are no evil Pakistani majors mouthing pseudo-religious war cries; instead, the movie content itself with a limping local stooge named Inaamulhaq.
Ishaan Khatter is a young, talented lead actor who is a brave choice to take on a movie this size. In Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), co-producers RSVP Pictures took a chance on pre-stardom Vicky Kaushal, as evidenced by his casting.
However, while Kaushal could deliver commands with conviction, Khatter’s voice falters in pivotal moments because it is friendly and gentle even though he tries hard. Priyanshu Painyuli performs nearly everything with consistency. A small but noteworthy performance deserves special mention as well: Soham Majumdar’s portrayal of a nerdy but witty analyst.
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Pippa’s war scenes have the same comforting solidity and grit as Uri’s. Cinematographer Priya Seth captures intriguing closeups and point-of-view shots, such as one from the viewpoint of an approaching projectile, in addition to framing the action against expansive, tree-lined vistas. The VFX is the only thing that bothers the eye; the muzzle flashes and explosions appear awkwardly added on. Did funds expire during the post? Did the finishing touches come faster after the switch from theatres to streaming? Pippa appears to have been thoughtfully designed, sincere in her photography, and a little forsaken in the final stretch.
Watch the pippa trailer: movie pippa
