The recently released web series Operation Safed Sagar showed the bravery of the Indian Air Force in the 1999 Kargil War. The series stayed away from the jingoistic and aggressive form of patriotism usually shown on screen, and actor Dia Mirza Rekhi, who plays an Army wife in the show, feels it’s this refreshing portrayal that has also helped the audience connect with it.
She says, “What's interesting in this story and the heroism that we perceive is that they are heroic because of their acts and their choices. They're not heroic because they walk with swag. Of course, they have natural swag, but it's their character that defines their heroism, and their integrity and truth and what it is that they stand for, which is beautiful.”
Check out the entire chat with the Operation Safed Sagar cast here:
Having played an Army wife in the show, Dia Mirza Rekhi reflects on the life that they lead and how it is different from the normal world. “It's time that we spend understanding what it may be like to be married into the Air Force, because you don't marry just the person you're marrying. You marry into the community. You marry into an entirely different way of life. You are isolated, you live in a complex where you're unto yourself. Of course, you have a school and all kinds of other amenities which are beautifully created for you. But you're not really interacting and engaging with everyday normal life. It's a very different world,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}Having played an Army wife in the show, Dia Mirza Rekhi reflects on the life that they lead and how it is different from the normal world. “It's time that we spend understanding what it may be like to be married into the Air Force, because you don't marry just the person you're marrying. You marry into the community. You marry into an entirely different way of life. You are isolated, you live in a complex where you're unto yourself. Of course, you have a school and all kinds of other amenities which are beautifully created for you. But you're not really interacting and engaging with everyday normal life. It's a very different world,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}The actor adds that the uncertainty of their lives is something no one else can understand. “To live with that constant reminder that today may be the last time you see your spouse, every single day of your life, I can't even imagine how hard that must be. It was a very humbling experience,” she says.
Dia also lauds the efforts of her male co-stars in the show — Jimmy Shergill, Siddharth, Abhay Verma, Taaruk Raina, Mihir Ahuja and Arnav Bhasin. ”I think the women had it a lot easier on set because our work environment was simpler. We didn't have to kind of put ourselves out there physically as much as the men in the story did. And they were really out there physically from 50° temperatures to -20,which was the lowest temperature they shot in. The crew, the cast, the boys, I've not heard them talk about it once because the heroism, the masculinity of the story is in the quiet acceptance of uncertainty and the spirit of truth that resonates beyond it. So, it's like why will I be complaining about the heat and why would I be complaining about the cold because these guys are so much more and beyond that. We all felt like such a small part of something much larger than all of us,” she ends.