Meet Major Toor, The Man Behind John Abraham’s Next Action Role
From icy battles at Siachen to standoffs with thousands of rebels in Africa, Major Toor’s life has been anything but ordinary. ‘Malakal’, his biopic, brings those untold moments to screen — starring John Abraham in the lead.
Major Samar Pal Singh Toor has lived it all – enduring temperatures of minus 30 degree Celsius during his first posting at Siachen, the world’s highest and coldest battlefield, deployment in terrorist-infested Kashmir, and tackling about 6,000 armed Sudanese rebels with just a handful of soldiers as part of United Nations’ Peacekeeping Mission in conflict-riddled South Sudan. Little wonder that he is the focus of an upcoming biopic.
Four generations of military men
Major Toor, a fourth-generation former Indian Army officer, was commissioned into the 8th Battalion of Rajputana Rifles. “My great grandfather was in the Royal Indian Army’s engineering regiment and was killed in Tunisia in 1942. My grandfather served in the Royal Airforce and was part of the Second World War, and wars with China and Pakistan in 1962, 1965 and 1971. My father, Col Satinder Pal Singh Toor, has served in the Army Service Corps,” he says.
“Apart from this legacy, as a child, I watched many war movies such as Where Eagles Dare and The Guns of Navarone,” adds the Major, who is also an expert rifle shooter and biker.
“Training with the Army has instilled in me professional competence, physical fitness, adaptability and resilience, self-discipline, a mature outlook, loyalty and readiness to die for the country. In the Armed Forces, religion is considered a very personal matter and is never a priority. Saving citizens is our main religion,” he shares.
Real-life adventures
Major Toor did his BBA from MS University, Baroda. Later, he attended the Siachen Battle School Mountaineering course to prepare for extremely cold weather conditions. His first posting was at the Siachen Glacier.
“In 2013, as part of the UN Peacekeeping mission, we were sent to South Sudan, where a violent civil war was raging between the Dinka and Nuer tribes. I came across even children aged 5-10 years, carrying arms, and saw an injured rebel carrying his own severed hand. We faced intense combat situations and defended Malakal, where over 6,000 armed rebels confronted us – a group of barely 350 soldiers,” reveals Major Toor. (The biopic draws its name from this South Sudan town.)
Post-Military career
Transitioning from active military service, Major Toor now shares his military experiences and delivers motivating talks on various platforms and talk shows. “Even though I think it is best to work in a military organisation, I left after completing my Short Service Commission. Financially, it became difficult for me to support my family. My wife is a gold-medallist in biogenetics and a Vaastu expert. I work with the Bengaluru-based Zulu Defence company that builds air-defence systems, especially drones used by the special forces in warfare,” he says.
