Border is a 1997 Indian war drama film based on the Battle of Longewala during the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, produced and directed by J. P. Dutta. The film starred an
ensemble cast of Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Jackie Shroff in pivotal
roles. The film is an adaptation from real life events that happened at the Battle of
Longewala during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The film was screened
retrospective on August 13th 2016 at the Independence Day Film Festival jointly
presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and Ministry of Defense,
commemorating 70th Indian Independence Day.[2] It was the highest grossing
Bollywood film of the year 1997.[3]

Synopsis Edit

The film opens before the declaration of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. At a
forward operating airbase, Indian Air Force Wing Commander Anand 'Andy' Bajwa,
setting his stopwatch, waits for the air raid siren to go. As the siren goes, he sprints
towards his MiG-21, armed, fuelled and ready for take off. Bajwa and his air force
wingmen soon take off to an unknown airbase in Rajasthan. Once there, he is
debriefed by his superior that he and his squadron are assigned to the Jaisalmer
sector and have to fly the outdated Hawker Hunter Ground attack planes (with no
night vision capabilities) to support the Indian Army. He is soon joined by his
brother-in-arms army Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (played by Sunny Deol) as they
meet on a courier flight and speak about the possibility of opening of the Western
front in light of the East Pakistan conflict. Kuldip takes up command of a company of
the 23rd Battalion Punjab Regiment, arguing the light defence being assigned to the
military post of Longewala. He meets his second-in-command 2nd Lieutenant
Dharamveer Bhan (Akshaye Khanna) (who happens to be the son of a 1965 Indo-
Pakistani War veteran who was killed during that war) and the Company JCO Naib
Subedar Mathura Das (Sudesh Berry). The company moves to a remote outpost in
the deserts of Rajasthan and begin to expand the rudimentary Border Security Force
(BSF) post and does observation of the area up to the international border with
Pakistan. They meet the post's BSF commandant Bhairon Singh (Sunil Shetty), a
deeply patriotic man who expresses his love for the desert.

During a night patrol, Kuldip, Dharamveer and Bhairon Singh come across a
suspicious bunch of locals who turn out to be insurgents having informed the
identities of the company to the Pakistani military. The trio get into a brief firefight
killing all but one of the insurgents when Dharamveer hesitates to shoot the
surviving insurgent, as he has never killed anyone. Kuldip severely derides him and
shoots the insurgent himself, prompting Dharamveer to vomit. A badly shaken
Dharamvir is comforted by Bhairon Singh and the two reminisce about their
personal lives. Dharamveer recounts how he met his fiancee Kamla (Pooja Bhatt), a
lively girl from his native village whom he had fallen for and how he got his
mobilization orders on the day of his engagement to Kamla. Bhairon Singh recounts
his wedding night, his first night with his bride (played by Sharbani Mukherjee),
when he was called back to post and how he bids a tearful goodbye to his newly-
wed wife Phool Kanwar.

The unit is joined by the charismatic Subedar Ratan Singh (Puneet Issar), a man of
insatiable appetite and wit, with two 106mm jeep-mounted RCL guns to serve as an
anti-armour unit. The company wireless operator picks up a spy transmitting from a
nearby area and Dharamveer sets out to investigate. He ambushes the spy and kills
the man, bringing the body back to the post to prove that he has overcome his fear
of killing. The unit settles down to wait for the enemy as they keep track of the
developing events on the radio. The Indian army starts moving forces to nearby
locations preparing to attack if Pakist