Gorkha’s defence strategy
After the minor protests over the depiction of defence forces in the Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Gunjan Saxena, others making films about the armed forces are ensuring that they get relevant No Objection Certificates (NOCs) before beginning the shoots.
Before Gunjan Saxena, produced by Karan Johar, was released the armed forces had written to the CBFC asking them to get an NOC from defence authorities before certifying a film.
John Abraham, who has starred in films like the Force series, Parmanu and Batla House, is in the midst of making Satyamev Jayate 2 and Mumbai Saga. He has applied for an NOC for his script for Gorkha, a film on the Gorkha Regiment.
“It is a patriotic film about the regiment. The script has been cleared. They are awaiting an official clearance from the forces now,” say sources about the film co-produced by John and Nikkhil Advani and directed by the latter. The application was made way before the Gunjan Saxena controversy erupted, the sources added.
It can be recalled that Aiyaary, directed by Neeraj Pandey, which is about corruption in the army, was screened for the defence forces before certification, and changes were made based on suggestions before it hit the screens.
Other films like the Akshay Kumar-starrer Airlift, a show on Ekta Kapoor’s Alt Balaji platform, and Emraan Hashmi’s proposed film Captain Nawab, have run into similar turbulence.