Abhay Verma got to play the late Air Force Officer, Wg Cdr Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal in Operation Safed Sagar, and the actor says he couldn't have gotten a better biopic to ever be a part of in his career. While a lot of his co-actors got to meet and observe their real-life counterparts for the show, Abhay Verma didn’t get that chance but he didn’t see it as a drawback.
"When we entered the real Air Force stations and sat in a MiG, as and when people were getting to know that I am playing RS Dhaliwal, I could see their chest going up and looking at me with a sense of respect, although they didn't know me. The courage, pride and the capabilities that Dhaliwal sir had in him, he was already a hero. As an actor, sometimes you choose your hero first, and then you become an actor. In this scenario, I became an actor, and then I got to meet my hero," he says.
Elaborating on the non-jingoistic patriotism of the IAF officers, Abhay says, “The specialty of the Air Force officers is that they are the heroes who are God's child. They do things, and then they forget about it. They do not ask for any special award or recognition. To be that selfless, I don't think you are human but a superhuman. Many of the heroes of Kargil are still there serving, and our show came at the right time to give them the due that they didn't ask for but deserved.”
{{/usCountry}}Elaborating on the non-jingoistic patriotism of the IAF officers, Abhay says, “The specialty of the Air Force officers is that they are the heroes who are God's child. They do things, and then they forget about it. They do not ask for any special award or recognition. To be that selfless, I don't think you are human but a superhuman. Many of the heroes of Kargil are still there serving, and our show came at the right time to give them the due that they didn't ask for but deserved.”
{{/usCountry}}Abhay admits that the aggression and masculinity of IAF officers is different and more subtle. “The ground forces have an aggression and rightfully so, because they need it. But when you are sitting in a cockpit, dealing with such minute and miniscule timings, you have to be calm with all your senses on. The machismo of the IAF is inside. They take all of that masculinity and aggression every day and go to war, just to keep our country safe. They just don’t show it on the outside,” he says.
The actor adds, “It’s because of these heroes that we are able to sleep at our homes at night with our families feeling safe, and we are able to celebrate which days. These herpes have done it all so selflessly and I don’t think it’s within the limits of human capabilities. You have to be superhuman to be this selfless and do it all for the sake of generations to come.”