Air Force official turned filmmaker Kushal Srivastava, bringing an unexplored chapter of the Kargil War to the screen is nothing short of a “dream come true”.
After serving for nearly seven years from DeceFor former mber 1999 to April 2006, as Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) holding the rank of Equipment Assistant in the logistics department, the creator and co-writer behind the series Operation Safed Sagar, Srivastava reveals that the story had been brewing inside him for over a decade.
“It started back in 2018 as the story lived me with since I joined air force in December, 1999, the year this war happened and till my stint that ended, like many others I heard stories and instances of the valour of the soldiers who were part of the war that was very recent back then.”
Originally conceived as a feature film, the project underwent a transformation in the following years, “I had two titles in mind: Golden Arrows titled on the then squad-name and another Operation Safed Sagar from the beginning but it was always for the movie. I thought only a movie could do justice to the story but after the pandemic OTT changed the game, the best time to bring content was OTT as we could say the story in much detail. We had to get new producers and then rest is history,” adds Srivastava.
Nephew of the late comedian Raju Srivastava, Kushal acknowledges the high expectations during production,“After the release of Dhurandhar we had a lot of pressure, yeh naam le kar everybody was like waise kuch banani hain. We all had to fight as team ke aage aane walo ke liye rasta khule aur hum purane India ko revisit kare with our stories telling that our country was like this and that’s our roots had all shades of love and compassion. Nafrat le kar kaun ghum sakta hain? Koi nahi.” Srivastava also recalls how his time in the Air Force proved invaluable for the cast: “Be it parades, the uniform of that era, or the setups I tried to guide them through everything in my capacity. I even brought in my old uniform to help recreate the soldiers’ uniforms.”
{{/usCountry}}Nephew of the late comedian Raju Srivastava, Kushal acknowledges the high expectations during production,“After the release of Dhurandhar we had a lot of pressure, yeh naam le kar everybody was like waise kuch banani hain. We all had to fight as team ke aage aane walo ke liye rasta khule aur hum purane India ko revisit kare with our stories telling that our country was like this and that’s our roots had all shades of love and compassion. Nafrat le kar kaun ghum sakta hain? Koi nahi.” Srivastava also recalls how his time in the Air Force proved invaluable for the cast: “Be it parades, the uniform of that era, or the setups I tried to guide them through everything in my capacity. I even brought in my old uniform to help recreate the soldiers’ uniforms.”
{{/usCountry}}For Srivastava, the ultimate validation came straight from the top defence leadership s, “When we released we had invited heads of the forces. The Air force chief had already seen it. I remember meeting ex-armyman General Ved Malik and he said ‘Last night we were having dinner and the air chief was boasting about your series.” This made our day. I met airforce chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh with and was felicitated by him last week, saying, ‘Air force apni kahani kehte nahin, you people did a good job and best part you people displayed soldiers from both the sides very respectfully and that’s the best part.” also they have made me a permanent member of their library now,” he smiles.
Srivastava also recently wrapped work on his 80-minute documentary film, The Last Salute, which centers on the retirement of the iconic MiG-21 fighter aircraft fleet.